2021 Spanish Grand Prix
# 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.

### 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.
