Oscar Piastri re-extended his world championship lead over Lando Norris after beating his McLaren team-mate to victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, as Max Verstappen was penalised for a controversial late collision with George Russell.

Claiming his fifth victory in nine races this season, Piastri always looked in full control at Barcelona after converting his impressive pole into the race lead at the start as Norris almost immediately dropped behind Verstappen to third.

Norris soon overtook Verstappen to move back into second but a charge behind his team-mate never truly materialised, meaning Piastri leaves the European triple header with an extended lead of 10 points in the championship.

But reigning champion’s Verstappen is now 49 points back after a tumultuous – and controversial – end to the Red Bull driver’s race saw him demoted to 10th.

Seemingly aware they were unlikely to beat the McLarens on absolute pace on the same strategy, Red Bull had earlier rolled the dice by placing Verstappen on a three-stop strategy compared to Piastri and Norris’ more conventional two.

That kept Verstappen in the hunt for second behind Norris into the closing stint before a Safety Car was called with 10 laps to go when Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes stopped in the gravel.

The leaders all changed tyres, but Verstappen was now vulnerable as while Red Bull fitted his car with the only tyres they had left – new hards – the rest around him were on used, but quicker, softs.

Almost spinning out of the final corner when the race restarted, Verstappen was overtaken by Charles Leclerc on the run to Turn One – with the two cars making contact down the straight before then. That clash is itself under a post-race stewards’ investigation.

Mercedes’ Russell then tried to follow through into the first corner with a move of his own down the inside, but the two cars touched and the Red Bull went wide into the run-off area.

Verstappen came back on track out of Turn Two still ahead of Russell but the Red Bull pit wall, seemingly sensing a possible penalty for their driver from the stewards, instructed the Dutchman to cede position to the Mercedes on track.

“What? I was ahead! He ran me off the road! “protested Verstappen on team radio, to which his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase replied: “But that’s the rules.”

But into lap 64 and with the two cars approaching Turn Five, Russell went to the outside of the Red Bull to seemingly overtake but Verstappen did not cede the position and the two cars ended up making contact.

Russell did overtake later around the lap but stewards swiftly took a dim view of Verstappen driving in the previous incident and swiftly issued the four-time world champion with a 10-second time penalty, dropping him from fifth to 10th.

With Leclerc taking third and Russell fourth, Nico Hulkenberg claimed a stunning fifth for Sauber with a late overtake of Lewis Hamilton, who had struggled all afternoon for pace in the second Ferrari.

Isack Hadjar continued the fine start to his rookie career to come home seventh ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly, as Fernando Alonso bounced back from an early grip through the gravel to finally register his first points of the season on home soil in ninth ahead of the demoted Verstappen.

More to follow…

The 2025 Formula 1 season pauses for breath after the European triple-header before resuming live on Sky Sports F1 with the Canadian Grand Prix from June 13-15. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime