Lewis Hamilton shrugged off Red Bull and tyre concerns to seal a dominant Spanish GP victory and extend his F1 championship lead, while a feisty Max Verstappen beat Valtteri Bottas to second.
A week on from a surprise first defeat of the season, Mercedes had been fearful of the threat of Red Bull again in the Barcelona heat – but pole-sitter Hamilton was in control from start to finish despite Verstappen’s admirable efforts.
“That was a Hamilton masterclass,” said Sky F1’s Nico Rosberg, the 2016 world champion and Hamilton’s former Mercedes team-mate.
Verstappen, who was animated on team radio, can take solace from the fact he beat one of the Mercedes given their pace advantage, with Bottas made to rue a poor start to the race which saw him drop down to fourth after Turn One.
Valtteri Bottas was overtaken by both Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll on the opening lap of the Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen therefore remains Hamilton’s closest challenger in the standings, although the six-time champion is now 37 points clear.
The win also means Hamilton has broken Michael Schumacher’s record of 155 F1 podiums, while he is also just three away from the German’s all-time victory record of 91.
“I was just in a daze, I felt really good out there today,” said Hamilton, who eventually beat Verstappen by a whopping 24s after a ferocious final stint.
Hamilton was in a league of his own, and so were the top three. Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas were the only drivers who weren’t lapped during the largely two-stop race, although there was fascinating battling through the midfield.
Lance Stroll took fourth for Racing Point ahead of one-stopping team-mate Sergio Perez, who finished ahead on track but was handed a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc saw his hopes go up in smoke in Spain after his engine briefly cut out and spun him around.
Carlos Sainz was an impressive sixth for McLaren at his home race while Sebastian Vettel spared Ferrari’s blushes with a superb drive in very difficult circumstances, somehow managing his wearing soft tyres.
That was despite more strategy tension on team radio, with Vettel voted Driver of the Day for good measure.
Charles Leclerc had earlier spun and retired in the other Ferrari with an electrical failure.
Alex Albon will also be disappointed, with the Red Bull driver – who has so often been a Sunday star this season – dropping two positions from his grid slot and failing to replicate the pace of Verstappen ahead.
Spanish GP, race result
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
4. Sergio Perez, Racing Point
5. Lance Stroll, Racing Point
6. Carlos Sainz, McLaren
7. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
8. Alex Albon, Red Bull
9. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
10. Lando Norris, McLaren
How Hamilton beat frustrated Verstappen and Bottas
“Definitely Max needs to be seen as the favourite.”
Those were the words of Mercedes boss Toto Wolff on Saturday night, worried about Verstappen’s race pace – which he displayed to fine effect during last weekend’s Silverstone win and, the practice long runs in Spain.
Mercedes’ would have been even more concerned when Verstappen, starting from third, suddenly became Hamilton’s closest challenger on Lap One as Bottas lost two places from the front row.
“We saw the worst of Bottas at the beginning,” concluded Rosberg on the man who replaced him at Mercedes after Verstappen and Stroll both passed him.
Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas took the top three podium spots at the Spanish Grand Prix.
“It’s always going to be tough fighting with Lewis but he left the door open on the inside and let Stroll straight through.”
But while Verstappen hung on to Hamilton in the opening stages, it soon became clear that Hamilton had more race pace than the Red Bull, and was also managing his tyres with ease in comparison.
Verstappen displayed two moments of real frustration on team radio, first when he wanted to get off his soft tyres earlier than Red Bull would allow, and then again during his second stint when they updated him on Hamilton.
“How about we just focus on our race first instead of looking to Lewis?” he said. “Clearly on the soft tyre we were not as fast as them. So let’s do our job, and let them do their job.”
The reply: “Keep your head down Max, please.”
That he did, from there. And while Hamilton was consistently around half a second faster towards the end of the stints, Verstappen still continues to provide a problem for Mercedes, this time frustrating Bottas.
McLaren’s Lando Norris held off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in some incredible wheel-to-wheel racing.
Bottas got back ahead of the Racing Point relatively quickly after his bad start, but was playing catch-up from there – and never got into DRS range of Verstappen ahead.
A second stop on the soft tyres, disappointingly for the Finn, didn’t even get him closer, and he eventually pitted for a third time to successfully snatch an extra fastest lap point from Hamilton.
But make no mistake, this was well and truly Hamilton’s day. And, with four wins from F1 2020’s six races, it’s looking more and more likely that it’s going to be his year.
Spanish GP GP Race Result
| Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1) Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:31.45.279 |
| 2) Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +24.177 |
| 3) Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +44.752 |
| 4) Lance Stroll | Racing Point | +1 lap |
| 5) Sergio Perez | Racing Point | +1 lap |
| 6) Carlos Sainz | McLaren | +1 lap |
| 7) Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | +1 lap |
| 8) Alexander Albon | Red Bull | +1 lap |
| 9) Pierre Gasly | AlphaTauri | +1 lap |
| 10) Lando Norris | McLaren | +1 lap |
| 11) Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | +1 lap |
| 12) Daniil Kvyat | AlphaTauri | +1 lap |
| 13) Esteban Ocon | Renault | +1 lap |
| 14) Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +1 lap |
| 15) Kevin Magnussen | Haas | +1 lap |
| 16) Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo | +1 lap |
| 17) George Russell | Williams | +1 lap |
| 18) Nicholas Latifi | Williams | +2 laps |
| 19) Romain Grosjean | Haas | +2 laps |
| 20) Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | Did not finish |
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