Hamilton wins in Spanish GP to maintain perfect Mercedes start to 2019 season

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes continued their electrifying start to the 2019 FIA Formula 1 World Championship with a victory Sunday at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. 

Hamilton led teammate Valtteri Bottas to the chequered flag to make it a perfect five one-two finishes from five races for their team.

It was also Hamilton’s 76th career victory, his third of the 2019 season, and fourth in Spain.

Bottas was in pole position to start the 66-lap race but Hamilton had the better start of the two and he led into the first corner. Hamilton did well to hold on to his lead from there, and if not for a safety-car period past the midway point of the race, would have won with a wider margin.

Hamilton finished the sprint in a total time of 1h 35mins 50.443secs. He was 4.074secs ahead of Bottas, while Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing came third 7.679secs behind.

The Ferrari pair of Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively, with Vettel classified 9.167secs off the winning pace and Leclerc 13.361secs adrift.

Rounding out the top 10 and the points winners were Pierre Gasly in the other Red Bull, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Carlos Sainz of McLaren, Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso and Romain Grosjean in the second Haas car.

With the result, Hamilton improved to 112 points on the Drivers’ Championship standings to take over as the leader from Bottas by seven points.

In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes have 217 points and enjoy a massive 96-point lead already over Ferrari who have 121 points.

Hamilton commented post-race: “It’s been an incredible day for the team. We’ve brought an upgrade here and everyone worked so hard to make that possible. I’m very proud of everyone back at the factory and thankful for all their hard work. The guys here at the track are all performing at an extremely high level as well, thank you all.

“When the lights went out, my initial getaway was quite good and we were very close all the way down into Turn 1. I think the Ferrari was alongside us at one point too, so it was a great battle and also a decisive moment in the race. After that I just had to keep my head down and focus on trying to deliver each lap.”

The Formula 1 season continues on May 26 with the Monaco Grand Prix in Monte Carlo.