Oscar Piastri Extends Championship Lead On A Perfect Weekend For McLaren

Oscar Piastri won the Spanish Grand Prix to round off a pretty much perfect weekend for him and his McLaren team. Apart from Lando Norris setting the fastest time in FP1, the Australian topped every other timesheet, including all three sections of qualifying.

This is Piastri’s seventh Formula 1 win, the fifth this season, as well as his second hat-trick (the win, pole position and fastest race lap). McLaren now has 196 wins to its name, nine of them in this Grand Prix. With Lando Norris finishing second, the team notched up its 52nd one-two finish. The last time that happened at this track was in 2000, when Mika Hakkinen won ahead of David Coulthard.

Charles Leclerc finished third to claim his 46th podium finish, his first in this event. It is Ferrari’s third podium of the season, the 39th at this race.

Lance Stroll did not take part in the race and for the start, most of the remaining 19 drivers opted for the Soft for the first stint: ten went with a used set and eight with a new one, while Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda was the only driver to fit Mediums for his start from pit lane.

The appearance of the Safety Car in the closing stages prompted almost all drivers to make an additional stop, with the Red Bull drivers pitting in total four times, having previously decided on a three-stop strategy. That meant Verstappen had to take on a set of Hards for his fifth and final stint, thus providing a small splash of white on the race’s tyre usage colour chart.

Oscar Piastri – P1

“I’m really happy to have won today. It was a great weekend overall. The pace was really good. We could turn it on when we needed to. It’s been a great year so far and this weekend’s been exactly the kind of weekend I was looking for. We executed everything we needed to when it counted and that’s all you can ask for. The team gave me a great car once again, and I’m very proud of the work we’ve done. There was a lot of support in the grandstands, so thanks to the crowd for being out there. We couldn’t have ended the triple header any better as a team.”

Lando Norris – P2

“It was a good, fun race and for us to end this triple-header with a one-two is even better. Congrats to Oscar, he drove a very good race today. I didn’t quite have the pace to match him but we gave it our best shot. It’s a long race, and anything could have happened in the end. We were under pressure with the Safety Car restart, but we managed it really well and kept position. I’m happy to go back home with good points for the team.”

Charles Leclerc – P3

“Yesterday, I knew that I was sacrificing qualifying in order to have a better race on Sunday, but I didn’t expect to find myself standing on the podium, so I’m happy about that. The first two stints were really positive today, the last stint on the Medium was a bit more tricky, but then we had the Safety Car that gave us the opportunity to fit Soft tyres again and we took advantage of it. We still have a lot of work to do and are not yet as fast as we want to be, but now we head home to reset and push to come back stronger in the coming races.”

Mario Isola – Pirelli Director of Motorsport

“A very interesting Sunday in terms of tyre usage. As happened last year at this track, the Soft turned out to be the most competitive tyre, maybe even more so than in 2024. In terms of degradation, the data we saw today is pretty much in line with what we got from Friday free practice, namely that it was significant but manageable. Wear was also significant but there were no surprises, even if in some stints, the limit was reached on the front left, the tyre that comes under the most stress at this track.

“Some drivers did over 20 laps on a set of Softs, even though they started with a full fuel load, while others managed to do 30 or even more on a set of Mediums. Then there was the Red Bull variable, as they tried to mix things up by going for a three-stop strategy, which on paper was clearly slower. They had nothing to lose with Tsunoda, as he was starting from pit lane, but with Verstappen it was a gamble that should have ensured a podium, allowing him to finish not far off the McLarens. However, the Safety Car in the closing stages changed things for Max, who had driven a very aggressive race up to that point, always pushing to the maximum, but then his chances were wiped out.

“Pirelli will stay at this circuit for two days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday, which will be very important for 2026. On this occasion, Mercedes, Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls will provide cars and drivers. On Tuesday, George Russell will be on track for Mercedes, while Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson will both drive a Racing Bull. On Wednesday, Kimi Antonelli will be at the wheel of the Mercedes, while Yuki Tsunoda will drive a Red Bull.”