Multiple records were broken at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, as the world witnessed a future world champion take his first ever win.
About The Spanish Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix joined the Formula One World Championship calendar in 1951. Over the decades, it’s been hosted at a number of locations across Spain. Circuits used include the Pedralbes Street Circuit, the Circuito del Jarama, the Montjuïc Street Circuit, and the Circuito Permanente de Jerez. Since 1992, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been the home of the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Valencia Street Circuit was due to alternate hosting duties with Catalunya, but this never came to be (although the European Grand Prix was held in Valencia between 2008-2012). 2025 is the last year for Formula 1 in Catalunya, as the race is moving to the new Madring street circuit in Madrid from the 2026 season.
The 2016 Spanish Grand Prix
Going into the weekend, Red Bull decided to make a driver swap. Whilst these days that’s standard Red Bull, in 2016 it was a bold move. Daniil Kvyat was demoted to Toro Rosso, whilst his Red Bull seat was to be taken by a young Max Verstappen. Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, said that the move could be “Formula One’s best driver pairing”.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg locked out the front row for Mercedes in qualifying. The two Ferraris of Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel lined up on the third row. Sandwiched between them on the second row were the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.
It’s Go, Go, Go In Spain
As the lights went out, Rosberg slipped past Hamilton to take the lead. Räikkönen had a poor getaway, slipping back down the order and creating more work for himself. Verstappen was initially passed by Vettel, but the young Dutchman snatched the position back as they went through Turn 4. Ahead of them, Hamilton tried to get back past Rosberg. As they battled for the lead, Hamilton spun and collided with Rosberg at Turn 4, taking them both out of the race.
The Safety Car was deployed and Ricciardo happily found himself at the front of the pack with teammate Verstappen in second. Carlos Sainz had managed to weave his Williams into third position, now with Vettel and Räikkönen behind him. At the end of lap four, the Safety Car came in and the race was underway once more. On lap eight, Vettel managed to pass Sainz, with Räikkönen also passing the Williams three laps later.
Middle Stint
Lap 12 saw Carlos Sainz and Jenson Button dive into the pits for new tyres. They were followed one lap later by race leader, Daniel Ricciardo. As the lead Red Bull came in, Max Verstappen took over the lead of the race, making him the first Dutchman to lead a Grand Prix. It was short-lived, however, as Verstappen also pitted on the following lap. Vettel came in on lap 16 for a fresh set of tyres and came back out onto the track in third position. By lap 20, he had managed to get within three seconds of Verstappen.
Nico Hülkenberg’s race came to a fiery end on lap 22, as his power unit went up in flames. On lap 28, Ricciardo pitted from the lead and put a set of soft tyres on the car. Vettel came in two laps later to do precisely the same thing. Verstappen was once again leading the race. Behind him was Räikkönen, and the Finn was closing the gap quickly. By lap 34, he was just 2.1 seconds behind Verstappen. Red Bull called in their young driver on lap 35, and Ferrari responded on the following lap.
Final Push
Vettel pitted for a third and final time on lap 39. Red Bull opted to leave Ricciardo out, and didn’t respond to the Ferrari pit stop until lap 43. This put Ricciardo behind Vettel when the Aussie rejoined the track, but his tyres were oh-so-fresh in comparison and the chase was on. For the Spanish crowd, disappointment came on lap 47 when Fernando Alonso was forced to retire from the race. His McLaren had suffered a software command issue that stopped the internal combustion engine, ending his race prematurely.
Up front, Räikkönen continued to hunt down Verstappen. Räikkönen managed to get within the precious one-second window, now able to activate his DRS. On lap 57, third-place man Vettel found Ricciardo right on his gearbox, but stayed ahead of the Red Bull. Ricciardo made a dive down the inside into Turn 1 on lap 60, but ran wide and ultimately handed the position back to Vettel.
On lap 64, with just two laps remaining, Ricciardo found himself with a puncture. He limped back to the pits, and managed to re-join the race. More importantly, he got out ahead of the Williams of Valtteri Bottas and managed to retain fourth position. The drama wasn’t done there though. Renault teammates, Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer, ran into each other on the last lap. Both of them managed to make it to the end of the race – a small consolation when bringing both cars home with damage.
Verstappen stayed ahead of Räikkönen, crossing the finish line as the first Dutchman to ever win a Formula 1 race. He also became the youngest ever Formula 1 race winner, aged just 18 years and 228 days. Vettel came home in third, taking the final podium spot.
Summary
Swapping out your drivers is always a risky move, but at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix it proved to be a risk worth taking. Thanks to the switch, Max Verstappen broke numerous records. Youngest driver to lead at least one lap, youngest race winner, first Dutch winner and the first driver born in the 1990’s to win a race. It was the boost that began his incredible path to the success and multiple championship wins that are now in his name.
After the race, David Croft said “he has shown he has everything to be a world champion”. Jos Verstappen declared that his son was a better driver than himself, as race wins had eluded the former Grand Prix driver throughout his own career. It was young Max’s first major step into the big leagues…and what a mighty leap it ended up to be.
Which Spanish Grand Prix do you think is a race to remember? Let us know in the comments!
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