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F1: Peerless Hamilton sweeps to victory in Spain

May 13, 2018

Lewis Hamilton has moved 17 points clear at the top of the championship with a pole-to-flag victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, leading a Mercedes 1-2. Sebastian Vettel finished a disappointing fourth.

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Formel 1| Grand Prix Spanien
Image: Getty Images/. Ramos

Lewis Hamilton wiped the floor with the opposition as he recorded his second victory of the season to retake control of the championship.

The defending world champion dominated and clocked a series of record laps as he registered the 64th victory of his career. Only Michael Schumacher on 91 has more, and came from Hamilton's 74th pole.

He joined seven-time champion Schumacher and two-time champion Finn Mika Hakkinen as a three-time winner in Spain.  

Finn Valtteri Bottas came home second in the second Mercedes ahead of Dutchman Max Verstappen of Red Bull who resisted late pressure from four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who led Hamilton by 17 points after the opening three races this year.

Vettel started third on the grid and moved up to second on the opening bend, but that was as good as it got for the German, who struggled on an afternoon where Hamilton was in imperious form.

As it happened:

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX!

Lap 66/66 Hamilton on his final lap and cruising towards a dominant victory.

Lap 64/66 "The more I manage it the more I lose temperature" complains Bottas, who will be happy to see the finish line in Spain.

Lap 61/66 Verstappen is carefully managing a 2.8 second gap to Vettel, who looks unlikely to get on the podium today.

Lap 58/66 "Rain forming up to the west, but it's still quite far away. We will keep an eye on it," McLaren tells Alonso

Lap 56/66 "That's a really good pace Max, keep it up" Red Bull tells Verstappen, who is still holding off Vettel. 

Lap 53/66 Ricciardo has set a new fastest lap of 1.19.147, half a second quicker than Hamilton. But Ricciardo still seems on course to finish fifth.

Lap 51/66 Hamilton sets a new fastest lap. 1 minute 19 seconds now and 15 seconds clear of Bottas.

Lap 48/66 Verstappen is concerned about his front wing. Red Bull says he's got endplate damage.

Lap 47/66 A period under the virtual safety car is over and it's now a Mercedes one-two with Hamilton leading Bottas by 14.5 seconds. And surely that's the way it will stay.

Lap 45/66 A slow stop for Vettel and it costs him a place. The German is now behind Verstappen.

Lap 43/66 Vettel takes advantage of a virtual safety car period for Ocon's stoppage to make a second stop.

Lap 39/66 Hamilton has extended his lead over Vettel to over 12 seconds. It's a one-horse race out there.

Lap 36/66 Sainz is quickly pulling away from Leclerc, who is now under big pressure from Alonso for eighth.

Lap 33/66 Hamilton finally retakes the lead with just over 8 seconds in hand on Vettel.

Lap 30/66 Ricciardo pits from third place and rejoins on the mediums in fifth.

Lap 27/66 Looks as though Raikkonen's race is run. His Ferrari is being wheeled back to the garage.

Lap 25/66 Hamilton in peerless from so far, lapping faster on old softs than Vettel and Bottas are managing on new mediums. The Briton is unstoppable at the moment.

Lap 23/66 And the medium tyre has had an immediate impact...

 

Lap 21/66 Bottas has also pitted for the medium tyre, and rejoins just behind Vettel again.

Lap 18/66 Vettel pits! The first of the leaders to do so, he is now on medium tyres and rejoins the race in seventh.

Lap 17/66 Hamilton now seven seconds clear at the front. Vettel under pressure to respond.

Lap 14/66 Hamilton in a league of his own at the moment. 

Lap 13/66 Astounding pace from Hamilton at the moment. He's now 5.5 seconds ahead of Vettel and was a second quicker than Vettel on the last lap.

Lap 11/66 We're back in full flow now and Hamilton has already built up a two second lead over Vettel.

Lap 9/66 Grosjean has been sent to medical centre for an examination. He suffered the heaviest imapct there.

Lap 8/66 There's still debris and oil on the track, but we may be about ready to go again...

Lap 7/66 The stewards will investigate Grosjean for that incident after the race.

Lap 6/66 We're still waiting for all the debris to be cleared from the track after that incident, which left Hulkenberg, Gasly, and Grosjean all out.

Lap 2/66 Romain Grosjean has heavy damage and the safety car is out. Hulkenberg and Gasly also involved in what looked like a horrible crash.

Lap 1/66 GO! GO! GO! Vettel overtakes Bottas on the first bend to go second! Hamilton still in front.

15.10 The warm-up lap is done and we're just about ready to go...

15.00 A reminder of how they line up at the front of the grid...

14.55 CET Guten Tag! We're 15 minutes away from lights out in Barcelona.