After surviving a turbulent weekend, with problems with his DRS and also driving into the gravel as early as on lap 9, Max Verstappen emerged victorious at the Spanish GP on Sunday. His title-rival this season, Charles Leclerc, on the other hand, was forced to retire. 

With the win at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Verstappen has now taken the lead in the drivers’ championship. The Dutchman has 110 points as opposed to Leclerc’s 104. 

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Verstappen, however, couldn’t do it alone. The reigning world champion needed some assistance from his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to score his fourth win of the season. The Mexican driver was leading the race after Leclerc had abandoned when his team told him to let Verstappen pass on Lap 49 of 66.

“It’s unfair but OK,” Pérez told his team.

Pérez, who could have taken just his third career win, finished second ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in third.

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“Of course I went off the track, lost the rear and went off. My DRS wasn’t always working and that made it very tough but we managed to do a good strategy together. We did our own race and eventually won. It was a difficult beginning but a good end. I tried to stay focused. At the end, I was very happy to win. The car was good on the soft tyres but the mediums were also working well,” Verstappen said after the race.

Leclerc started on pole. He was leading the race till lap 27, when his car lost power on Lap 27.

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“No! No! No! What happened?” the Monaco driver screamed. 

Lewis Hamilton, after dropping to the back of the pack on Lap 1, managed to recover and finish fifth behind  Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz. His Mercedes teammate George Russell came third.