2018 Spanish GP F1: Hamilton's stroll, with Bottas second, Verstappen third and Sainz and Alonso in the points

He started from pole position Lewis Hamilton and showed in Barcelona why he was the favourite to win the 2018 Spanish GP. The British driver of Mercedes took the victory on the Catalan circuit and secured his second win of the season, his second in a row after the victory in Baku. The German team achieved a 1-2 thanks to Valtteri Bottas in second place, and Max Verstappen finished third, which was the Dutchman’s first podium of 2018.

Sebastian Vettel could only finish fourth in a bad day for Ferrari, as Kimi Raikkonen couldn’t even finish the race due to problems with his car. Thus, we have gone from the German’s dominance in the first two races of the championship to a Hamilton who now leads the World Championship with 95 points, 17 more than the German. Furthermore, Mercedes also already leads the Constructors’ Championship.

The race didn’t have much of a story, as Hamilton led from start to finish. The start, however, was quite chaotic, and after the first corners we saw a multiple accident caused by Romain Grosjean, who was hit by Gasly and Hulkenberg, who were unable to avoid him. All three had to retire and the race resumed after several laps behind the safety car.

After Ocon’s retirement, race direction decided that the presence of the virtual safety car on track was necessary, and that is where Vettel lost the second position he had held until then. Ferrari made a mistake in strategy by bringing the German into the pits, thinking his closest rivals would do the same. But that was not the case, and Bottas took second place from Vettel, and Verstappen also overtook the German driver.

With the Mercedes escaping and even running without giving their all to avoid scares with the tyres, the excitement lay in seeing whether Vettel could catch Verstappen, with less than 3 seconds between them. The Dutch Red Bull driver made life difficult for himself by getting caught up after a move on a lapped car, but even with the car in trouble he managed the gap well, from which we can deduce that Vettel’s Ferrari was not running as sharply as one would expect.

A good race for the Spaniards, who once again finished in the points, with Carlos Sainz in seventh place, despite having engine problems towards the end, and Fernando Alonso in eighth. The year 2018 seems to be going very differently for the Asturian driver, who for the fifth race in a row has managed to finish in the points, and only he, Hamilton and Vettel can say this so far in the 2018 season.

The complete classification of the 2018 Spanish GP race was as follows:

After Montmeló, Formula 1 heads to its most legendary venue: Monaco. The urban circuit of the city of Monte Carlo will show off its finest for a Grand Prix that will be held on 24, 26 and 27 May.