2025 Spanish Grand Prix Race Review

Linus O'Howell
Jun 1
4 min read

Piastri Wins in Spain as Late Safety Car Causes Chaos

Whilst chaos took place behind, Oscar Piastri kept calm throughout to take his 5th victory of the season and extend his Championship lead! Lando Norris came home second to complete a McLaren 1-2 whilst Charles Leclerc capitalised on a late-Race Safety Car to secure back-to-back Podiums for Ferrari!

The Biggest Talking Points

Oscar Piastri got the perfect launch to keep the lead into Turn 1 as Max Verstappen swooped past the other McLaren of Lando Norris! George Russell, on the other hand, didn’t get a particularly good start as he was passed by both Ferraris before the Race itself calmed down a bit! However, after Lando flew past Max, Verstappen opted to change to a 3-stop strategy, and that very much opened up the Race for him! Also, Ferrari were at it again with their strategy as Lewis Hamilton kept keeping his faster teammate Charles Leclerc behind, a strategy that really made no sense whilst Williams were having an absolute shocker as both Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz had to box to change their front wings! Things then got even worse for Alex as more contact with Liam Lawson resulted in the Thai driver retiring from the Grand Prix, by far his worst weekend to date!

As the Race went on, the main action wheel-to-wheel came from Liam Lawson, the Kiwi was really giving it a good go whilst Max Verstappen was hunting down the McLaren’s on the alternate strategy! However, everything changed when the Mercedes power unit of Andrea Kimi Antonelli blew up, resulting in Kimi retiring whilst a Safety Car was brought out! Now, pretty much every driver at the front of the field boxed for a set of soft compound tyres, except Verstappen who was fitted with a set of Hard tyres! Now, when the Race got back underway with just 6 laps to go, Max nearly lost the car completely, costing himself a place to Charles Leclerc (the two actually made contact on the main straight) before George Russell sent one on Verstappen into Turn 1, resulting in the 4-time World Champion taking to the escape road to keep the position! Now, Red Bull made the decision to tell Max Verstappen to let George Russell by, but Max wasn’t having this whatsoever as he drove into the side of Russell’s Mercedes before he eventually let George through later in the lap! Max was given a 10-second time penalty for this, and I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t more because this was far too extreme! Elsewhere, Nico Hulkenberg, yes Nico Hulkenberg, overtook Lewis Hamilton for a sensational P5 for Kick Sauber whilst Fernando Alonso made a crucial overtake to finally earn his first points of the season in the one and only Aston Martin (after Lance Stroll had to withdraw due to wrist pain)!

The Standout Drives in the Race

I’ve given out three 10’s for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, and the first one is obviously for Oscar Piastri! Oscar smashed it once again, he got the perfect start to lead from the front, and he needed this result after a couple of “tougher” weekends! The second driver I’ve given out maximum points to is Nico Hulkenberg, and wow oh wow, P5 in a Kick Sauber has to be one of the best results of this era of cars! Like seriously, Sauber were an absolute shambles last year, and Hulkenberg has gone from 15th to 5th, incredible! The final driver I’ve given a Perfect 10 to is Isack Hadjar, and Isack’s smashed it again today, yes he did get overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg, but he’s a Rookie, and he is absolutely killing it right now! Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc should also be happy with their Podiums whilst Pierre Gasly will go under the radar for his drive today, but a P8 for Alpine is something to be celebrated! And of course, we have to mention Fernando Alonso, finally scoring points at home in a struggling Aston Martin!

Drivers Who Had a Shocker

I’ve given out one 1 for today’s Race, and that is unfortunately for Alex Albon! Honestly, this was a horrific day for Alex, he got damage into Turn 1, forcing him to pit to fix his front wing! Albon then got a penalty for forcing Liam Lawson off the track, and then a lap later, he had more contact with Lawson, resulting in a second front wing being damaged before Williams finally decided to call it a day! My oh my, this was a shocker! Elsewhere, Red Bull had a terrible day, I have no idea what Max Verstappen was thinking, and Yuki Tsunoda ended up 13th! Also, Carlos Sainz had a difficult Home Race in the other Williams whilst Haas had a shocker, finishing last of the running cars!