SPANISH GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS
Title rival Sebastian Vettel tried to challenge the Mercedes after an early safety car brought out by Romain Grosjean on the opening lap. But a second pit stop left him stuck behind the Red Bull of Max Vestappen for the second half of the race and he finished fourth.
Valtteri Bottas slipped behind Vettel at the start of the race but looked to reclaim second at the first pit stops. The Mercedes driver put in two stunning laps to close the “net-gap” to the already pitted Vettel before coming in for fresh tyres. But a slow stop meant he was released behind the Ferrari.
Vettel’s second stop promoted Bottas to second but he was too far back to challenge Hamilton. Bottas finished 20 seconds behind his team-mate.
Verstappen, who was nursing a damaged front wing after contact with Lance Stroll, completed the podium.
Three drivers were taken out on the opening lap when Romain Grosjean was sent into a spin. The Haas was running behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen when he span across the circuit in front of Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. All three retired on the opening lap, with Hulkenberg’s wheel coming off during the incident.
Kimi Raikkonen retired from fourth 25 laps later with a total loss of power in his Ferrari. He managed to make it back to the pits to retire, his second DNF of the season.
Daniel Ricciardo set the fastest lap of the race to finish fifth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen and Carlos Sainz.
Fernando Alonso enjoyed a tough battle with Charles Leclerc to take eighth. The Spaniard pushed hard to find a way past Leclerc but the Sauber driver defended well. Alonso had to wait until after a virtual safety car – brought out when Esteban Ocon suffered an engine failure – to pass Leclerc. The rookie tried to fight back but came under attack from Perez.
Perez passed Leclerc around the outside to take ninth, but the Sauber finished inside the points for a second consecutive race.
Lance Stroll finished just outside the points in 11th, ahead of Brendon Hartley who came to a stop on track on the cool down lap. Marcus Ericsson and Sergey Sirotkin were the final finishers, with Stoffel Vandoorne retiring late in the race.
RESULTS:
1. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 25 Points
2. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 18 Points
3. Max Verstappen / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 15 Points
4. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 12 Points
5. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia / + 10 Points
6. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark / + 8 Points
7. Carlos Sainz / Renault-Renault / Spain / + 6 Points
8. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Renault / Spain / + 4 Points
9. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 2 Points
10. Charles Leclerc / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco / + 1 Point
11. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
12. Brendon Hartley / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
13. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
14. Sergey Sirotkin / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
RETIRED - Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Renault / Belgium / Gearbox
RETIRED - Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / Oil Leak
RETIRED - Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / Turbo
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Crash
RETIRED - Pierre Gasly / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France / Crash
RETIRED - Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / Crash
----
Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
No copyright infringement intended
Follow us on Twitter @bethonieboost & @F1Insider78
