Formula 1: Max Verstappen wins Spanish GP to take title lead
May 22, 2022
Barcelona [Spain], May 22 : Red Bull's Max Verstappen claimed a hard-fought Spanish Grand Prix win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Sunday.
The Dutchman came back from an early spin and faulty DRS to take a victory that hands him control of the 2022 FIA Formula One Drivers' World Championship standings as Ferrari's Charles Leclerc exited the race from a comfortable lead due to the power unit issue.
Sergio Perez took second place to Red Bull Racing's second 1-2 finish of the season and the final podium place went to Mercedes' George Russell.
Carlos Sainz finished fourth despite having dropped outside the top 10 early on after his Turn 4 spin. Hamilton passed Sainz for P4 with a brilliant move at Turn 1 with five laps left, but then dropped to P5 having been told to lift off by his Mercedes team.
Valtteri Bottas's soft-medium-medium strategy saw him lose out to soft-tyred finishers Sainz and Hamilton, the Finn taking a still-solid P6 finish for Alfa Romeo.
In seventh was Esteban Ocon, up five places for Alpine with two soft-tyred stints. Lando Norris mirrored the Frenchman's strategy but finished a few seconds behind in P8 from P11 for McLaren.
Alpine's Fernando Alonso (from the back of the grid) and AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda (from P13) rounded out the top 10 on the same soft-medium-soft-soft gambit.
