Madrid: Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes defeated Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to win the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on Sunday. Verstappen has been a very close competitor for the Mercedes so far this season and it was the same in Barcelona.Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas finished third. This was Hamilton’s 98th race win and it was a tough one. Hamilton was also aided by a brilliant tactical two-stop strategy from Mercedes. Even as Hamilton won the race, Verstappen recorded the fastest lap. The Red Bull driver gave his all – was bold and aggressive – but Hamilton was just too good.
Verstappen made a brilliant move at the first corner to take the lead in the race despite Hamilton starting on pole position. However, the world champion showed his class as he overtook the Red Bull driver with six laps to go. With the win, Hamilton moved 14 points clear of his prime rival in the drivers’ standings.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished fourth, Sergio Perez (Red Bull) fifth and sixth place for McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was seventh, Lando Norris (McLaren) eighth, Esteban Ocon (Alpine) ninth and Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly completed the top 10.
Hamilton thanked the fans that came out to watch the race and applauded his team for the strategy that worked brilliantly. First, I want to acknowledge all the fans that are here. It’s great to see. I feel great… the training’s working and paying off. It was a really great strategy by the team.
