LEWIS BACK IN CHARGE
Hamilton dedicates victory to young fan
LEWIS HAMILTON powered to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix – then dedicated his triumph to a little boy diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Hamilton is back in charge of the world championship after a fantastic start to the race in Barcelona, where he saw off Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas on the 300-metre dash to the opening bend.
He never looked back, leading every lap before taking the chequered flag and claiming a bonus point for the fastest lap.
Hamilton is now seven points clear of Bottas and 48 ahead of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who came in a distant fourth after Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the podium.
Having secured his third win of the campaign and 76th in his career, an emotional Hamilton anounced he’d been “super-inspired” by five-year-old fan Harry Shaw, recently given just one week to live after battling a rare bone cancer.
Hamilton posted on social media he’d dedicated the race win to Harry and urged others to support the Shaw family’s campaign to raise money for research into Ewing’s Sarcoma.
The Barcelona victory followed a qualifying tussle where Hamilton had been blown away by Bottas.
Having admitted to being too kind to Bottas in Azerbaijan a fortnight ago, the Englishman made no mistake yesterday.
Vettel was quick off his mark too but the German was too gung-ho in his attempt to sweep past both Mercedes cars and he ran off the track
There was confusion on the Ferrari pit wall before they finally told Vettel to get out of team-mate Charles Leclerc’s way.
Later in the race they dithered on whether to order Leclerc aside for Vettel, with the pair on different tyre strategies. Leclerc eventually moved over after they lost time fighting for position.
A safety car, introduced after British teenager Lando Norris crashed out, allowed Verstappen to cement third place. The Dutchman is now third in the title race, 46 points behind Hamilton.