Victory for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in the Spanish Grand Prix was a salutary reminder of what a formidable combination the world champion and his team make. Hamilton’s controlled, relentless driving, allied to astute and bold strategy, has been one of the cornerstones of their success.
At the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya they gave notice that this mighty edifice is as strong and apparently impregnable as ever.
Hamilton had started from pole but lost the lead to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the opening lap. With overtaking so hard in Spain, that might have been that but for Mercedes’ belief in their man’s ability to deliver and their willingness to give him the chance to do so.
Gambling that Hamilton could make a two-stop strategy work, Hamilton came back to make up a 21-second deficit and pass Verstappen, who was to finish second, in 17 laps. Valtteri Bottas was third for Mercedes. Hamilton now has three wins from four races and is 14 points ahead of Verstappen.
Revelling in pulling off what had looked like an unlikely victory Hamilton immediately paid tribute to the team effort, describing it as a “perfect strategy” but noting how well they had prepared for it.
“Great, great teamwork, from all of us,” he driver said.
“We were still here late most evenings discussing strategy and we had all the bases covered in that respect. Of course it just meant I had to do the job on track and coming back from 21 seconds was not easy but it was the right call in the end.”
Losing their pole advantage almost at once, Hamilton and Mercedes orchestrated a superb comeback that left Red Bull unable to match their rivals. Red Bull have a competitive car this season and in Verstappen a driver unafraid to take on Hamilton and beat him. Here, however, they were reminded that they will also have to out-think their rivals, who have seven years of winning championships under their belts and are operationally a fearsome unit.
Hamilton acknowledged how tight the season was. “This is a period of time where I have to be at the best, weekend-in, weekend-out,” he said. “Max is driving exceptionally well, as is Valtteri. It’s so close between all of us it’s going to take perfect delivery each weekend.”
If the opening three races were decided in toe-to toe battles between Hamilton and Verstappen, this one was the first where the pit wall proved decisive. It was telling in how much it meant that there was a chorus of pleasure across the team.
Immediately after Hamilton took the flag he was thanked by his engineer Pete Bonnington, who noted: “You made that strategy work beautifully.” The chief strategist, James Vowles, followed with: “Well done, Lewis. Great drive.” And finally the team principal, Toto Wolff, added: “Lewis perfect combination. Great strategy, bold and great driving.”
Indeed the mutual respect between them was key to the win. Hamilton had been all over the back of Verstappen when the team called him in for his decisive second stop. “I was about to get a shot to get past him as I pitted,” said Hamilton. “I was really conflicted, do I come in or ignore the call? I did what the team asked because there is a great trust between us. Remarkable job by everyone in this team. What a day.”
Verstappen conceded that they simply did not have enough pace. “I tried everything,” he said. “Managed it as good as I could but it’s not enough when they are pushing you and they have clearly more pace.” Verstappen had appeared to hold all the cards. The Dutchman, starting in second place, drew alongside Hamilton on the long drag to turn one and threw his car up the inside, squeezing Hamilton just wide.
It was risky and aggressive but exactly what the Dutchman is good at while Hamilton did well to avoid a clash, recognising he needed to stay in the game. With passing so difficult the race looked as if it was in Red Bull’s grasp.
The pair were evenly matched on pace, eking out their rubber in a cat-and-mouse run as they headed towards the first pit stops.
Verstappen went first but with a slow stop of 4.2 seconds. Hamilton inherited the lead and had the opportunity to push and Mercedes advised him to stay out. It appeared a key moment. They had opted to go longer when it seemed they might have done better to pit Hamilton immediately when they had the advantage of the slow Red Bull stop. It transpired they already had other plans.
The extra time worked for Verstappen and, when Hamilton pitted, he emerged behind the Dutchman, who had track position and again looked in control. The game was not up, however. Hamilton, knowing he was going to stop again, piled pressure on Verstappen, forcing him to work his tyres hard, and then Mercedes struck, pitting Hamilton again on lap 42 to take fresh tyres.
He emerged 21 seconds back with 24 laps to catch and pass Verstappen. It was the same scenario as Hungary in 2019 when Mercedes two-stopped and Hamilton chased him down to win. Red Bull could not react and, with the die cast, Hamilton delivered as Verstappen was left reeling with a severe sense of deja vu.
Taking seconds a lap out of Verstappen’s lead, Hamilton caught him by lap 58 and, with a telling tyre advantage, the world champion was indomitable. He flew past on the main straight on lap 59. He and Mercedes had done it again, another remarkable win as Hamilton edged a step closer to his eighth title.
Bottas was comfortable in third with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc fourth, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez fifth, Daniel Ricciardo sixth for McLaren and his teammate Lando Norris eighth. Carlos Sainz was seventh in the other Ferrari with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon ninth and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly 10th.
UK Guardian
