The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hamilton leaves it late but wins in Spain
Lewis Hamilton perfectly executed a Mercedes pit-stop gamble to beat Max Verstappen to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix and declared: “There’s life in this old dog yet”.
Hamilton’s hopes of a third win from four races seemed slim when he was left out on old tyres for four laps longer than his rival during the opening round of pit stops at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
But the world champion’s Mercedes team rolled the strategy dice by calling in their star driver for a second time with 24 of the 66 laps remaining.
Hamilton was faced with a daunting 22-second deficit to overturn, but by the start of lap 60, Verstappen was within striking range.
The seven-time world champion followed the Dutchman at more than 200mph along the pit straight before darting to the left and placing his Mercedes around the outside of Verstappen’s Red Bull to secure his 98th win and fifth in as many visits to Spain.
“That is what we are taking about, Lewis,” said Hamilton’s race engineer, Pete Bonnington, over the radio.
Team principal Toto Wolff, who watched the action unfold with Sir Jim
Ratcliffe, one-third owner of Mercedes and Britain’s richest man, threw his arms up in celebration as Hamilton executed the comeback. Ratcliffe then joined Hamilton on the podium to toast a win which moves the 36-yearold 14 points clear of Verstappen in the title race.
Hamilton’s latest triumph arrived 24 hours after landing his 100th pole – a landmark which led Damon Hill to describe his compatriot as one of the most talented people to have walked the Earth.
“There is still some life in this old dog,” said Hamilton, 13 years older than Verstappen. “I saw Damon’s tweet yesterday and I feel so much gratitude towards him.
“I remember growing up watching Damon and having, as I do now, so much respect for him.
“I was rooting for him as a Brit to succeed even when he didn’t have a great car or good team.”
Hamilton insists he has no interest in psychological warfare but after trailing Verstappen for 60 of the 66 laps he dropped a post-race comment which may niggle away at the back of his title rival’s mind.
“I learnt a lot about Max today, perhaps more than all the other races put together,” he said. “This has been a good race in that sense.”
Asked to elaborate, Hamilton smiled: “No, not particularly. When you are with people on track you get to see different things up close. I learnt a lot about his car and how he uses it.”
In the closing stages Verstappen bolted on a set of new tyres to post the fastest lap and claim a bonus point as some consolidation.
On a different strategy to Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas was ordered by Mercedes to move out of his teammate’s way. He did so reluctantly, later admitting: “I definitely could have let him by earlier. I am not here to let people by. I am here to race.”