Max Verstappen claimed the Driver of the Day award at the 2025 Spanish GP, despite a bizarre ending to the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya that saw him appear to try to crash into George Russell.
Oscar Piastri nailed his start on Lap 1 and then duly checked out from the rest of the field as he opened up a gap to the Red Bull behind, who had jumped Lando Norris when the lights went out.
The Australian held his lead through the opening stint and seemed destined to be bound towards his fifth win of the season, and to extend his championship lead in the process.
However, the four-time world champion aimed to fight back through a clever use of a three-stop strategy and he looked to be making it work as he got himself back into the hunt against the McLarens ahead.
But as Red Bull aimed to bring their race back to life, they ended up burning through their tyre allocation and when a late safety car came out as Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes retired from the race, chaos ensued.
The 27-year-old had to pit for hard tyres and was left compromised at the restart, almost crashing as he tried to get the power down on his RB21, allowing Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari through into Turn 1.
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At the same time, George Russell tried a lunge into the same corner and forced the defending champion off as he began to lose his composure and his fiery temper began to surface once again in Montemelo.
Then when Gianpiero Lambiase told him to surrender the place in order to avoid a penalty, he appeared to use the moment to send a message as he slowed down and seemingly was going to let the Silver Arrows driver through, only to then dive at him into Turn 5 as they almost collided.
For his transgressions, he collected a 10-second time penalty that ultimately dropped him from fourth down to 10th as he lost valuable championship points. All the same, Verstappen was still voted Driver of the Day at the 2025 Spanish GP.
Piastri wins 2025 Spanish GP amid Verstappen drama
Meanwhile, at the front, Oscar Piastri showed no signs of pressure as he expertly controlled the restart to fend off Norris and the rest of the chasing pack behind, showcasing his icy cool mentality once again.
By doing so, he takes his fifth win of the season and his eighth podium of the 2025 Formula 1 season whilst extending his championship lead to 10 points over his McLaren teammate in the process. Verstappen is now 49 points off the lead.
“A great weekend overall,” Piastri told F1 TV after the race. “The pace was really good, we can turn it on when we needed to.
“Just very proud of the work we did this weekend. It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco. A superb weekend.”
