British star Lewis Hamilton proved his class with a stunning race at the Spanish Grand Prix, partly thanks to one incredibly brave call.
Lewis Hamilton has proven why he’s the King of Spain, winning his fifth consecutive Spanish Grand Prix after an aggressive strategy move from Mercedes paid dividends.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led for most of the race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but was overtaken by the British star with less than seven laps remaining.
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Hamilton stunned the Sky Sports commentators by pitting for a second time on the 42nd lap, emerging from the pits more than 22 seconds behind Verstappen.
But the Dutch driver’s older tires were unable to keep the seven-time world champion at bay, Hamilton inevitably zooming past his rival to clinch a 98th career win.
“I was just hunting,” Hamilton told Sky Sports after the win.
“I was so close for so long and I didn’t think in doing that I was going to be able to make the tyres last. But I just managed to. It was a long way to come back from 20 odd seconds back but it was a good gamble, a really great strategy from the team.
“I was about to have a shot at getting past him before I pitted right at the end and I was really conflicted. Do I come in or I do ignore the call and stay out? Obviously I did what the team asked and naturally that’s because there’s a great trust between us.
“Just a remarkable job by everyone in this team. What a day.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo enjoyed one of his most successful races at McLaren, finishing the Spanish Grand Prix in sixth place.
Spanish Grand Prix Results
1st — Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2nd — Max Verstappen (Red Bull)
3rd — Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes)
4th — Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)
5th — Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
6th — Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren)
7th — Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
8th — Lando Norris (McLaren)
9th — Esteban Ocon (Alpine)
10th — Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri)
Race start
Verstappen got his Spanish Grand Prix off to a flyer, overtaking Hamilton at Turn One to clinch the lead early.
After starting the race in seventh, Ricciardo quickly pushed up into fifth spot after overtaking Esteban Ocon and Carlos Sainz, while McLaren teammate Lando Norris remained in ninth.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also showed his class by passing Mercedes driver Valterri Bottas and sliding into third.
Lap 8
A Safety Car was deployed after Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri suffered an engine failure on the eighth lap.
Meanwhile, there was chaos in the Alfa Romeo pit lane as one of Antonio Giovinazzi’s tires had a puncture, and the Italian subsequently dropped to the back of the pack.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before … a totally deflated tyre turns up for a pit-stop,” Martin Brundle said on Sky Sports.
Racing continued a couple of laps later once Tsunoda’s car was removed from the track.
To rub salt into the wounds, AlphaTauri teammate Pierre Gasly was handed a five-second penalty for starting the race slightly ahead of the grid slot.
Lap 15
The tires on Hamilton’s Mercedes were showing early signs of blistering as his battle with Verstappen heated up.
“The right rear tyre on Lewis Hamilton’s car looks ugly. It appears blistered — as does the same tyre on Verstappen’s car,” Brundle said.
“That is the pace these two are going at.”
Hamilton also informed his team the soft-tyre performance was starting to drop off, but he remained about one second behind Verstappen.
Lap 25
A cluster of cars quickly rushed into the pit-lane, including Verstappen and Bottas.
Hamilton subsequently reclaimed first place, while Ricciardo slid into the top three for the first time.
However, the Australian’s joy was short-lived as he also pitted one lap later, rejoining the action in eighth position.
Hamilton eventually changed his tires on the 29th lap, and emerged from the pit lane six seconds behind Verstappen.
Meanwhile, Ricciardo overtook Williams driver George Russell and found himself in a respectable sixth place when Red Bull’s Sergio Perez pitted.
Lap 37
Two fascinating battles developed on Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the race passed the halfway mark.
Verstappen and Hamilton were once again going head-to-head at the front, while fifth-placed Ricciardo is trying to avoid being overtaken by Perez in the faster Red Bull.
On the 40th lap, race control warned the Australian about weaving on the straights, but Ricciardo was briefly given some breathing room after Perez steered off the track on the 41st lap.
Hamilton then stunned the Sky Sports commentators by pitting for a second time on the 42nd lap, emerging behind Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in third place.
“Wow. Has that caught Red Bull unaware?” Brundle asked.
A thrilling finish seemed with Hamilton speeding around Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on the fresh set of tires, repeatedly setting new fastest lap times.
However, the British phenom remained about 18 seconds behind Verstappen.
“At this rate, he will catch us on the last lap,” Red Bull told Verstappen.
Lap 53
Hamilton managed to get ahead of Bottas and slide into second place, but his Mercedes teammate made it as difficult as possible for him.
Instead of letting Hamilton pass, the British driver was forced to attempt an overtake on the 53rd lap, costing him crucial time in the pursuit of Verstappen.
“I think Lewis had to make a proper overtake on his teammate there,” Anthony Davidson told Sky Sports.
Brundle agreed: “Instead of gaining on the race leader, Lewis lost three tenths on that lap.”
However, Verstappen was struggling on his older tires, with Hamilton making up plenty of ground every lap.
The dreaded moment happened on the 60th lap, with the British driver comfortable overtaking Verstappen and cruising towards the finish line.
“In a way I could see it coming,” Verstappen told Sky Sports after finishing second.
“Already at the end with the softs he was faster, and then when we were put on the mediums he clearly had a lot more pace, he could just stay within one second.
“There was not much we could have done. They went for another stop and then I knew it was over because I was already struggling with the tyres and you could see every lap he was getting closer and closer. I was just a sitting duck.”