# 2021 Spanish Grand Prix

The 2021 Spanish Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 Aramco Gran Premio de España 2021) was a Formula One motor race which took place on 9 May 2021 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. The race was the fourth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. The race was won by Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton from pole position ahead of Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Hamilton's teammate Valtteri Bottas. The win allowed Hamilton to extend his Championship lead over Verstappen to 14 points.

## Background

The race was the fourth round of the 2021 Formula One World Championship, the 61st edition of the Spanish Grand Prix, the 51st time it featured as a round of the World Championship, and the 31st time the Spanish Grand Prix took place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This was the first Formula One race held on this layout of the circuit, with turn 10 having been remodelled from a tight hairpin into a faster curve, to improve safety for drivers.
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race. Robert Kubica drove in the first practice session for Alfa Romeo Racing in place of Kimi Räikkönen, while Roy Nissany drove for Williams, replacing George Russell. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought the C1, C2 and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium and soft respectively) for teams to use at the event. Heading into the race, Lewis Hamilton was leading the Drivers' Championship with 69 points, ahead of Max Verstappen on 61 and Lando Norris on 37. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led on 101 points ahead of Red Bull on 83 and McLaren on 53.

## Practice

As usual, the event had three practice sessions, each lasting one hour. The first practice session started at 11:30 local time (UTC+02:00) on 7 May and ended with Valtteri Bottas fastest in his Mercedes ahead of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and Bottas' teammate Lewis Hamilton; Nikita Mazepin and Kubica both briefly lost control in minor incidents. The second practice session started at 15:00 local time and ended with Hamilton fastest ahead of Bottas and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc. The third practice session, which started at 12:00 local time the following day, ended with Verstappen top, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc.

## Qualifying

Qualifying started at 15:00 local time (UTC+02:00) on 8 May. Lewis Hamilton set provisional pole position in his Q3 first flying lap. Hamilton was followed by Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. None of the three drivers were able to improve their times in their subsequent laps, and Hamilton earned his 100th pole position.

### Qualifying classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Qualifying times | Final grid |
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:18.245 | 1:17.166 | 1:16.741 | 1 |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:18.090 | 1:16.922 | 1:16.777 | 2 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:18.005 | 1:17.142 | 1:16.873 | 3 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:18.041 | 1:17.717 | 1:17.510 | 4 |
| 5 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 1:18.281 | 1:17.743 | 1:17.580 | 5 |
| 6 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 1:18.205 | 1:17.656 | 1:17.620 | 6 |
| 7 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:18.264 | 1:17.719 | 1:17.622 | 7 |
| 8 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 1:18.203 | 1:17.669 | 1:17.701 | 8 |
| 9 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:17.821 | 1:17.696 | 1:18.010 | 9 |
| 10 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 1:18.281 | 1:17.966 | 1:18.147 | 10 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:18.241 | 1:17.974 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:18.190 | 1:17.982 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 1:18.289 | 1:18.079 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:18.549 | 1:18.356 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1:18.445 | 1:19.154 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 1:18.556 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 1:18.917 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 1:19.117 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 1:19.219 | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 1:19.807 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 107% time: 1:23.268 ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Nikita Mazepin received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Lando Norris in Q1. The penalty was not in force as he started the race from the last position.

## Race

The race started at 15:00 local time (UTC+02:00) and was held over 66 laps.
Verstappen overtook Hamilton on the first corner. On lap 8, Tsunaoda's engine stopped, bringing out the safety car. Pitstops began with Giovinazzi, who had a really long stop after one of his mechanics realized that one of the tyres was deflated and therefore they needed to get a new full set of tyres. He was followed by the two Williams double stacking. The race resumed by lap 11 and Gasly received a 5 second penalty for stopping our of position on the grid at the start of the race.
Gasly pitted in lap 19, serving his penalty and falling to last. And in lap 22, Vettel and Alonso triggered the pitstop window. Followed by Stroll, Sainz, Mazepin, Ocon, Norris, Schumacher, Bottas and Ricciardo in the following laps. Race leader Verstappen, pitted in lap 25 while Hamilton stayed out taking the lead. The stop was slow, and he came out behind his teammate Perez, who quickly let him pass and pitted in lap 28.
Hamilton changed tyres in lap 29 -so did Leclerc- and came out 5 seconds behind Verstappen, which meant the overcut had not been effective. It also meant that Bottas was now third and both Mercedes began closing on Verstappen.
By lap 43, after 10 laps within one second of Verstappen, Hamilton decided to pit again, commiting to a two stop strategy, while Red Bull kept Verstappen out. Simultaneously, Perez finally overtook Ricciardo for fifth, and Leclerc was able to keep his position in fourth. Hamilton with better tyres, finally overtook Verstappen in lap 60, and since Bottas had already pitted again, Verstappen could get a free stop and push for the fastest lap.
The top ten was rounded by Ricciardo, Sainz, Norris, Ocon and Gasly.

### Race classification

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Constructor | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 66 | 1:33:07.680 | 1 | 25 |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 66 | +15.841 | 2 | 19 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 66 | +26.610 | 3 | 15 |
| 4 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 66 | +54.616 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 11 | Sergio Pérez | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 66 | +1:03.671 | 8 | 10 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren-Mercedes | 66 | +1:13.768 | 7 | 8 |
| 7 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Ferrari | 66 | +1:14.670 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 9 | 4 |
| 9 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine-Renault | 65 | +1 lap | 5 | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri-Honda | 65 | +1 lap | 12 | 1 |
| 11 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 11 | |
| 12 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 65 | +1 lap | 17 | |
| 13 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Aston Martin-Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 13 | |
| 14 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 15 | |
| 15 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari | 65 | +1 lap | 14 | |
| 16 | 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Williams-Mercedes | 65 | +1 lap | 19 | |
| 17 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Alpine-Renault | 65 | +1 lap | 10 | |
| 18 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Haas-Ferrari | 64 | +2 laps | 18 | |
| 19 | 9 | Nikita Mazepin | Haas-Ferrari | 64 | +2 laps | 20 | |
| Ret | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri-Honda | 6 | Electrics | 16 | |
| Fastest lap: Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda) – 1:18.149 (lap 62) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||

#### Notes

* ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 94 |
| | 2 | Max Verstappen | 80 |
| 1 | 3 | Valtteri Bottas | 47 |
| 1 | 4 | Lando Norris | 41 |
| | 5 | Charles Leclerc | 40 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Constructor | Points |
| | 1 | Mercedes | 141 |
| | 2 | Red Bull Racing-Honda | 112 |
| | 3 | McLaren-Mercedes | 65 |
| | 4 | Ferrari | 60 |
| | 5 | Alpine-Renault | 15 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.