Max Verstappen becomes youngest F1 race winner in Spain - Mercedes lose out in first lap incident
Published by Christine
It was a series of unpredictable events that saw Verstappen take his debut victory in his first race for Red Bull in Spain. On the first lap, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg took each other out of the race to end Mercedes’ run of victories. Polesitter Hamilton had lost the lead in the first corner but Rosberg closed the gap when his teammate tried to pass, ending with them both in the gravel.
That left Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel scrabbling for the win, but the pair were put on a three stop strategy rather than the two stop favoured by their teammates. When Ricciardo dropped back, Max Verstappen inherited the lead and put in an impressive show keeping Kimi Räikkönen behind him for about twenty laps. Meanwhile, Ricciardo ended up behind Sebastian Vettel, and was desperate to get past until a puncture ended his efforts. He ended up fourth with the two Ferrari drivers joining Verstappen on the podium.
Elsewhere, Alonso and Hülkenberg both retired with engine issues, and Sainz finished in his best position of sixth at his home race.
