Lewis Hamilton claims victory in the #F1 #SpanishGP🇪🇸

Lewis Hamilton, huffing and puffing into his cockpit radio, won an exciting Spanish Grand Prix after he and Sebastian Vettel went wheel-to-wheel.

The conflagration that we had hoped for since two of the finest drivers of their generation were instantly marked out as title favourites at the beginning of the season came to light here on a sunny Barcelona afternoon.

To begin at the start. Hamilton, on pole, was outpaced by Vettel, second on the grid. Vettel emerged through the first corner ahead of the Brit.

Vettel was strong up front, Hamilton keeping him honest but not an imminently large object in the Ferrari’s rear-view mirror.

Vettel was the first to stop, a slight problem with his front right tyre delaying him only fractionally. ‘This is the opportunity Lewis – give it everything you’ve got,’ came the instruction over the radio.

Hamilton was into the pits when leading by 14 seconds. He came out, reshod, seven seconds back. There was one other factor at this point – the other Mercedes, that of Valtteri Bottas, in Vettel’s way.

But the German pulled a great move on the Finn. He dummied him, feinting to go left before going right and emerging ahead at the first corner via a plume of soil as his tyre clipped the grass.

This was the warm-up act for lap 44. At this point both men had been in for a second stop, Hamilton’s first as the virtual safety car was deployed as Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren was lifted away after he had turned in on Felipe Massa’s Williams.

Ferrari perhaps tarried a little long with that stop. The upshot was that Vettel emerged from the pits only a fraction ahead of Hamilton; in fact, side-by-side. Vettel held off Hamilton valiantly. ‘That was dangerous,’ said Hamilton of Vettel’s elbows-out style. The stewards saw no need to interfere, and rightly so.

But Hamilton on faster soft tyres had more speed and eventually charged through. ‘No chance, no chance,’ bemoaned Vettel. ‘Like a train.’

The victory was Hamilton’s ‘What can I say?’ said the winner. ‘Fantastic job all weekend.’

So Hamilton cut Vettel’s lead to six points. It was the Brit’s second win of the season in five races. Vettel was second and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo third. Monaco next.

Fernando Alonso was 12th for McLaren. Bottas’s engine blew, a rare setback for Mercedes in that department. But they were still smiling in the garage, a day they and their driver were unbeatable.

Source: Lewis Hamilton claims victory in the Spanish Grand Prix | Daily Mail Online