It was ten years ago on 15 May, 2016 that Max Verstappen scored his first victory in Formula 1, as an 18-year-old, in his first as a Red Bull driver at that year's Spanish Grand Prix.

We look back on an intiguing race weekend at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, and a lap-by-lap account of that historic race, for the record. 

After colliding twice with Sebastian Vettel at the start of the Russian Grand Prix, Daniil Kvyat expected a dressing-down from Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. On May 5, 2016, he learned with astonishment that he was being replaced with immediate effect by Max Verstappen and demoted to Toro Rosso.

A sanction by the energy drinks organisation that seemed draconian to many. Admittedly, Kvyat had been very clumsy in Sochi, but two weeks earlier he had climbed onto the podium in Shanghai. Even better, he had finished the 2015 season with more points than his teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

In fact, it would seem that Red Bull used the incidents in Russia as a pretext to promote Verstappen. The young Dutchman, not yet 19, was indeed coveted by several major teams, notably Ferrari. By immediately placing him at Red Bull Racing, Horner and Marko were tying his hands for a while.

Furthermore, they were getting rid of the troublesome father, Jos Verstappen, by asking him to no longer manage his son's career. As for Toro Rosso, from a breeding ground for young talent, it was becoming a dead end, as neither Carlos Sainz Jr. nor, obviously, Kvyat could now hope to join the main team in the near future.

Teenager Verstappen had certainly never driven the Red Bull RB12 before this Spanish Grand Prix and was content to discover its features on the Milton Keynes simulator.

Frenchman Esteban Ocon drove Jolyon Palmer's Renault during Friday morning's session, before taking the wheel of a Mercedes during the tests that would follow the race.

A weekend to remember

The first practice session on Friday morning allowed the Ferraris to showcase their abilities and occupy the front positions. However, Rosberg set the record straight in the following two sessions.

Hamilton easily secured his 52nd career pole position with a time of exactly 1:22.000. Rosberg joined him on the front row, as expected. The Mercedes cars were far superior to the competition, and if all went well, the following day's race should have been a procession.

The Red Bull-TAG Heuer cars occupied the second row with Ricciardo and an excellent Verstappen. Four tenths of a second separated the new teammates. The Ferraris of Räikkönen and Vettel were relegated to the third row. Despite the high temperatures, the SF16-Hs struggled to get their tyres up to temperature.

Bottas qualified seventh in his Williams, while Massa (18th) was eliminated in Q1 because his team failed to release him onto the track in time. Sainz qualified eighth, well ahead of Kvyat (13th). All showing improvement, the Force India cars (Pérez 9th, Hülkenberg 11th) were alongside the McLarens (Alonso 10th, Button 12th. The rest were would not play a role in Max's win.

Big pressure on Verstappen

Verstappen arrived at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix facing enormous pressure after being promoted from Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing in place of Daniil Kvyat just days before the event. Having never previously raced the RB12, Verstappen relied heavily on simulator preparation ahead of the weekend.

Despite his lack of experience with the car, Verstappen immediately impressed in qualifying by securing fourth on the grid alongside teammate Daniel Ricciardo, just four tenths slower than the Australian.

In the race, Verstappen avoided the opening lap collision between the Mercedes drivers and moved into contention behind Ricciardo. Red Bull split strategies between its two drivers, placing Verstappen on a two-stop strategy while Ricciardo ran three stops.

After inheriting the lead in the closing stages, Verstappen came under relentless pressure from Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen but defended brilliantly for more than 20 laps. At 18-years of age, Verstappen became the youngest winner in Formula 1 history on his Red Bull debut.

Lap-By-Lap: Verstappen's maiden F1 victory

The race took place in intense heat. The tarmac had been cleaned by a heavy downpour the previous evening. All competitors started on soft tyres, except for Haryanto, who was using medium Pirellis.

Start: Rosberg got a better start than Hamilton and tried to overtake him. The Englishman forced him to the left, then to the right, but Rosberg was not about to give up. He moved to the outside and managed to overtake Hamilton under braking with a risky manoeuvre. Ricciardo, Vettel, Verstappen, Räikkönen and Sainz followed.

Lap 1: Distracted by a steering wheel adjustment, Rosberg made a poor exit from the Renault Curve. On the short straight leading to Turn 4, Hamilton slipstreamed behind his teammate and cut to the right where space was minimal. The German driver squeezed the Briton roughly, who persisted, putting all four wheels on the grass, sliding sideways and hitting the other Mercedes from behind. Rosberg and Hamilton ended up in the gravel. Taking advantage of the chaos, Verstappen overtook Vettel, then Sainz passed both Ferraris. The safety car was deployed while Ricciardo led the race from Verstappen, Sainz, Vettel, Räikkönen, Bottas, Pérez, Button, Alonso and Grosjean.

Lap 2: The race was neutralized by the Safety Car. Rosberg was stuck in the sand and retired, while Hamilton, who had lost his front right wheel, remained in his car for a long time, seemingly dazed. The collision so feared between the two teammates since 2014 had finally occurred.

Lap 4: The stewards had removed both Mercedes and the Grand Prix resumed. Ricciardo and Verstappen were in the lead while Sainz held off the Ferraris.

Lap 5: Ricciardo led Verstappen (1.4s), Sainz (3.2s), Vettel (4s), Räikkönen (4.8s), Bottas (6.2s), Pérez (7.6s), Button (8.5s), Alonso (9.5s), Grosjean (10.2s), Kvyat (11.2s) and Hülkenberg (11.7s).

Lap 7: The Ferraris were lurking behind Sainz. Vettel attacked the Spaniard in vain at the first corner.

Lap 8: Vettel overtook Sainz on the long straight. Kvyat was accused of overtaking Hülkenberg and Magnussen under yellow flag conditions and had to let them through.

Lap 9: Räikkönen overtook Sainz on the outside at the Elf corner, but Sainz forced him towards the run-off area. Massa pitted at Williams for medium tyres.

Lap 10: Ricciardo led Verstappen (1.5s) and Vettel (3.4s). Räikkönen overtook Sainz on the inside at the first braking point and this time succeeded. Pérez and Ericsson made their pit stops. Meanwhile, Hamilton and Rosberg were summoned to the Mercedes motorhome to explain themselves to Toto Wolff, Paddy Lowe, Niki Lauda and Dr. Zetsche, who was there to witness the disaster.

Lap 11: Sainz, Button, Hülkenberg and Magnussen changed their tyres.

Lap 12: Ricciardo pitted at Red Bull for medium tyres (2.5s). Verstappen took the lead for the first time in his young career, but he too pitted at the end of the lap. Alonso, Palmer and Wehrlein also changed their tyres.

Lap 13: Verstappen pitted for tyres (2.5s) and rejoined the race behind Ricciardo. Räikkönen and Bottas also made their pit stops. Vettel led by fifteen seconds over Grosjean. Gutiérrez, like his teammate, had not pitted and was currently in fifth place.

Lap 14: Ricciardo overtook Grosjean.

Lap 15: Verstappen overtook Grosjean and Räikkönen passed Gutiérrez.

Lap 16: Vettel changed tyres and rejoined the race in third position. Grosjean pitted at Haas. All the leading drivers opted for Pirelli medium tyres for this second stint.

Lap 17: Ricciardo led Verstappen (2s), Vettel (3.9s), Räikkönen (8.2s), Bottas (14.5s), Sainz (19.2s), Pérez (21.8s), Button (26.1s), Alonso (28.7s), Massa (29.5s), Grosjean (30s) and Hülkenberg (31.5s). Gutiérrez had changed tyres.

Lap 18: Vettel was faster than the Red Bulls. Alonso, Massa and Grosjean were fighting for ninth place.

Lap 20: Ricciardo had a one-and-a-half-second lead over Verstappen and a two-and-a-half-second advantage over Vettel.

Lap 22: Hülkenberg made a hasty stop in the third sector as his Force India started to catch fire following an oil leak.

Lap 23: Ricciardo kept Verstappen (1s) and Vettel (2.5s) at bay, followed by Räikkönen (6.1s), Bottas (19.8s), Sainz (27.3s), Pérez (30.2s), Button (36.4s), Alonso (39.9s), Massa (40.4s) and Grosjean (41.2s).

Lap 24: Ricciardo was struggling to lap Haryanto. Verstappen was closing in dangerously on his teammate.

Lap 25: Haryanto was still holding up Ricciardo. Verstappen and Vettel had closed in just behind the Australian.

Lap 26: The three leaders finally managed to shake off Haryanto. Massa switched to soft tyres at Williams.

Lap 28: Räikkönen was gradually catching the leaders. Ricciardo stopped at the end of the lap.

Lap 29: Ricciardo switched to soft tyres in three seconds and rejoined the track in fourth position. Verstappen was back in the lead. Grosjean also pitted.

Lap 30: Vettel switched to soft tyres (3.5s) and restarted four seconds behind Ricciardo. Massa was making up ground easily thanks to his fresh tyres. He had already overtaken Nasr and both Renaults.

Lap 31: Verstappen had a three-second lead over Räikkönen. Gutiérrez changed tyres.

Lap 33: Vettel was closing the gap to Ricciardo while Verstappen and Räikkönen remained on track. Clearly, Ferrari and Red Bull had chosen different strategies for their drivers. Gutiérrez made a bold overtake on Grosjean at Turn 5. The wheels of the two Haas cars touched.

Lap 34: Verstappen pitted at Red Bull at the end of the lap. He switched to medium tyres (2.7s) and rejoined the race behind Vettel. This would be his last stop, unlike Ricciardo, who planned to add another set of Pirellis. Räikkönen temporarily took the lead.

Lap 36: Räikkönen pitted at Ferrari and, like Verstappen, switched to medium tyres to go the distance (2.6s). Pérez and Button also changed tyres. Suffering from brake problems, Grosjean ran wide into the gravel at Turn 7.

Lap 37: Ricciardo was first, one second ahead of Vettel. Massa took seventh place from Alonso.

Lap 38: Vettel arrived at Ferrari for his third tyre change. His set of soft tyres had lasted only eight laps. He rejoined the race on mediums in fourth position. Grosjean also pitted.

Lap 39: Ricciardo led Verstappen (12s), Räikkönen (15.3s), Vettel (22s), Bottas (31.5s) and Massa (49.5s). Sainz put on his third set of tyres.

Lap 40: Bottas changed tyres but did not lose fifth place. In the middle of the pack, Magnussen boldly overtook Ericsson at Turn 5 while locking his wheels. Alonso pitted.

Lap 42: Räikkönen caught Verstappen while, curiously, Vettel did not gain any ground on them. Massa made his final pit stop and rejoined the race in eleventh position.

Lap 44: Ricciardo made his third pit stop and switched to medium tyres in two-and-a-half seconds. He rejoined the track behind Vettel. Young Verstappen was now in first place and on his way to victory. Ericsson tried to overtake his teammate Nasr at the first corner but completely misjudged his braking point and ran wide.

Lap 45: The battle for victory now pitted Verstappen, the youngest driver in the field, against the veteran Räikkönen. They were separated by one second. Next came Vettel (7.7s), Ricciardo (15.8s), Bottas (45s), Sainz (53.2s), Pérez (58.8s), Gutiérrez (1m 04s), Kvyat (1m 06s), Button (1m 10s), Massa (1m 12s) and Alonso (1m 15s).

Lap 46: Alonso came to a stop on the grass following another failure of his Honda power unit.

Lap 48: Räikkönen was less than a second behind Verstappen. Ricciardo was quickly closing in on Vettel.

Lap 49: Räikkönen was now only half a car length behind Verstappen and looked ready to overtake him.

Lap 50: Ricciardo conceded another two seconds to Vettel. Massa took tenth place from Button.

Lap 51: Räikkönen locked his wheels under braking at La Caixa. His problem was that the Ferrari chassis was inefficient in the closing corners. Consequently, he was always too far behind Verstappen at the start of the long straight to overtake him, despite DRS.

Lap 52: Kvyat made a final tyre change and lost a place to Button.

Lap 53: Kvyat set the fastest lap of the race: 1:26.948.

Lap 54: Räikkönen could not find an opening to overtake Verstappen. One second still separated Vettel and Ricciardo.

Lap 55: Verstappen led Räikkönen (0.6s), Vettel (6.5s), Ricciardo (7.2s), Bottas (50.6s), Sainz (1m), Pérez (1m 11s), Gutiérrez (1m 15s), Massa (1m 16s), Button (1m 24s) and Kvyat (1m 30s).

Lap 56: Räikkönen was glued to the back of the leading Red Bull. Ricciardo was appearing in Vettel's mirrors. Massa took eighth place from Gutiérrez, whose tyres were badly worn.

Lap 58: Räikkönen was still harassing Verstappen, who was perfectly controlling a car that was slippery in the corners.

Lap 59: Ricciardo attacked Vettel on the inside at the first braking point and pushed him towards the kerb. The German took the run-off area and rejoined the track ahead of the Australian. They crossed the second corner wheel-to-wheel, but Vettel maintained the advantage. Grosjean returned to his garage with failing brakes and retired.

Lap 60: Räikkönen was half a second behind Verstappen. Gutiérrez was now under attack from Button and Kvyat.

Lap 61: The leaders encountered traffic. Ricciardo tried to overtake Vettel at the end of the straight but braked hard to avoid going off the track.

Lap 62: Räikkönen remained in Verstappen's slipstream. Button overtook Gutiérrez.

Lap 63: Ricciardo lost time behind Gutiérrez, who would soon be overtaken by Kvyat.

Lap 64: Räikkönen was now a second behind Verstappen. He could no longer use DRS and had lost all chance of victory.

Lap 65: Verstappen had now won the race. Ricciardo slowed down suffering a puncture on the left rear. He limped back to the pits, fitted new tyres to complete the final lap and rejoined the race just behind Bottas.

Lap 66 and final lap: Ricciardo easily overtook Bottas. At Turn 14, Magnussen hit his teammate Palmer, from whom he was trying to take thirteenth place, forcing Palmer onto the run-off area before rejoining the track.