Lewis Hamilton has managed to grab his fifth successive Spanish Grand Prix this Sunday after a fierce battle with Max Verstappen.
The Brit currently has 98 career wins after his strategic tyre change won him the chequered flag. This lifted him 14 points clear of Verstappen in the drivers’ standings.
His teammate Valtteri Bottas took third while Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari came in fourth.
Hamilton began the race with his 100th pole but was overtaken by Verstappen around the first corner. The same happened to Bottas who was overtaken by Leclerc on Turn 2.
On lap eight, Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri came to a grinding halt, ending his race in Catalonia.
“Engine stop,” the Japanese rookie announced as the Safety Car was deployed to clear the immobile obstacle.
Verstappen managed to hold the lead against Hamilton after the restart on lap 11 while Leclerc continued to split the two Mercedes.
After the completion of a third of the race, all eyes were on Hamilton and Verstappen, guessing which of them would go for a pit stop first.
It was Verstappen who pitted in lap 25, but the stop was slow by a couple of seconds.
A few laps later, Hamilton pitted and the crew had their hopes on the fresh set of medium tyres which he carried on for a few laps.
But on lap 43, Mercedes had a trick up its sleeves.
Hamilton, with a lead of half a second, entered the pit yet again for another fresh set of mediums. He re-emerged with around 23 seconds behind Verstappen who had significant tyre wear.
As a result, Hamilton managed to move in to second. With no team orders in sight, Bottas forced his teammate to go into full overtaking mode.
With 10 laps to go, Hamilton was behind Verstappen by just three seconds. Finally, on lap 60, he overtook the Dutchman on Turn 1 as his team boss Toto Wolff punched the air in delight.
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