LANDO Norris gained three places at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to secure an eighth-place finish at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old from Glastonbury qualified in 11th yesterday after having his fastest Q2 lap time deleted after he exceeded track limits at turn 12 by just a few millimetres.

He also revealed after qualifying he has been struggling with sickness, saying: “I've not been great all weekend, to be honest with you. It's not Covid.

“I'm just suffering with my throat and my eyes and seeing, which doesn't help.

“I've got many things, my sleep and everything and energy levels is probably the worst I've had in a long time. Definitely not my peak this weekend.” 

After the race, it was confirmed he had been diagnosed with tonsillitis. 

Norris rose to ninth at the start of the race following a collision between Lewis Hamilton and Kevin Magnussen and a Carlos Sainz spin at turn four.

He also overtook his teammate Daniel Ricciardo on lap nine ahead of the first round of pit stops.

He climbed to seventh ahead of his second pit stop, which saw him drop back to P9.

After overtaking Vettel on the main straight with help from his drag reduction system (DRS), he pitted once more for medium tyres - again dropping him to ninth.

He finished in eighth after passing AlphaTauri's Yuki Tsunoda to claim four more world championship points, taking his total to 39 for the season.

He sits in seventh in the drivers' world championship standings between Hamilton (sixth) and Bottas (eighth).

Max Verstappen won the Grand Prix to take the lead of the drivers' world championship and maintain his record of winning every race he has completed this season.

His teammate Sergio Pérez finished in second place ahead of George Russell, home racer Sainz, Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and Esteban Ocon.

An excellent recovery drive from Hamilton saw him finish in fifth after sustaining a puncture on the first lap following contact with Haas driver Magnussen.

The seven-time world champion was running in fourth ahead of Sainz, but his Mercedes team told him to “lift and coast” through corners in the closing laps to ensure he reached the chequered flag.

Norris's teammate Ricciardo finished the race in twelfth.