Oscar Piastri dominated to win a controversial Spanish Grand Prix for McLaren ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
Charles Leclerc took an opportunistic third ahead of George Russell, who was seemingly deliberately hit by an angry Max Verstappen three laps from the end.
Verstappen received a 10s penalty for that and is the subject of another investigation, which saw him drop from fifth to tenth.
Nico Hulkenberg took a masterful fifth after overtaking an off-colour Lewis Hamilton in the dying stages, with Isack Hadjar seventh.
Pierre Gasly and Fernando Alonso completed the top tenth ahead of Verstappen.
Controversy came after the a Safety Car ten laps from the end was brought out after Kimi Antonelli suffered an engine failure in his Mercedes.
Almost all of the drivers still left pitted for used or fresh softs, with the exception of Verstappen who stopped for new hards from third.
The Dutchman made his frustrations with his Red Bull team clear, and on the restart nearly spun into the inside wall leading on to the main straight.
That allowed Leclerc’s Ferrari alongside and ahead into third, via a touch on the straight, before the seeds of this race’s defining incident were sewn, as Russell made contact with a now mad Max at the first corner to force him off the track.
An angry Verstappen was then told to let Russell through having retained fourth, and on lap 64 he appeared to comply with that instruction into Turn 5, before ramming the Brit’s Mercedes in what appeared to be retaliation similar to his incident with Hamilton at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Verstappen was given a ten second penalty for his act of retribution meaning he scored one point for tenth.
Piastri made an excellent start to lead away from the grid, while teammate Norris dropped behind Verstappen after they went three wide with Russell, who was subsequently baulked and passed by the two Ferraris.
Norris would eventually pass Verstappen after 12 laps and Red Bull switched to a three stop race.
That looked like it may pay dividends as McLaren woke up to the possibility that they may be caught napping, and before the Safety Car Verstappen was only two seconds behind Norris having covered off a previously two-stopping Leclerc.
More to follow…
