Verstappen records his 40th Formula 1 win, Russell equals the record for the furthest back grid position from which a Catalunya podium has been recorded and all 20 drivers finish for the second time in the last three races. Here are the facts and statistics from the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix!
VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2023 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
Max Verstappen recorded the 40th victory of his Formula 1 career at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. Becoming the sixth driver to have won 40 Grands Prix, Verstappen’s latest victory puts him one short of equalling Ayrton Senna’s total number of F1 wins.
Verstappen becomes the third driver, after Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton and Mika Hakkinen to have won at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on three occasions. Red Bull are the fourth team – after Ferrari, Mercedes and Williams – to win here five times.
Verstappen’s win gave Red Bull their seventh win in the first seven races of the 2023 season. They are only the third team to win all of the first seven races of the year, after McLaren in 1988 and Mercedes in 2019.
The 2023 Spanish Grand Prix was Red Bull’s eighth consecutive win, putting them one win away from equalling their longest winning streak. They’ve won nine consecutive races twice previously, in 2013 and 2022.
This was the 99th win for the Red Bull team in F1. They are now one short of becoming the fifth constructor to record 100 wins.
On Lap 15 of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, Max Verstappen overtook Nigel Mansell as the driver to have led the sixth most Grand Prix laps in Formula 1 history.
For the ninth time in his career, Max Verstappen led every lap of the race. Verstappen has now led all of the last 154 Grand Prix racing laps – the longest leading streak since Sebastian Vettel led 205 laps consecutively between the 2012 Singapore and Indian Grands Prix. It’s the 11th longest leading streak in F1 history and the longest of Verstappen’s career to date.
Having led every lap of the last two races, this is the first time a driver has led every lap at two consecutive rounds since Verstappen did so himself at the 2021 Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix.
After taking pole position, leading every lap, setting the fastest lap and winning the race, Verstappen recorded the third Grand Slam of his Formula 1 career. His others came at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix and the 2022 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Verstappen is only the tenth driver to have recorded three Grand Slams in F1.
Verstappen is the third driver to record a Grand Slam at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, after Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Michael Schumacher in 2002.
Over the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Q1 was the only session in which Max Verstappen was not fastest. He was fastest in FP1, FP2, FP3, Q2 and Q3, set the fastest race lap, led every lap and won the race. The last driver to do one better and set the fastest time in every single session was Lewis Hamilton at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.
For the second consecutive race, Verstappen won by over 20 seconds. It’s the 31st time in Formula 1 that a driver has won consecutive races by over 20 seconds. Verstappen is only the fourth driver to achieve the feat this millennium and is the first to do so since Lewis Hamilton at the 2021 Qatar and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.
ON THE PODIUM
This was Lewis Hamilton’s 11th podium finish at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, putting him one away from equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of 12 top three finishes at the Spanish Grand Prix.
This was Hamilton’s seventh consecutive trip to the podium on which he finished as runner-up. All but one of those occasions has seen him finish second to Max Verstappen. The duo have extended the record for most 1-2 finishes for a pair of drivers to 35.
Lewis Hamilton was voted Driver Of The Day for the first time since the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
George Russell recorded his first podium finish since his victory at the 2022 Sao Paulo Grand Prix. This was Russell’s tenth visit to the podium, making him the 79th driver to record ten or more top three finishes in Formula 1.
This is the second consecutive season in which Russell has finished in third place at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Having started 12th, Russell became the first driver to finish on the podium at the Spanish Grand Prix having started 10th or further back since Juan Pablo Montoya in 2001. Russell equals the record for the furthest back position from which a podium has been recorded at Catalunya. Montoya also started 12th in 2001, as did Olivier Panis in 1997.
With both Hamilton and Russell on the podium, Mercedes overtake McLaren as the team with the second-most podium finishes at the Catalunya track.
The 2023 Spanish Grand Prix was the second F1 race in which the polesitter won, the driver starting 4th finished 2nd and the driver starting 12th finished 3rd. The 1978 United States Grand Prix West is the other time it has happened.
IN THE POINTS
Driving from 11th on the grid to fourth at the finish, Sergio Perez gained seven positions over the course of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. It’s the most places he’s gained to date in a race at this venue.
Carlos Sainz lost three positions from his front row start to finish fifth in the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. It’s the sixth consecutive race in which he’s finished in a worse position than where he started.
Finishing sixth, Lance Stroll recorded his first points since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. This was the second time Stroll has picked up points at the Spanish Grand Prix, he also scored in 2020, with a fourth place finish.
With seventh place at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso equalled Michael Schumacher as the driver to have reached the chequered flag on the most occasions at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Alonso recorded his worst result of the season to date. It was the first time he failed to finish in the top four in 2023. Seventh place is Alonso’s best result at his home event since finishing sixth with Ferrari in 2014.
Esteban Ocon finished in eighth place at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, picking up points for the third consecutive season at the track.
Finishing ninth, Zhou Guanyu equalled his best result of the 2023 season so far and picked up points for the fifth time in his career.
THE OTHER FINISHERS
Charles Leclerc started from the pit lane for the first time in his Formula 1 career. With Logan Sargeant also starting from the pit lane, this was the first Spanish Grand Prix in which multiple drivers started from the pits. Prior to 2023, Nico Hulkenberg – in 2019 – is the only other driver to have started the Spanish Grand Prix from the pit lane.
After starting from the pit lane, Leclerc finished the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix in 11th place. It marked the first time Leclerc has reached the chequered flag without scoring since finishing 15th in the 2021 Russian Grand Prix.
This was the first race in which Leclerc has finished in a better position than where he started since the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Yuki Tsunoda finished ninth on the road at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix but dropped to 12th in the final order following a five-second penalty. With Nyck De Vries also finishing outside of the points in 14th, this was only the second time in the last nine Catalunya races that the Red Bull junior team failed to score any points.
For the fourth time in the first seven races of the 2023 season, Lando Norris finished in 17th place. This was the first time Norris failed to score at the Spanish Grand Prix since his maiden season in 2019.
With Lando Norris falling from third on the grid to 17th at the finish and Oscar Piastri finishing only 13th, McLaren failed to score at the Spanish Grand Prix for the first time since 2017.
After lining up seventh on the grid, Nico Hulkenberg could finish no higher than 15th in the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. This was the 26th time that Hulkenberg lined up seventh on the grid, equalling Fernando Alonso for the most starts from the seventh grid slot.
Kevin Magnussen finished 18th at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. It’s his worst result to date at the Catalunya track but he maintains his 100% finishing record at the circuit.
With neither Hulkenberg nor Magnussen scoring, this was the fourth consecutive season in which Haas have failed to score at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas finished in 19th place at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix, recording the worst result of his career, excluding retirements.
Bottas failed to score at the Spanish Grand Prix for the first time since 2017. 2013 – when he finished 16th – is the only other Catalunya race in which the Finn has not picked up points.
Logan Sargeant finished 20th for the second time in his career. The 2023 Spanish Grand Prix makes him the 16th F1 driver to record multiple 20th place finishes during their career.
With Sargeant 20th and Alex Albon 16th, this was the seventh consecutive Spanish Grand Prix in which Williams failed to score.
EVERY DRIVER FINISHES THE 2023 SPANISH GRAND PRIX
For the second time in the last three races, every driver finished at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. The race is the 12th in F1 history at which every driver who started the race reached the chequered flag.
Seven teams started the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix from the top seven grid slots. It’s only the sixth time that has occurred in Formula 1. The last time it happened was at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
