Lewis Hamilton has won the Spanish Grand Prix, leading from start to finish after jumping teammate Valtteri Bottas off the line. Bottas, who started from pole position, was under pressure from Sebastian Vettel and teammate Hamilton when the lights went out, and had to concede to the latter heading into Turn 1.
The Silver Arrows streaked away from the rest of the field, followed by Max Verstappen, who managed to get by Vettel around the outside of Turn 3 on the opening lap.
Ferrari again forced to use team orders
Ferrari was delivered a headache as Charles Leclerc closed in on Vettel, who was nursing a flat spot after locking up at the first corner.
On lap 12, Charles was let go by his teammate and started to pull a gap before Vettel peeled into the pits on lap 20 for the medium tyres.
Charles Leclerc followed suit six laps later, but was fitted with the hard tyres rather than the mediums that Vettel recovered. In front, Mercedes pitted both cars and rejoined without coming under pressure.
Sebastian Vettel was then handed fourth place after he caught up to Leclerc on the softer tyre, and Ferrari instructed Leclerc to swap positions. Seb made a second pit stop on lap 41 for another set of mediums, but the field was then neutralised when Lando Norris and Lance Stroll came together at Turn 1 on lap 47.
Both drivers were sent out of the race and the safety car was deployed while the cars were cleared and the track was stripped of the gravel that had been deposited on it from the incident.
With all drivers on fresh tyres, except Vettel and Verstappen who pitted a handful of laps before the safety car, the order within the top six didn’t change, with Mercedes taking a fifth consecutive one-two finish.
Max Verstappen secured Red Bull’s second podium finish of the season, with the first coming at the season-opening Grand Prix at Melbourne two months ago.
Ferrari came home in fourth and fifth, with Vettel leading Leclerc by over four seconds.
Next up, the Formula One F1 series will travel to legendary Monaco in two weeks.
Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix – Race Results
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 66 laps
2. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport + 4.074s
3. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda + 7.679s
4. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari + 9.167s
5. Charles Leclerc MON Scuderia Ferrari + 13.361s
6. Pierre Gasly FRA Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Honda + 19.576s
7. Kevin Magnussen DEN Rich Energy Haas F1 Team + 28.159s
8. Carlos Sainz ESP McLaren F1 Team + 32.342s
9. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda + 33.056s
10. Romain Grosjean FRA Rich Energy Haas F1 Team + 34.641s
11. Alexander Albon THA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda + 35.445s
12. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Renault F1 Team + 36.758s
13. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault F1 Team + 39.241s
14. Kimi Raikkonen ITA Alfa Romeo Racing + 41.803s
15. Sergio Perez MEX SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team + 46.877s
16. Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Alfa Romeo Racing + 47.691s
17. George Russell GBR ROKiT Williams Racing + 1 lap
18. Robert Kubica POL ROKiT Williams Racing + 1 lap
Ret. Lance Stroll CAN SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team
Ret. Lando Norris GBR McLaren F1 Team
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