Red Bull's Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen took the championship lead from Ferrari's Charles Leclerc with a dominating win in Formula 1 Spanish GP on Sunday.
Earlier, Leclerc had to retire from a winning position. Verstappen too had problems with an early spin and DRS issues blocking his progress but fresh tires for a final stint let him easily catch Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez to win.
Ferrari's Monegasque driver looked to have driven off into the distance from pole position only for an unidentified power unit issue to end his race on the 27th of 66 laps around the 4.675-kilometer Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. He led by 11 seconds at the time.
Verstappen's third successive triumph put him on 110 points to Leclerc's 104 going into next weekend's classic in Monaco.
George Russell of Mercedes completed the podium in third, ahead of Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari.
Lewis Hamilton was fifth in the second Mercedes despite a first-lap collision with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen dropping him to the back of the grid.
Leclerc had seen a huge standings lead over Verstappen cut over the last two races but seemed to have done everything right in Spain.
After holding off Verstappen at the start, he cruised away until losing power and being forced to limp back to the pits.
"I don't know anything more than what happened," he said. "I had no indications and then it broke.
"It is a shame. In those moments I believe there is nothing else I can do except look at the positives which there are plenty.
"It gives me the confidence for the rest of the season. On the other hand, we will look at this issue."
Verstappen continually complained over team radio about his Drag Reduction System (DRS) not working which allowed Russell to defend heroically from the Dutchman, who had made his way back from a lap 9 trip to the gravel.
They briefly exchanged positions on lap 24 in a superb spell of driving after the first pit stops and soon after Verstappen pitted again for a fresh approach.
His speed when not dueling was enough to make the difference and when Russell made his next stop on lap 37 Verstappen had the race in his hands.
An extra stop for fresh rubber on lap 45 saw him almost immediately make up the 6-second deficit to Perez almost immediately, who nonetheless was instructed by his team not to defend. The Mexican did at least take the fastest lap bonus point.
Perez said on the radio: "I am happy for the team. We need to speak later."
Hamilton making his way through the field to fourth suggests Mercedes are slowly regaining their competitiveness but he was told to coast home to prevent a mechanical failure and dropped a late place to Sainz.
Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo), Esteban Ocon (Alpine), Lando Norris (McLaren), Fernando Alonso (Alpine) – who started last having changed parts – and Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri) were also in the points.
Sebastian Vettel (Aston Martin), Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri), Mick Schumacher (Haas), Lance Stroll (Aston Martin), Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon (both Williams) finished outside the points positions.
Zhou Guanyu also retired his Alfa Romeo with an apparent power issue.
