Barcelona: Defending World Champion Lewis Hamilton Dominated from the start to win the Spanish Grand Prix Sunday by 20 seconds for his second straight Formula One (F1) victory, increasing his championship lead over his rival Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
The Briton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas secured a one-two for Mercedes at the Circuit de Catalunya, while Max Verstappen completed the podium despite finishing the race with a broken front wing on his Red Bull.
Vettel, who now trails Hamilton by 17 points in the drivers’ standings, was only fourth after a slow pit stop. Daniel Ricciardo was fifth in the second Red Bull while Magnussen in the Haas finished behind Ricciardo. Renault’s Carlos Sainz finished seventh ahead of former two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso who managed to finish in the eighth position.
Force India driver Sergio Perez and Sauber’s Charles Leclerc put in sterling performances to claim ninth and 10th positions respectively. Vettel’s teammate Kimi Raikkonen was forced to retire his Ferrari with an engine problem on lap 25.
The win is Hamilton’s second of the season and one he will believe is fully deserved. He inherited victory in Baku but in Spain, having claimed pole with a superb lap, he converted it with clinical efficiency that exploited the performance he has sorely lacked from the Mercedes in three of the four previous rounds. This win was his 64th career victory and third in this circuit.
The victory will be hugely pleasing and of some relief to the Briton. Mercedes have not been able to get the most from their car since the opening round in Melbourne and have been repeatedly out-paced by Ferrari.
