Gain in Spain for delighted Hamilton
LEWIS Hamilton has moved to within six points of Sebastian Vettel after beating his championship rival in a titanic tussle at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Pole-sitter Hamilton lost the lead to Vettel at the start only to regain the lead from the Ferrari driver in the final stages of a compelling race to seal his second victory of the year.
Hamilton punched the air in delight as he crossed the line. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium places after Valtteri Bottas retired with an engine problem.
Sergio Perez finished fourth with his Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon an impressive fifth. Alonso was only 12th while British driver Jolyon Palmer finished 16th and last of all the classified runners following another disappointing day at the office.
“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 wheel-towheel battle with Vettel, Hamilton added: “In the heat of the moment it is difficult to know from the outside view what it is like. 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.”
Vettel added: “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 and we did everything we could.” Final Positions after Race (66 Laps): 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr Mercedes GP 1hr 35mins 56.497secs, 2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:35:59.987, 3 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:37:12.317, 4 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India at 1 Lap, 5 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India at 1 Lap, 6 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault at 1 Lap, 7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap, 8 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari at 1 Lap, 9 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso at 1 Lap, 10 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 at 1 Lap, 11 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari at 2 Laps, 12 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren at 2 Laps, 13 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams at 2 Laps, 14 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 at 2 Laps, 15 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault at 2 Laps, 16 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams at 2 Laps. Not Classified: 17 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 38 Laps completed, 18 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 32 Laps completed, 19 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1 Laps completed, 20 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 0 Laps completed