LEWIS IS NO PUSHOVER

Brit shunted off by Vettel but roars back to win

LEWIS HAMILTON was forced off the track by title rival Sebastian Vettel in a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix but declared: “I loved it!” The Brit recovered and then found a way past the German to win by three seconds in Barcelona, narrowing Vettel’s championship lead to six points. And after a battle that saw Vettel (below) beat pole-sitter Hamilton off the starting grid and pull an outrageous overtaking move on Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton said he would not have it any other way. “That is how racing should be,” said Hamilton after recording the 55th victory of his career. “That is as close as it could be. Sebastian was incredibly close and incredibly fast, but the team did a great job with the strategy.” Reflecting on his wheelto-wheel battle with Vettel, Hamilton added: “I felt like I ran out of road. It was definitely close, but as I said that is how racing should be. I loved it. I would not change it for the world. “It is hard. I was straining to keep up with Sebastian – it is a real privilege to race against someone as good as him.” Vettel had already seen off Bottas before Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate suffered a blown engine that ended his race. The Ferrari ace went on to finish second and enjoyed the battle almost as much as Hamilton. Vettel said: “Lewis came out of the pits and I was a bit surprised that it was so close. “I don’t know if we touched but I managed to stay ahead. “I was doing everything I could to stay in front, but as soon as I was alone he just flew past me down the straight, which was a shame. “Well done to him. He drove a good race.” Once Bottas had departed, Hamilton and Vettel, with seven world titles between them, turned this into a two-horse race. The rest were so far behind that third place Daniel Ricciardo was 75.8 seconds behind the winner. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen went out at the start after a collision with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Bottas made a glancing contact with Raikkonen and pitched him into Verstappen on the other side, smashing the suspension on both cars.

Hamilton’s Mercedes is forced wide by Vettel but he came back to overtake him HOW LEWIS GOT BACK ON TRACK