Max Verstappen was booed after claiming yet another commanding F1 victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Starting second, Verstappen got past polesitter Lando Norris on the run to the first corner despite being squeezed onto the grass by the McLaren gun.
But both were jumped by the fast-starting Mercedes of George Russell who put on a brilliant move around the outside to take the lead.
Advertisem*nt
READ MORE: Protesters force bizarre end to PGA Tour tournament
READ MORE: Star whacks Cricket Australia call after shock win
READ MORE: Bunnies facing 'catastrophe' over brutal exit call
Verstappen took the lead into the first corner at the start of the third lap, and was never headed, although Norris was closing on the three-time world champion in the closing laps.
Verstappen was booed by fans as he climbed from the car and celebrated his third-straight victory at the Barcelona track.
Having finished second, Norris leapt to Verstappen's defence, and said the Dutchman's dominance of the sport is always going to polarise fans.
"People are always going to boo, I think, no matter what. You have it in every sport," he said.
"You support people and you don't support other people. It's happened in sport for years and years and years.
"Max is winning every race, so people are not going to like that and it definitely makes the sport less exciting, but that's just because he's doing a good job, (but) there's a fine line.
"I think everyone within the sport appreciates it and respects it – you have to and I think everyone does, but people who don't know the most about motorsport are probably not going to be able to appreciate as much because they don't know what really goes into it and what it takes to be in that position and do what he's doing."
Verstappen arguably didn't have the quickest car around the 4.6km circuit, and Norris felt as though he'd let a potential win go begging.
The Brit was slow off the line in his McLaren, and was passed by both Verstappen and Russell into the first corner. He spent the rest of the first stint stuck behind the Mercedes, which likely cost him a shot at the race victory.
"We should have won today ... I quite easily had the best car there," he said.
"I just didn’t do enough job off line. That one thing cost me everything.”
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes was third. It was the first podium of 2024 for the seven-time world champion, who is in his last season before joining Ferrari next season.
Verstappen said his moves to get past Norris and Russell so early proved crucial so he could build an advantage and keep the hard-charging Norris at bay.
"What made the race was the beginning, taking the lead on lap two and eking out the gap a little bit," Verstappen said.
"Lando and McLaren were very, very fast today. We drove an aggressive strategy but it played out at the end.”
Verstappen managed his tyres on the tough Barcelona track, and his Red Bull team pulled off two clean pit stops to avoid any costly mistakes.
Norris showed his great form by chasing down both Mercedes after his second pit stop. He got past Hamilton and then featured in a long duel with Russell midway through the race. Norris swerved past, Russell counterattacked to edge ahead, before Norris finally got in front.
The jousting also favoured Verstappen with the seconds added to his advantage proving crucial later on.
Norris pushed hard over the final 10 laps and was closing on the Dutchman, but ran out of laps. He crossed two seconds behind Verstappen.
Verstappen said he expects more tight races ahead, with the Austrian and British Grand Prix coming on consecutive weekends.
"We are struggling a little bit for that outright pace, and we didn’t have the best tyre life today compared to Lando," he said.
"I can’t really say that we did something wrong in the race, but we just need to try and find more performance."
Russell finished fourth, while it was a bad day for Leclerc and Carlos Sainz as neither Ferrari could contend with the front-runners. Sainz, the Spanish fan’s best hope for a win, finished sixth after twice being passed by Hamilton.
Norris' McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri was seventh. Sergio Pérez in the other Red Bull was eighth after his start from 11th place following a third-place grid penalty incurred in last round’s Canadian GP.
Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top 10. Fernando Alonso was 12th in his Aston Martin.
After a tough weekend for his RB team, Daniel Ricciardo was 15th.
The Spanish Grand Prix was the first leg of a triple-header. The second is at the Austrian Grand Prix next weekend, followed by the British Grand Prix.
