| 2023 Spanish Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 7 of 22 in the2023 Formula One World Championship
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 Layout of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain | |||||
| Race details[1] | |||||
| Date | 4 June 2023 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 AWSGran Premio de España 2023 | ||||
| Location | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya,Montmeló,Spain | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 4.657 km (2.894 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 66 laps, 307.236 km (190.908 miles) | ||||
| Weather | Cloudy | ||||
| Attendance | 284,066[2] | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Time | 1:12.272 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | |||
| Time | 1:16.330 on lap 61(lap record) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT | ||||
| Second | Mercedes | ||||
| Third | Mercedes | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2023 Spanish Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 AWS Gran Premio de España 2023) was aFormula One motor race that was held on 4 June 2023 at theCircuit de Barcelona-Catalunya inMontmeló,Spain. It was the seventh round of the2023 Formula One World Championship.
After takingpole position,Max Verstappen ofRed Bull Racing led every lap, took the fastest lap, and won the race ahead ofMercedes driversLewis Hamilton andGeorge Russell in second and third respectively, marking Verstappen's third careergrand chelem.
The event was held across the weekend of 2–4 June 2023.[1] It was the seventh round of the2023 Formula One World Championship.[3]
Following the upgrade package to theMercedesW14 introduced in the previous round, theMonaco Grand Prix, further upgrades improving the car's airflow were introduced to this event.Ferrari revealed an upgrade package for theirSF-23, switching from an in-wash solution to a down-wash, similar toRed Bull Racing'sRB19. It received a minor upgrade to its floor and diffuser.[4]
Max Verstappen was the Drivers' Championship leader after the sixth round, theMonaco Grand Prix, with 144 points, 39 ahead ofSergio Pérez in second, withFernando Alonso in third, 12 points behind Pérez. In the Constructors' Championship,Red Bull Racing ledAston Martin by 129 points andMercedes by 130.[5]
The drivers and teams were the same as the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for the race.[6]
Tyre supplierPirelli brought the C1, C2, and C3 tyre compounds (designated hard, medium, and soft, respectively) for teams to use at the event. For this Grand Prix, drivers could run in the first two practice sessions two sets of new hard tyre that would be introduced for theBritish Grand Prix.[7]
From this edition, Formula One would use the layout used byMotoGP since2021, removing the chicane in the last sector of the lap that Formula One had used every year since it was introduced in2007, and reverting the final corners for Formula One cars to a sweeping fast configuration that Formula One last used in2006.[8]
Threefree practice sessions were held for the event. The first free practice session was held on 2 June 2023, at 13:30 local time (UTC+2).Max Verstappen topped the session ahead ofSergio Pérez andEsteban Ocon.[9][10] The second free practice session was held on 2 June 2023, at 17:00 local time (UTC+2). Verstappen topped the session ahead ofFernando Alonso andNico Hulkenberg.[11][10] The third free practice session was held on 3 June 2023, at 12:30 local time (UTC+2). Verstappen again topped the session ahead of Sergio Pérez andLewis Hamilton.[12][10]
Qualifying was held on 3 June 2023, at 16:00 local time (UTC+2).[1]
George Russell reported incoming rain as the first segment began; the first half of theFormula 2 race earlier that day was held under heavy rain.Valtteri Bottas went off the track at turn 12, red-flagging the session due to gravel on the track, Bottas recovered back to track as the red flag was waved. Joining Bottas in the gravel was SpaniardFernando Alonso andAlexander Albon at the final corner and turn 5, respectively.Nico Hülkenberg topped the session, but his lap time was soon deleted due to a track limits infringement.Charles Leclerc had a poor session, setting a time good enough for nineteenth and knocking him out of the first segment for the first time since the2019 Monaco Grand Prix. Also eliminated were Bottas,Kevin Magnussen, Albon, andLogan Sargeant.[13][14]
The second segment sawSergio Pérez go off-track. An incident involvingLewis Hamilton and George Russell made contact on the main straight, with the former suffering from significant front-wing damage.[13] Russell was investigated for impeding, before being cleared,[15] and joined Pérez,Zhou Guanyu, and theAlphaTauris ofNyck de Vries andYuki Tsunoda in being eliminated.[13]
Hamilton took a new front wing as the third and final segment began and qualified in fifth. Verstappen took the pole position, his first at theSpanish Grand Prix, with Sainz trailing him behind.Lando Norris was in third whileOscar Piastri occupied the tenth and final position on the Q3 grid. Alonso had a time good enough for ninth, out-qualified byLance Stroll in sixth. Gasly was set to enjoy a fourth-position finish, until two separate three-place penalties for impeding other drivers dropped him to tenth,[16] with teammateEsteban Ocon in seventh.Nico Hülkenberg qualified eighth.[17][18]
Notes
The race was held on 4 June 2023, at 15:00 local time (UTC+2).[1]
PolesitterMax Verstappen led from start to finish.Lando Norris made contact withLewis Hamilton coming into the first corner, damaging his front wing and forcing him to come into the pit lane for a change, dropping him to last. Hamilton's floor was also damaged. Hamilton's teammateGeorge Russell was noted by stewards for gaining an advantage on the opening chicane; no investigation was necessary. In an early stop,Valtteri Bottas swapped his softs compound tyres for hards asCharles Leclerc, who started from pit-lane, passedAlexander Albon for sixteenth;Lance Stroll was running as high as third until Hamilton passed him.[26][27]
Zhou Guanyu andNico Hülkenberg swapped their softs for hards on lap 9 with the Alfa driver overtaking the Haas.Esteban Ocon soon followed into the pits.Carlos Sainz Jr. came in on lap 16 for mediums, prompting a confused response from the Ferrari driver; meanwhile Leclerc put on softs.Sergio Pérez soon found himself behindFernando Alonso, with the Aston Martin soon putting on softs. Norris soon returned to the pits with mediums in-hand; Hamilton followed with mediums and rejoined behind Sainz. With drivers coming in for their stops, Verstappen and Pérez led a 1–2 for Red Bull with Sainz in third; furthermore, Verstappen had pulled such a large gap he swapped for hards by lap 26 and did not lose the lead to his teammate. However, Pérez would drop to ninth after a stop for hards, and soon passed Alonso with the aid of DRS. His tyres degrading as he went, Stroll decided to take the hards and rejoined in thirteenth. Meanwhile,Oscar Piastri went into the pits along withPierre Gasly.[26][27]
By lap 50, Sainz, Alonso, Russell, Hamilton and Pérez all swapped their compounds while Verstappen was shown a black and white flag due to three track limits violations. Ocon pulled a defense on Alonso, which Alonso was able to evade.Yuki Tsunoda was given a five-second penalty for forcing Zhou off track, dropping him out of the points from ninth position. Verstappen would take the fastest lap and win the race ahead of Hamilton and Russell, earning him his third careergrand slam.[28][29]
Notes
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| Previous race: 2023 Monaco Grand Prix | FIA Formula One World Championship 2023 season | Next race: 2023 Canadian Grand Prix |
| Previous race: 2022 Spanish Grand Prix | Spanish Grand Prix | Next race: 2024 Spanish Grand Prix |
