The 2023 Spanish Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 AWS Gran Premio de España 2023) was the eighth round of the 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship, held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the weekend of June 2 to June 4 2023.
Background[]
Following the upgrade package to the Mercedes W14 introduced in the previous round, the Monaco Grand Prix, further upgrades improving the car's airflow were introduced to this event. Ferrari revealed an upgrade package for their SF-23, switching from an in-wash solution to a down-wash, similar to Red Bull Racing's RB19. It received a minor upgrade to its floor and diffuser.[1]
Championship standings before the race[]
Max Verstappen was the Drivers' Championship leader after the sixth round, the Monaco Grand Prix, with 144 points, 39 ahead of Sergio Pérez in second, with Fernando Alonso in third, 12 points behind Pérez. In the Constructors' Championship, Red Bull Racing led Aston Martin by 129 points and Mercedes by 130.[2]
Track changes[]
From this edition, Formula One would use the layout used by MotoGP since 2021, removing the chicane in the last sector of the lap that Formula One had used every year since it was introduced in 2007, and reverting the final corners for Formula One cars to a sweeping fast configuration that Formula One last used in 2006.[3]
Entry List[]
The full entry list for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix is outlined below:
Practice[]
FP1[]
FP2[]
FP3[]
Practice Results[]
The full practice results for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix are outlined below:
| No. | Driver | Team | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Pos | Time | Pos | Time | Pos | ||||||||
| 1 |  Max Verstappen
|
 Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
|
1:14.606 | 1 | 1:13.907 | 1 | 1:13.664 | 1 | |||||
| 2 |  Logan Sargeant
|
 Williams-Mercedes
|
1:16.506 | 19 | 1:15.415 | 20 | 1:16.529 | 20 | |||||
| 4 | Lando Norris
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
1:15.783 | 11 | 1:14.694 | 14 | 1:14.681 | 10 | |||||
| 10 |  Pierre Gasly
|
Alpine-Renault
|
1:15.545 | 5 | 1:14.457 | 10 | 1:15.841 | 18 | |||||
| 11 |  Sergio Pérez
|
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
|
1:15.374 | 2 | 1:14.219 | 4 | 1:13.914 | 2 | |||||
| 14 |  Fernando Alonso
|
Aston Martin-Mercedes
|
1:15.547 | 6 | 1:14.077 | 2 | 1:14.264 | 5 | |||||
| 16 |  Charles Leclerc
|
 Ferrari
|
1:15.694 | 8 | 1:14.246 | 6 | 1:14.353 | 7 | |||||
| 18 |  Lance Stroll
|
Aston Martin-Mercedes
|
1:15.939 | 15 | 1:15.010 | 18 | 1:14.756 | 13 | |||||
| 20 |  Kevin Magnussen
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
1:15.689 | 7 | 1:14.713 | 15 | 1:15.534 | 17 | |||||
| 21 | Nyck de Vries
|
AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
|
1:15.504 | 4 | 1:14.785 | 16 | 1:14.693 | 12 | |||||
| 22 |  Yuki Tsunoda
|
AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
|
1:15.915 | 14 | 1:14.840 | 17 | 1:14.659 | 9 | |||||
| 23 |  Alexander Albon
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
1:16.630 | 20 | 1:15.056 | 19 | 1:15.851 | 19 | |||||
| 24 |  Guanyu Zhou
|
 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
|
1:15.906 | 13 | 1:14.585 | 13 | 1:14.681 | 11 | |||||
| 27 |  Nico Hülkenberg
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
1:16.461 | 18 | 1:14.177 | 3 | 1:14.988 | 14 | |||||
| 31 | Esteban Ocon
|
Alpine-Renault
|
1:15.418 | 3 | 1:14.242 | 5 | 1:15.266 | 16 | |||||
| 44 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
1:15.845 | 12 | 1:14.549 | 11 | 1:14.072 | 3 | |||||
| 55 | Carlos Sainz, Jr.
|
Ferrari
|
1:15.726 | 9 | 1:14.274 | 7 | 1:14.240 | 4 | |||||
| 63 | George Russell
|
Mercedes
|
1:15.753 | 10 | 1:14.392 | 8 | 1:14.278 | 6 | |||||
| 77 |  Valtteri Bottas
|
Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
|
1:15.978 | 16 | 1:14.448 | 9 | 1:14.360 | 8 | |||||
| 81 |  Oscar Piastri
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
1:16.353 | 17 | 1:14.583 | 12 | 1:15.105 | 15 | |||||
| Source: [5][6][7] | |||||||||||||
Qualifying[]
Qualifying Report[]
Q1[]
George Russell reported incoming rain as the first segment began; the first half of the Formula 2 session 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, but Bottas had recovered back to track as the red flag was waved. Joining Bottas in the gravel was hometown hero Fernando Alonso and Alexander Albon in the final corner and turn 5, respectively. Meanwhile, Nico Hülkenberg topped the session, but his lap time was soon deleted due to infringement of track limits. Charles Leclerc had a poor session, setting a time good enough for 19th and knocking him out of the first segment and the first as such since the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix. Joining the Monégasque were Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Albon, and Logan Sargeant. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen reported Pierre Gasly for impeding, with an investigation being called after the session.
Q2[]
The second segment saw Sergio Pérez go off-track too. An incident involving Lewis Hamilton and George Russell was shown on the replays, with the former suffering from significant front-wing damage. Russell was now under investigation for impeding, and joined Pérez, Zhou Guanyu, and the AlphaTauris of Nyck de Vries and Yuki Tsunoda in the Q2 drop zone.
Q3[]
Hamilton took a new front wing as the third and final segment began, which is also Hülkenberg's first Q3 in Spain. He qualified seventh with Hamilton in fifth. Verstappen took the pole position, his first Spanish Grand Prix pole position, with Sainz trailing him behind. Lando Norris popped up in third while Oscar Piastri occupied the tenth and final position on the Q3 grid. Alonso had a time good enough for ninth, out-qualified by Lance Stroll in sixth. Gasly was set to enjoy a fourth-position finish, until two separate three-place penalties dropped him to tenth,[8] with teammate Esteban Ocon in seventh.[9][10]
Qualifying Results[]
The full qualifying results for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix are outlined below:
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Time | Time | |||||
| 1 | 1 | Max Verstappen
|
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
|
1:13.615 | 1:12.760 | 1:12.272 | 1 |
| 2 | 55 | Carlos Sainz
|
Ferrari
|
1:13.411 | 1:12.790 | 1:12.734 | 2 |
| 3 | 4 | Lando Norris
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
1:13.295 | 1:12.776 | 1:12.792 | 3 |
| 4 | 10 | Pierre Gasly
|
Alpine-Renault
|
1:13.471 | 1:13.186 | 1:12.816 | 10[11][12] |
| 5 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton
|
Mercedes
|
1:12.937 | 1:12.999 | 1:12.818 | 4 |
| 6 | 18 | Lance Stroll
|
Aston Martin-Mercedes
|
1:13.766 | 1:13.082 | 1:12.994 | 5 |
| 7 | 31 | Esteban Ocon
|
Alpine-Renault
|
1:13.433 | 1:13.001 | 1:13.083 | 6 |
| 8 | 27 | Nico Hülkenberg
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
1:13.420 | 1:13.283 | 1:13.229 | 7 |
| 9 | 14 | Fernando Alonso
|
Aston Martin-Mercedes
|
1:13.747 | 1:13.098 | 1:13.507 | 8 |
| 10 | 81 | Oscar Piastri
|
McLaren-Mercedes
|
1:13.691 | 1:13.059 | 1:13.682 | 9 |
| 11 | 11 | Sergio Pérez
|
Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT
|
1:13.874 | 1:13.334 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 63 | George Russell
|
Mercedes
|
1:13.326 | 1:13.447 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 24 | Guanyu Zhou
|
Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
|
1:13.677 | 1:13.521 | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 21 | Nyck de Vries
|
AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
|
1:13.581 | 1:14.083 | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 22 | Yuki Tsunoda
|
AlphaTauri-Honda RBPT
|
1:13.862 | 1:14.477 | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas
|
Alfa Romeo-Ferrari
|
1:13.977 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen
|
Haas-Ferrari
|
1:14.042 | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 23 | Alexander Albon
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
1:14.063 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 16 | Charles Leclerc
|
Ferrari
|
1:14.079 | N/A | N/A | PL[13] |
| 20 | 2 | Logan Sargeant
|
Williams-Mercedes
|
1:14.699 | N/A | N/A | PL[14] |
| Source:[15] | |||||||
- Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
Grid[]
| Pos. | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|
| Driver | Driver | |
| ______________ | ||
| Row 1 | 1 | ______________ |
| M. Verstappen
|
2 | |
| ______________ | C. Sainz
| |
| Row 2 | 3 | ______________ |
| L. Norris
|
4 | |
| ______________ | L. Hamilton
| |
| Row 3 | 5 | ______________ |
| L. Stroll
|
6 | |
| ______________ | E. Ocon
| |
| Row 4 | 7 | ______________ |
| N. Hülkenberg
|
8 | |
| ______________ | F. Alonso
| |
| Row 5 | 9 | ______________ |
| O. Piastri
|
10 | |
| ______________ | P. Gasly[11][12]
| |
| Row 6 | 11 | ______________ |
| S. Pérez
|
12 | |
| ______________ | G. Russell
| |
| Row 7 | 13 | ______________ |
| G. Zhou
|
14 | |
| ______________ | N. De Vries
| |
| Row 8 | 15 | ______________ |
| Y. Tsunoda
|
16 | |
| ______________ | V. Bottas
| |
| Row 9 | 17 | ______________ |
| K. Magnussen
|
18 | |
| ______________ | A. Albon
| |
| Row 10 | 19 | ______________ |
| C. Leclerc |
20 | |
| ______________ | L. Sargeant |
Grid Penalty[]
- Pierre Gasly received a 6-place grid penalty as he impeded other driver during qualifying section[11][12]
- Both Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant had to start from the pit lane as their car had been modified during Parc Fermé.[13][14]
Race[]
Race report[]
Polesitter Max Verstappen led from start to finish. Lando Norris made contact with Lewis Hamilton coming into the first corner, damaging his front wing and forcing him to come into the pit lane for a change, which greatly compromised his second-row start. Hamilton's floor was also damaged. Hamilton's teammate George Russell was noted by stewards for gaining an advantage on the opening chicane and jumping five cars; no investigation was necessary. In an early stop, Valtteri Bottas swapped his softs for hards as Charles Leclerc, who started from pit-lane, passed Alexander Albon for sixteenth; Lance Stroll was running as high as third until Hamilton passed him.
Zhou Guanyu and Nico 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 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 behind Fernando Alonso, with the Aston 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 with Pierre Gasly.
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 different track limits violations. Ocon pulled a defense on Alonso, which his former teammate was able to evade. Meanwhile, Yuki Tsunoda was given a five-second penalty due to what was deemed a dangerous defensive move on Zhou, dropping him out of the points from 9th position. Verstappen would take the fastest lap and win the race ahead of Hamilton and Russell, earning him his third career grand slam.[16][17]
Results[]
The full results for the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix are outlined below:
Post-Race Time Penalty[]
- Yuki Tsunoda originally finished 9th, but received a five-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track that drops him down to 12th.[18]
Milestones[]
- For Max Verstappen, this is his:
- 40th career Win
- 24th career Pole Position
- 6th Hat-trick
- 3rd Grand Chelem
- 10th Career podium of George Russell
- 99th win for Red Bull
- 7th win for Honda RBPT
Championship Standings After the Race[]
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References[]
Images and Videos:
References:
- ↑ Noble, Jonathan (2 June 2023). "Mercedes adds to upgrade package as top F1 teams reveal changes". https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mercedes-adds-to-upgrade-package-as-top-f1-teams-reveal-changes/10477113/. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
- ↑ "2023 Formula 1 Results, Standings, Rankings and Statistics". https://us.motorsport.com/f1/results/2023/monaco-gp-625296/?st=RACE. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ↑ Cooper, Adam. "Spanish GP drops final sector chicane for 2023 F1 race". Motorsport Network. https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/spanish-gp-drops-final-sector-chicane-for-2023-f1-race/10437098/. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ↑ 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Entry List (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - FP1 Classification (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - FP2 Classification (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - FP3 Classification (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ Kew, Matt (4 June 2023). "Gasly handed two grid penalties for impeding in Barcelona F1 qualifying". https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/gasly-handed-two-grid-penalties-for-impeding-in-barcelona-f1-qualifying/10478158/.
- ↑ Kalinauckas, Alex (4 June 2023). "F1 Spanish GP: Verstappen claims pole over Sainz, Leclerc falls in Q1". https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-spanish-gp-verstappen-claims-pole-over-sainz-leclerc-falls-in-q1/10477932/.
- ↑ Bradley, Charles (4 June 2023). "F1 qualifying results: Max Verstappen takes Spanish GP pole". https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-qualifying-results-max-verstappen-takes-spanish-gp-pole/10477971/.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Car 10 - Impeding Car 1 (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Car 10 - Impeding Car 55 (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Car 16 - Changes mode during Parc Ferme (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Car 2 - Changes mode during Parc Ferme (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Final Qualifying Classification (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ Bradley, Charles (4 June 2023). "F1 results: Verstappen wins Spanish GP, Mercedes takes 2–3". https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-results-verstappen-wins-spanish-gp-mercedes-takes-2-3/10478582/.
- ↑ Kalinauckas, Alex (4 June 2023). "F1 Spanish GP: Verstappen dominates ahead of Hamilton and Russell". https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1-spanish-gp-verstappen-dominates-from-hamilton-and-russell/10478564/.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Infringement - Car 22 - Forcing another driver off the track (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Final Race Classification (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 2023 Spanish Grand Prix - Championship Points (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.
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| Circuits | Pedralbes (1951, 1954), Jarama (1967-1968, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976-1981), Montjuïc (1969, 1971, 1973, 1975), Jerez (1986-1990), Catalunya (1991-Present) |  |
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