Lando Norris may have cause to be self‑critical in the wake of a gripping Spanish Grand Prix, where he felt he had let Max Verstappen through the door for a win. Yet the British driver did his level best to rectify it and put in a blistering run to harry the Dutchman to the flag and, while it will be cold comfort, his form and that of his McLaren team is such that Verstappen knows now he has a fight on his hands.
Verstappen took the flag in Barcelona only 2.2 seconds clear of Norris, after the 24-year-old drove his heart out to try to make up the deficit to his Red Bull rival twice in the space of the 66-lap race. It was a bravura display of pace and passing that rescued what would otherwise have probably been a pedestrian affair, with Verstappen once more out in front for the vast majority of the race.
