Verstappen's red Bull teammate Sergio Perez will be hungry to prove himself after a couple of non-podium finishes in Monaco and Spain.

Verstappen dominated the race from start to finish, claiming his fifth victory of the 2023 season and his third victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Verstappen made a clean start to maintain his pole position lead over Alonso into the first corner, with the Red Bull using medium starting tyres.

The battle for top spot on the driver's championship table between Red Bull teammates Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen will heat up in Ferrari's back yard.

While Verstappen steadily advanced from ninth to the front on hard tyres, the Mexican led Fernando Alonso off the starting line on medium tyres.

Verstappen made a mistake on his first Q3 run in qualifying and was unable to finish a second attempt when Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashed out, bringing out the red flag.

Verstappen, on the other hand, skillfully extended his initial stint on hards to rise from P9 to P1 through a series of fine moves.

The race’s turning point came when a Safety Car was deployed on either side of the Red Bull drivers’ pit stops.

Early on, Verstappen and Perez passed pole-sitter Leclerc and continued to exchange fastest lap times at the front of the field.

With Leclerc adding to his pole positions from 2021 and 2022, Verstappen taking second, and Sergio Perez taking third in the other Red Bull.