Spain – Race: Lewis Hamilton, without a hitch
Lewis Hamilton was never threatened after finding the opening from the first meters of the race, which allowed Mercedes to extend their streak to five consecutive one-two finishes. Dieter Zietsche, the CEO of Daimler, couldn't have dreamed of a better start for the manufacturer. Max Verstappen managed to surprise the Ferraris to step onto the podium.
The conditions were perfect for the start of the Spanish Grand Prix. On the grid, all the drivers opted for soft tires, except for Kimi Räikkönen, Lance Stroll, the two Williams cars, and Nico Hülkenberg who chose medium tires.
At the lights out, Valtteri Bottas makes another average start, allowing Lewis Hamilton to get alongside him at the first corner and take the lead. Sebastian Vettel also had an opportunity and opted for the outside. However, the German was forced to go wide at the entry of the first corner as well as in the second. This maneuver resulted in blocking his teammate, Charles Leclerc. Opportunistically, Max Verstappen took advantage and overtook both Ferrari drivers.
The Reds then began to renew their battle from the last Grand Prix. For several laps, Charles Leclerc was very persistent in the mirrors of his teammate. Finally, on the 12th lap, Sebastian Vettel moved aside at the end of the straight to let the Monegasque through. He immediately set about widening the gap while Sebastian Vettel requested a tire change.
His wish was granted on the 20th lap, but his pit stop was very long. One lap later, Red Bull responded by bringing in Max Verstappen. However, the British team made a different strategic choice, putting him on soft tires again, which indicated he would inevitably make at least two stops during this race. In contrast, his teammate, the Frenchman Pierre Gasly, opted for medium tires.
A fourth strategic choice was made by Ferrari as Charles Leclerc left his pit stop with white-striped hard tires. This led to both Ferrari drivers being one behind the other. After several laps spent following each other, Charles Leclerc was forced to let his teammate pass. However, the young driver waited until they were in the slow zone to move aside, clearly expressing his dissatisfaction.
Far from all these considerations, the Mercedes engineers were so unconcerned about the on-track situation that one of them even took the time to comment on Liverpool’s potential Premier League title in the middle of the race.
Wait, you’re an engineer at Mercedes. Your cars are running 1-2 in the race right NOW:) https://t.co/FlHSLQlQRk
— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) May 12, 2019
Sebastian Vettel had initiated the wave of second stops, followed by Max Verstappen and even Valtteri Bottas. But it was at this moment that Lance Stroll closed the door on Lando Norris in the first chicane. Their collision then caused the safety car to be deployed. All the other drivers then dived into the pit lane to put on new tires. Lewis Hamilton then fitted used soft tires while Charles Leclerc swapped his hard tires for medium ones.
During the restart, Charles Leclerc did not get a very good start and found himself directly under threat from Pierre Gasly. The Ferrari driver managed to defend well, putting the Frenchman in difficulty against Kevin Magnussen, who found an opening by pushing his teammate Romain Grosjean. However, Lewis Hamilton took full advantage of his soft tires to widen the gap and, most importantly, reclaim the fastest lap in the race, which belonged to Sebastian Vettel.
The battle between the Haas drivers had serious consequences for Romain Grosjean, who was successively overtaken by Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat but managed to save the point for tenth place, allowing him to finally get his points tally going this season.
In the end, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas secured their fifth consecutive one-two finish, something that has never happened before in F1 history. Dieter Zietsche is thus given a very nice farewell gift at his last race at the helm of Daimler, as he will step down at the end of the month.
