Piastri holds off Norris amid late Verstappen drama

BARCELONA, Spain -- Oscar Piastri bushed Lando Norris to triumph astatine the Spanish Grand Prix arsenic Max Verstappen appeared to intentionally drive into George Russell successful the closing stages.

Piastri's faultless thrust retired successful beforehand helped him widen the rubric pb implicit Norris to 10 points and reclaim the momentum aft his teammate's Monaco Grand Prix triumph 7 days earlier.

But the communicative of the contention was dictated by the reigning satellite champion, with the champion and worst of Verstappen connected amusement astatine either extremity of the race.

For the archetypal chunk, Verstappen's brilliance had been connected show arsenic helium took the combat to McLaren with an assertive three-stop strategy which appeared to enactment the orangish cars nether morganatic pressure.

But a precocious Safety Car play turned his contention connected its head, with Red Bull putting him connected the little fancied hard tyre and leaving him exposed to his rivals behind.

At the restart, Verstappen astir mislaid power of his car completely, earlier losing a spot to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc down the main consecutive -- aft the cars touched -- and past coming into much interaction astatine Turn 1 with Mercedes' Russell. Verstappen kept the position, but lone by taking the Turn 1 exit road.

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After being told to springiness 4th backmost to Russell, Verstappen appeared to slow, lone to thrust backmost into the broadside of the Mercedes operator erstwhile helium got alongside.

Russell got past a mates of corners later.

The stewards did not discarded overmuch clip deciding the punishment, handing Verstappen a 10-second punishment arsenic helium crossed the enactment which dropped him to 10th. He was besides handed 3 punishment points, which leaves him 1 distant from a imaginable contention ban.

Verstappen refused to spell into item with the media connected the incidental afterwards but Russell told Sky Sports: "I've seen those moves earlier connected simulator games and successful go-karting but ne'er successful Formula 1.

"Ultimately we came location successful P4 and helium came location successful P10, truthful I don't truly cognize what was going done his mind. It felt deliberate successful the moment.

"Max is specified an astonishing operator and truthful galore radical look up to him, it's conscionable a shame things similar that proceed to occur. It's wholly unnecessary and it ne'er seems to payment himself."

Verstappen's punishment elevated Sauber's Nico Hülkenberg to an improbable 5th position.

Hulkenberg had passed Lewis Hamilton, who had an anonymous contention successful the different Ferrari, connected way successful the laps aft the restart.

Isack Hadjar continued his beardown play with a thrust to seventh up of Alpine's Pierre Gasly.

Local favourite Fernando Alonso finished ninth, scoring his archetypal points of the play successful the process, a invited affirmative for Aston Martin pursuing the unexpected withdrawal of teammate Lance Stroll connected Saturday evening.