F1 drivers want Verstappen DQ after ugly incident

Oscar Piastri is fast becoming the favourite to win the Formula One world title after claiming his fifth win from nine races this season at the Spanish Grand Prix.

As chaos unfolded behind him, Piastri held off McLaren teammate Lando Norris to claim the chequered flag and also another slice of history by equalling the most wins in one F1 season by an Aussie.

Victory in Spain saw Piastri level Jack Brabham’s 1960 world title season with his handful of wins, which was later equalled by Alan Jones in 1980.

Piastri also became just the third driver in history to achieve eight podium finishes in a row, joining Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton.

“It has been a great year and this weekend has been exactly the kind of weekend I was looking for, we executed everything we needed to when it counted and that’s all we could ask for,” Piastri said.

“The team gave me a great car once again, it’s a lot of fun winning races at the moment and I’ve been enjoying it and I hope the team are too.

“It was a great weekend overall.

“The overall pace was really good and we could turn it on when we needed to. I’m just very proud of the work we’ve done this weekend.

“It wasn’t the best first practice and then we got our stuff together, it’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco, it’s been a superb weekend.”

Piastri sits atop of the world standings with 186, Norris is 10 behind him while reigning world champion Max Verstappen is 49 behind after finishing 10th.

Charles Leclerc completed the podium after claiming third place.

CALLS FOR VERSTAPPEN BAN

It seems McLaren's dominance is having a particularly bad impact on Verstappen with George Russell accusing the Red Bull driver of deliberately crashing into him during the race.

“If it was truly deliberate then absolutely,” Russell said when asked if Verstappen should have been disqualified from the race. “Because you cannot deliberately crash into another driver.

"We are putting our lives on the line. We are fortunate the cars are as safe as they are these days but we shouldn’t take it for granted.

“It felt very deliberate. It is something I have seen numerous times in sim racing and go-karts. I have never seen it in a Formula One race. It felt strange, bizarre and I really don’t know what was going through his mind.”

The pair collided on turn one of the course with Verstappen refusing to return the position gained for three laps.

The incident earned him a 10-second penalty which dropped him from fifth to 10th.

He was unapologetic after being told of Russell's comments.

“Well, I’ll bring some tissues next time," he said.

Former world champion Nico Rosberg told Sky Sports the incident should have earned Verstappen a black flag.

HOW THEY FINISHED 1st: Oscar Piastri

2nd: Lando Norris

3rd: Charles Leclerc

4th: George Russell

5th: Nico Hulkenberg

6th: Lewis Hamilton

7th: Isack Hadjar

8th: Pierre Gasly

9th: Fernando Alonso

10th: Max Verstappen

11th: Liam Lawson

12th: Gabriel Bortoleto

13th: Yuki Tsunoda

14th: Carlos Sainz

15th: Franco Colapinto

16th: Esteban Ocon

17th: Oliver Bearman

DNF: Kimi Antonelli, Alex Albon