At the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, it was another Mercedes 1-2 finish – but at the back of the pack this time – as Dutch teenager Max Verstappen took full advantage of a first lap crash that took out both 2016 season points leader Nico Rosberg and his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, virtually gifting Verstappen his first Formula One victory ever and allowing him to become the youngest driver to ever win an F1 race.
Verstappen began the race in fourth position behind Hamilton, Rosberg and Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Daniel Ricciardo – but Hamilton, the pole-sitter – was immediately passed by Rosberg, who has won all the races so far, on the first turn and it looked like another settling in of watching the two Mercedes run away from the pack until…Hamilton tried to return the favor and pass Rosberg but instead crashed into him and took both of their cars out of the race before the first lap was even completed.
From then on out, it was a four-car race for the three podium spots between the two Red Bulls and two Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel. Ricciardo held the lead for much of the early portion of the race but different pitting strategies allowed Verstappen to grab the lead halfway through the race where he tenaciously held on to it over the advancing Ferrari assault from Raikkonen and Vettel. Ricciardo eventually succumbed to a tire puncture in Lap 65 and Verstappen held off both Ferraris in the end – beating Raikkonen by 0.6 seconds and Vettel by 5.5 seconds.
With the results, the season point standings now have Rosberg leading with 100 points, Raikkonen moving into second place with 61 points and Hamilton dropping to third with 57 points. Vettel and Ricciardo are tied for fourth with 48 points.
2016 Spanish Grand Prix – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – 66 laps – 191 miles
1 Max Verstappen – Red Bull 25 1:41:40.017
2 Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari 18 +0.616
3 Sebastian Vettel – Ferrari 15 +5.581
4 Daniel Ricciardo – Red Bull 12 +43.950
5 Valtteri Bottas – Williams 10 +45.271
6 Carlos Sainz Jr. – Toro Rosso 8 +1:01.395
7 Sergio Perez – Force India 6 +1:19.538
8 Felipe Massa – Williams 4 +1:20.707
9 Jenson Button – McLaren 2
10 Daniil Kvyat – Toro Rosso 1
11 Esteban Gutierrez – Haas
12 Marcus Ericsson – Sauber
13 Jolyon Palmer – Renault
14 Kevin Magnussen – Renault
15 Felipe Nasr – Sauber
16 Pascal Wehrlein – Manor
17 Rio Haryanto – Manor
18 Romain Grosjean – Haas
19 Fernando Alonso – McLaren
20 Nico Hulkenberg – Force India
21 Lewis Hamilton – Mercedes
22 Nico Rosberg – Mercedes