Hamilton reigns in Portugal after spectacular moves to pass Verstappen and Bottas
Lewis Hamilton said he will be sick of the sight of Max Verstappen by the end of the year following a victory his former rival Nico Rosberg labelled as "phenomenal" in yesterday's Portuguese Grand Prix.
Hamilton was staring down the barrel of defeat after a sloppy restart dropped him to third in Portimao.
But the British driver pulled off two supreme moves - first on Verstappen and then a beleaguered Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes - to win for a 97th time and lay down a statement of intent in his quest for an unprecedented eighth world championship.
It is the third time in as many races Hamilton and Verstappen have gone wheel-towheel, with the former striking back after his rival's Imola win to move eight points clear in the standings ahead of next week's Spanish Grand Prix.
"What a phenomenal race by Lewis," Rosberg, the only man in the last seven seasons who has been able to stop Hamilton from winning the title, told Sky Sports.
"Max is starting to get a better understanding of just how good Lewis is. He has to do everything to beat him in the championship and at the moment it is 2-1 Lewis."
Hamilton missed out on pole to Bottas by just seven thousandths of a second, and by lap seven he was third.
The safety car was deployed to deal with the debris caused by Kimi Raikkonen running into the back of Alfa Romeo team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi and Hamilton was caught napping by Verstappen at the restart.
But he was back ahead of the Red Bull just four laps later. In hot pursuit of Bottas, Verstappen made a mistake at Turn 14 allowing Hamilton to move into the Red Bull's slipstream.
Racing at 200mph, Verstappen moved to his right and squeezed Hamilton towards the pit wall. But the world champion held his nerve to slide up the inside of his rival at the opening bend. Verstappen eyed up Hamilton three corners later, but the Briton planted his Mercedes on the apex and Verstappen was forced to yield.
Hamilton was soon crawling all over the back of Bottas. One wondered whether Mercedes would order the Finn to move aside with Verstappen in striking range. But Hamilton took the decision out of their hands with a dazzling pass on lap 20 of 66.
Bottas defended the inside line heading into the first corner. Hamilton followed in the tow of his Mercedes teammate before suddenly darting to the left in the braking zone and passing a dumbfounded Bottas around the outside.
Such was Hamilton's speed advantage, he moved two seconds clear of Bottas inside just four laps and from there he never looked like losing. Bottas, who later fell behind Verstappen, is already 37 points adrift of his team-mate in the title race.
"None of us here are under any illusions as to just how hard it is, how close the battle is, and how we are all giving absolutely everything in our day-to-day lives to be the best prepared and to deliver," said Hamilton, 36.
"It is going to be like this for the rest of the season. It is a great fight between Mercedes and Red Bull and it is clear we will be pushing right until the last race. We will be sick of each other by the end of it."
Sergio Perez finished fourth for Red Bull ahead of Lando Norris, who delivered another fine drive to take fifth. The young Briton is third in the championship.