Race Highlights | 2022 Spanish Grand Prix

What will happen over the course of the next 66 laps is the Spanish Grand Prix in 2022. It's lights out and away we go. And it's a fairly even start. Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen from Verstappen is now coming back. And Leclerc moves over to cut him off. Carlos Sainz has already been passed by George Russell. Sergio Pérez on the inside, down into Turn 1. Charles Leclerc has the lead from Verstappen. George Russell gets tagged but manages to stay on the track. Sergio Pérez just clipping his rear tyres. And there's Lewis Hamilton on the inside, battling away with Carlos Sainz. Does the inside work out well for the Mercedes as we head down towards Turn 4? No, Sainz is ahead there of Hamilton and now coming round the outside and making contact. It's Kevin Magnussen and Magnussen goes off to the gravel in the Haas. Lewis Hamilton survives, but has he got damage on his Mercedes? He's going very, very slowly around Turn 5. Leclerc was a little bit to the right-hand side of his start box, actually, but went across and covered off Verstappen immediately. And now Sainz is sort of wrong-footed. He's now lost a place to Pérez. And at this point, Lewis Hamilton comes up and George Russell and Pérez getting together there as well. And there's the contact in front of him. And now Lewis is on our right-hand side as well. So Lewis, a little bit of understeer on the corner. I think the students are going to say that's a racing incident at the start of a Grand Prix. Kevin is perfectly within his rights to try to go round the outside. Lewis just grabbed me. He knew what he was doing. And into the gravel goes Carlos Sainz and there'll be no cheers for that. He's down in sixth place and at Turn 4, Carlos Sainz has had a moment, rejoins the racetrack, but he has lost places as he tumbles down the order. And not for the first time this season. Let's have a look and see what happens here. Spun on his own. That's very similar, much higher speed, to what happened to Leclerc in the first part of Q3 yesterday. Like a pendulum effect. No damage to the tyres, take the tyres. And into the gravel goes Max Verstappen. Verstappen at Turn 4, now passed by Russell and his teammate Pérez. Verstappen was running in second place, becomes the second car in this race to just go off at Turn 4, running on its own. I'm assuming it's going to be a carbon copy of what happened. Yeah, just a big lazy slide. Max, info. DRS flap did not open last lap. Keep trying. OK, Max, just so you're aware, DRS did work on the in-lap. So whatever is going on is an intermittent problem, it seems, on Max Verstappen's Red Bull. What's Max Verstappen going to do here? DRS activated, extra pace, accelerating into Turn 1. Max Verstappen, is he past George Russell? George Russell squeezes through on the inside. Verstappen tries to fight him back. Now into Turn 3, Russell ahead by half a car length. Going round the outside of Turn 3, Verstappen leaves the track. Russell still ahead on the rundown into Turn 4. We've not seen too much between these two in terms of attack and defence before. But I am one that wants to see much, much more. Charles Leclerc must wonder where everybody got to this afternoon. But that's a Ferrari going very slowly. That's Charles Leclerc going very slowly. No! Oh, no! No, what happened? What happened? Lost power. A loss of power, a race that was going absolutely splendidly for him. And he is out of the race. George Russell crosses the line. Max Verstappen's DRS is working. This is now a battle for the lead. And George Russell stays in the lead. Meanwhile, Lance Stroll takes a spin after making contact with Pierre Gasly, as Max Verstappen now comes into the pits. George Russell will be defending from Sergio Pérez, as Verstappen now makes his second stop of the race. And this is the closest yet Pérez has been. Yes, it is. And he's only got a couple of car lengths as George Russell moves over to the inside. And now Sergio Pérez manages to clear that Mercedes and make his way into the lead of this race. Battery Bottas, Ferrari power unit, has Max Verstappen right behind him. Verstappen just pitted onto the soft compound tyre. Absolutely flying here, trying to go around the outside at Turn 12. Don't see very many overtakes there. Verstappen had so much grip coming out of Turn 11. Beautiful move. And George Russell pits. So he's not going to get the chance to go around Max Verstappen. Mercedes left it until right at the last moment before they could bring George Russell in and basically avoid any unnecessary wheel-to-wheel action and give him his second pit stop. OK, you want a different strategy to Max. If he's quicker, we let him through. That's very unfair, but OK. Yeah, he's letting through now. Yeah, that was the point I was making. You know, he didn't spin off the track. But, you know, Max's tyres are six laps younger. Second mid. Sainz is going to be first to have a go then at Valtteri Bottas. Gets past him very nicely going into Turn 1. Hamilton has to slot behind the Alfa Romeo and just back out a little bit going into Turn 2. Hamilton now fancies his chances to go around the outside at Turn 3 and does so. Hamilton moves up to fifth. Carlos Sainz moves up into fourth place. Carlos Sainz just trying to break the tow somewhat as they pass the main grandstand, but he's not broken it enough as Lewis Hamilton moves to the outside of the track and then swoops round in front of Carlos Sainz and up into fourth place. So we do as much lift and coast as possible. This is a DNF risk. So, Lewis, if we have to give up the place, then we'll have to do that. So avoid full load. This is a DNF risk. And Lewis then, look at this. He's a sitting duck down the straight. Carlos Sainz is all over him. Listen to that cheer. It has been very hot in the cockpit at times. The celebrations, though, will very much be welcomed by Max Verstappen and Red Bull as Verstappen wins the Spanish Grand Prix. His teammate Sergio Perez will come home to claim second place and the fastest lap. It's a 1-2 for Red Bull. Russell takes his second podium place of the season, finishes third for Mercedes. Wow. Sometimes you've got to do it the hard way. Well done, Max. Not an easy start to the race, but we turned it around at the end. So, yeah, very good job also for the team. So the weekend where Max Verstappen wins for a 24th time and takes the lead, Martin Brundle, of the championship. And a championship lead after the Australian Grand Prix was, what, 46 points for Charles Leclerc. How quickly things have changed. The reliability issue today has really turned the championship around. So Verstappen leads by six points and Red Bull lead by 26 points over Ferrari in the Constructors.