Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed another magical weekend by claiming a dominant victory at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix.
Leading the race from the off after he took pole position with ease on Saturday, the Dutchman took the chequered flag for the fifth time this season as his World Drivers’ Championship title defence continued in style.
Verstappen was originally put under pressure by Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who nearly took the lead at the opening corner of the race but after fighting off that advance, he never looked in any form of danger for the rest of the race.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton came home in P2 around a track where he’s previously won six times – the joint-most in history – whilst his teammate George Russell rounded out the podium spots with a fantastic recovery drive from P12 on the grid.
Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Lance Stroll, Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu all took points in a largely uneventful race on the outskirts of Barcelona.
MORE: F1 Spanish Grand Prix predictions, odds, betting tips, best bets for 2023 race
F1 2023 Spanish Grand Prix results
| Position | Driver | Team | Points |
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 26* |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 18 |
| 3 | George Russell | Mercedes | 15 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Mercedes | 12 |
| 5 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 10 |
| 6 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 8 |
| 7 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 6 |
| 8 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 5 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | AlphaTauri | 2 |
| 10 | Zhou Guanyu | Alfa Romeo | 1 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | |
| 12 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | |
| 13 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | |
| 14 | Nyck De Vries | AlphaTauri | |
| 15 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | |
| 16 | Alex Albon | Williams | |
| 17 | Lando Norris | McLaren | |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | |
| 19 | Valtteri Bottas | Alfa Romeo | |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | Williams |
F1 Spanish Grand Prix 2023 live updates, highlights: As it happened
CHEQUERED FLAG: MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE 2023 SPANISH GRAND PRIX!! Red Bull’s flying Dutchman produces yet another perfect performance to grab his fifth victory of the season here at the Circuit de Catalunya. It’s about as easy as a win he’s ever likely to have in F1 as he finishes over 24 seconds ahead of Hamilton with Russell finishing in P3 as he holds off Perez at the death.
MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX!!! 🏁🏆🎉#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/joTJtLClnW
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
Lap 64: Two laps left and Perez needs to make up 4 seconds on Russell to get himself onto the podium here. That seems unlikely now but you never know!
Lap 63: Tsunoda recites a five-second penalty for that previously mentioned incident. Meanwhile, Verstappen pumps in the fastest lap.
Lap 61: Verstappen receives the black and white flag for exceeding track limits three times. Elsewhere, race control note Tsunoda for a potential infringement on Zhou Guanyu as the Alfa Romeo driver has to take to the safety road at corner one.
Lap 57: Perez is told to look after his tyres for a final attack on Russell whilst the Mercedes man is told to watch out for the Mexican in the final laps of this race. We could have a great battle coming up!
Lap 54: Perez uses DRS down the start/finish straight and he gets past Sainz with ease. Next up, Russell.
Lap 51: Red Bull respond to that Hamilton stop by bringing Perez in for soft tyres. He comes out behind Sainz and Russell and will look to hunt them down.
Elsewhere the crowd go wild as Alonso gets past Ocon. The Frenchman put up a dangerous defence but the veteran manages to avoid the danger and get up to P7.
Lap 50: Russell has now pumped in the fastest lap of this race and he sets about chasing down Perez for the final podium spot.
Should Red Bull stick or twist with Perez – stay out on the old hard tyres and switch for some softs? Hamilton pits.
Lap 47: Russell comes in for his final stop and come out on fresh softs ahead of Sainz and behind Perez. He’ll make the gap to Perez back up but that could be an early stop for soft tyres with 20 laps still to go.
Lap 43: Sainz pits for hard tyres as does his teammate Leclerc. Sainz comes out 19 seconds behind Perez, a gap he may struggle to bridge today as the Red Bull driver could go until the end on his own set of hards.
Lap 41: Hamilton has just been told to keep pace in P2 but hold position as Mercedes look to extend this run on the medium tyres. It looks like it’ll be him and teammate Russell on the podium today alongside Verstappen.
Lap 37: Verstappen laps Norris as he increases his lead to over 15 seconds. That’s a devastating blow for the McLaren man who started this race in P3 but suffered damage on the opening lap.
Lap 34: Perez now also gets past Ocon and begins to chase down Stroll who is currently in P5. The Red Bull driver has hard tyres on and could go until the end of this race, could he battle it out for a podium spot?
Speaking of podium places, Russell jumps Sainz down the start/finish straight to go into P3.
LAP 35/66
Super pass by Russell on Sainz down the inside at Turn 1! He’s up to P3
No sweat 😉#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/HCQ0laZumZ
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
Lap 31: Perez jumps Alonso to get into P8. The Aston Martin man is really struggling out there much to the annoyance of the Spanish crowd!
The rain that Russell announced a few laps ago was actually sweat in his own helmet.
Lap 28: As Russell says there’s rain falling at corner five, his teammate Hamilton makes a move on Sainz to get up into P2. Russell is now chasing the home favourite as he takes the fastest lap of the race so far.
Lap 26: A lap after his teammate comes in, Russell now also pits. He comes out just infront of Ocon in P6 which could be crucial.
Verstappen is also in and comes back out on the hard tyre. That could see him go all the way until the end here in Barcelona.
Lap 25: Gasly has overtaken Leclerc, De Vries and Hulkenberg over the last couple of laps. The Alpine man is absolutely flying out there at the moment!
Hamilton pits and comes out behind Sainz by a few seconds.
Lap 23: Gasly pumps in the fastest lap of this race as the track continues to get faster and faster. The top four are still yet to pit here but who will pull the trigger first? It could prove very important.
Lap 20: The order is a little jumbled at present with some drivers making early stops and some not.
Verstappen leads by 8 seconds from Hamilton, Russell, Perez and Sainz. Alonso pits.
Lap 16: Sainz pits and switches to the medium tyres. He comes out behind teammate Leclerc who’s up to P8.
Lap 14: Hamilton is now beginning to turn the screw in his chase of Sainz for P2 in this race. The Mercedes man is taking chunks out of the Spaniards lap times.
Lap 11: There’s plenty of overtakes here and early pit stops as both Alfa Romeos and Haas cars have been in. Russell now makes a great move on Ocon and is up to P5 from P12 on the starting grid.
Lap 8: Not to be outdone by his teammate, Hamilton now also passes an Aston Martin car in Lance Stroll to move into the podium spots and P3.
The British driver needs to build that gap quickly.
Lap 7: After a few laps of trying with DRS, Russell gets around the outside of Alonso and is up to P6. Alfa Romeo’s Zhou Guanyu is up to P8 after already making up five places.
Lap 5: So Verstappen leads with a gap of nearly two seconds to Sainz in P2. Stroll then follows just behind, with Hamilton in his rear-view mirror. It’s then Ocon, Alonso and Russell.
Russell has been noted by the Marshalls for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Decision pending.
Lap 3: Plenty of movement up and down the order already as Stroll, Alonso and Russell have all taken early overtakes. Russell is up to P7.
LIGHTS OUT: It’s away we go at the Circuit de Catalunya and Verstappen leads. Sainz very nearly gets the jump on the Red Bull man but Verstappen just holds on. Norris and Hamilton collide behind and the McLaren man has damage, what a disaster for him! Stroll up to P3 for Aston Martin!
2 minutes to lights out: We’re off for the formation lap ahead of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix. Can home favourite Carlos Sainz force his way into an early lead from P2 on the grid? We’re about to find out.
Imagine the scenes if either Carlos or Fernando win today! 🤩🇪🇸#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/LYpZaMxfrN
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 4, 2023
15 minutes to lights out: The drivers are now heading to the front of the grid for the national anthem.
30 minutes to lights out: The pit lane is open and all of the cars have made their way to the grid for today’s race. Not long left until we get underway here in Barcelona and crucially for now, there’s no sign of any rain.
George Russell did have a bit of a moment as he skidded off the track on the way to the grid but it looks as though his car is fine.
1 hour to lights out: A bit of news that’s worth mentioning and that’s that both Charles Leclerc and Logan Sargeant will start from the pitlane this afternoon as both made car modifications whilst under Parc Ferme conditions.
That won’t really come as a surprise to Ferrari fans in particular who would have expected the Italian team to make changes to Leclerc’s car following his awful P19 showing in qualifying yesterday!
1 hour and 15 minutes to lights out: Home favourite Carlos Sainz is Verstappen’s closest competitor today in terms of grid order and he’ll be hoping to pounce early on in this race if he’s to stand any chance of defeating the Dutchman in Barcelona.
1 hour and 30 minutes to lights out: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News’ live coverage of the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix taking place at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Max Verstappen starts from pole position again as he looks to win for the fifth time this season.
Remember when @alo_oficial casually dropped one of the best race starts of all time in Spain? 🤯#SpanishGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/JfK4IQxoBK
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 31, 2023
Spanish Grand Prix 2023 starting grid
| Position | Driver |
| 1 | Max Verstappen |
| 2 | Carlos Sainz |
| 3 | Lando Norris |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 5 | Lance Stroll |
| 6 | Esteban Ocon |
| 7 | Nico Hulkenberg |
| 8 | Fernando Alonso |
| 9 | Oscar Piastri |
| 10 | Pierre Gasly* |
| 11 | Sergio Perez |
| 12 | George Russell |
| 13 | Zhou Guanyu |
| 14 | Nyck De Vries |
| 15 | Yuki Tsunoda |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas |
| 17 | Kevin Magnussen |
| 18 | Alex Albon |
| PIT | Charles Leclerc |
| PIT | Logan Sargeant |
* denotes six-place grid penalty
What time does the F1 race start?
- Date: Sunday, June 4
- Start time: 14:00 BST / 09:00 ET / 23:00 AEDT / 15:00 local time
Sunday’s 2023 Spanish Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 15:00 local time. Lights out will take place just after 14:00 BST/09:00 ET.
Below is the complete schedule for the weekend’s F1 events at the Spanish Grand Prix.
| Date | Event | Time (BST) | Time (ET) | Time (AEST) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday, June 2 | Practice 1 | 12:30 | 07:30 | 21:30 |
| Friday, June 2 | Practice 2 | 16:00 | 11:00 | 01:00 (Sat May 20) |
| Saturday, June 3 | Practice 3 | 11:30 | 06:30 | 20:30 |
| Saturday, June 3 | Qualifying | 15:00 | 10:00 | 00:00 (Sun May 21) |
| Sunday, June 4 | Race | 14:00 | 09:00 | 23:00 |
MORE: F1 Spanish Grand Prix 2023: Time, schedule, TV channel, live stream for race week
What TV channel is the F1 on?
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| TV Channel | Sky Sports F1 | ESPN/ABC | TSN (English); RDS (French) | Fox Sports |
Where can I live stream F1?
| UK | USA | Canada | Australia | |
| Live Stream | NOW TV / Sky Go app | ESPN+ | fuboTV, TSN Direct | Kayo |
How to watch Formula 1 in the US
- TV channel: ABC; ESPN
- Live stream: FuboTV / Hulu / Sling TV
F1 fans in the USA can catch all the action in 2023 with all 23 races set to be shown live on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. For Spanish-language viewers, they can find live broadcasts on ESPN Deportes, though ESPNews and ESPNU will also show some practice and qualifying sessions live throughout the year.
As well as on the official F1 TV service, the action can be live streamed on Hulu + Live TV with subscriptions. Elsewhere, Sling TV will also show the action, as too will FuboTV in the US.
How to watch Formula 1 in Canada
- TV channel: TSN (English); RDS (French)
- Live stream: TSN Direct
For fans in Canada, TSN will carry the English-language telecast of races. For those looking for the French-language broadcast, RDS will have you covered.
Races can be streamed on fuboTV and via TSN’s streaming service, TSN Direct.
How to watch Formula 1 in the United Kingdom
- TV channel: Sky Sports F1
- Live stream: NOW TV / Sky Go app
Viewers in the United Kingdom can catch all F1 action on Sky Sports F1, the dedicated F1 channel. For viewers planning to live stream F1 in 2023, you can watch via the Sky Go app if you’re an existing subscriber or you can purchase a Sky Sports Pass on NOW TV.
How to watch Formula 1 in Australia
- TV channel: Fox Sports; Channel 10
- Live stream: Kayo
Fox Sports will carry all races in Australia for the 2023 season.
How to watch Formula 1 in India
- TV channel: N/A
- Live stream: F1 TV Pro
No TV broadcast network is currently set to host the action throughout this year in India, though Formula 1 has launched F1 TV Pro in the country for the first time so fans can live stream the action.