Reigning world champion Max Verstappen secured a seventh victory of the 2024 season after holding off the challenge of Lando Norris to win the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
Norris started from pole position but dropped to third after he was outfoxed by Verstappen and George Russell at the opening bend following a poor getaway in Barcelona.
But the McLaren driver took on a different strategy from his rivals to afford himself a last-gasp surge for victory on fresher rubber.
However, Norris ran out of steam in his pursuit of Verstappen with the Dutchman claiming his third win from the last four races to extend his title lead to 69 points.
Lewis Hamilton passed Mercedes teammate Russell with 14 laps remaining to take the final spot on the podium. Russell, despite having led the opening two laps, finished fourth. Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc took fifth and sixth, respectively, for Ferrari.
The racing may be closer than the past two seasons but Verstappen always seems to pull it out of the bag when it matters most.
This was his 61st career win, seventh of the season, and fourth at the track where he first shot on to the F1 scene as a teenager in 2016.
And it pushed him another step further to a fourth straight title with Austria and Silverstone coming up over the next two weekends.
"What made the race was at the beginning I took the lead on lap two and that’s where I had my buffer, and in that first stint where I could eke out the gap a little bit," said Verstappen. "After that, we had to drive a defensive race with Lando and McLaren, they were very quick today especially on degradation.
“We did everything well, we drove an aggressive strategy but luckily it paid off until the end. Very happy to win here.”
Norris delivered the lap of his life to secure only his second pole of his career but the 24-year-old was on the back foot from the get-go when he dropped two positions before the opening bend.
Norris aggressively moved to his right to cover off Verstappen on the long run down to the first corner, only for the Red Bull to sneak down the McLaren man's inside.
On the other side of the track, Russell, from fourth on the grid, blasted clear of a slow-starting Hamilton before moving into the tow of both Verstappen and Norris and then sling-shotting his Mercedes into the lead.
Two laps later, at the end of the straight, Verstappen made the decisive move of the race. He was told by his race engineer "might be our best opportunity Max" and the Dutch ace needed no second invitation, producing a beautiful pass to deprive Russell of the lead, surging more than one second clear of the Briton, with Norris less than a second back.
When asked whether he could have won the race, Norris replied: "Not could, I should have won it. I got a bad start. As simple as that. The car was incredible today, we were for sure the quickest, I just lost it in the beginning.
"Disappointed but a lot of positives. One negative and that kind of ruined everything. I know that I can just work on it for next time. It's a good amount of points, thanks to the team because the car was amazing."
There were similar sentiments from seven-time champion Hamilton, who secured his first podium of the season. “It’s been a solid weekend, I have to say a big thank you to the team as they’ve been training so hard on the pit-stops and the strategy, and they were on point," said the Briton.
“Unfortunately, like Lando, I got a really bad start and lost ground to the Ferraris so it was a bit of a battle to get back to where I am now. Ultimately, with a better start, I don’t know if we could have held on to the guys ahead but I don’t think we would be as far behind as we were today.”
Verstappen now heads to Red Bull's home race in Spielberg in a week's time with a 69-point lead over Norris, with Leclerc two points further back.
