2016 F1 Round 5 Spanish Grand Prix race – Verstappen takes first win as youngest F1 Grand Prix winner

On May 15, Verstappen won the Spanish Grand Prix for Red Bull at the age of 18 years and 228 days. He won his first race with his new team and became the youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history. He was also the first Dutch driver to win an F1 Grand Prix.

Post-race archive photograph taken at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 15, 2016. Verstappen and his father Jos display the trophy together.

Hamilton and Rosberg collided on the approach to Turn 4 on the opening lap. Both Mercedes drivers retired, with zero completed laps recorded in the official classification. The stewards subsequently investigated the collision.

Ricciardo took the lead after the collision. Sainz briefly fought Vettel for position, while Räikkönen recovered to fifth after a slow start. Vettel passed Sainz on lap eight, and Räikkönen moved ahead one lap later when the Toro Rosso pitted.

The leading four made their first pit stops at different times. Ricciardo stopped on lap 11, Verstappen and Räikkönen on lap 12, and Vettel waited until lap 15. Red Bull remained ahead of Ferrari after the stops.

Ricciardo and Vettel adopted three-stop strategies, while Verstappen and Räikkönen chose two stops. Ricciardo and Vettel made their second stops on laps 28 and 29 respectively. Verstappen stopped again on lap 34 and Räikkönen on lap 35, before Vettel made his third stop on lap 37 and Ricciardo on lap 43.

Post-race archive photograph taken at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after the Spanish Grand Prix on May 15, 2016. Verstappen celebrates his first victory with Red Bull.

Verstappen faced sustained pressure from Räikkönen from lap 44 until the finish at the end of lap 66. The gap between them was less than a second for much of that time, but Verstappen held the lead to win by just 0.616 seconds.

The battle for third between Vettel and Ricciardo continued to lap 59. Ricciardo passed at Turn 1 but ran wide and subsequently gave the position back. With one lap remaining, Ricciardo suffered a loss of tyre pressure. He pitted for a replacement and still retained fourth.

Vettel finished third and Bottas fifth. Sainz, the home driver who had remained at Toro Rosso, was sixth, with Pérez and Massa seventh and eighth respectively. Button finished ninth, while Kvyat was tenth and set the fastest lap. Alonso retired at his home race after his engine lost power, with the official classification recording 45 completed laps.