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Race report

Hamilton secures maiden Spanish GP victory ahead of Mercedes teammate Rosberg

It was another duel between the Mercedes teammates in Spain and for the fourth race in succession, Lewis Hamilton emerged victorious.

Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates on the podium

Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates on the podium

XPB Images

Mercedes driver, Lewis Hamilton finished the FIA Formula One 2014 Spanish Grand Prix in style by securing his maiden victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Hamilton’s success in Spain today means that the 2008 World Champion has also picked up his fourth consecutive race win of the season. The Englishman has now achieved his 26th career victory to date and taken over the lead of the Driver’s Championship from his team mate, Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton managed to maintain the lead from pole position to the chequered flag, despite coming under pressure from Rosberg who had to settle for a second place finish.

(L to R): Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB10 and Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36 battle for position
(L to R): Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing RB10 and Valtteri Bottas, Williams FW36 battle for position

Photo by: XPB Images

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo crossed the line at the end of the 66 lap marathon to take the third and final spot on the podium and make it the same line up in the top three following qualifying yesterday.

Ricciardo’s team mate, Sebastian Vettel gradually climbed his way up the grid as the race progressed, after he started in 15th place due to a five place grid penalty for a gearbox change. The reigning World Champion failed to catch his team mate, Ricciardo and he ended the race in fourth place.

Williams’ driver, Valtteri Bottas looked like he might hold onto his fourth place qualifying spot, which he managed to get back in the latter stages of the race. Unfortunately, the Finnish driver lost it to Vettel and completed the race in fifth place.

Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14-T leads team mate Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14-T
Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari F14-T leads team mate Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F14-T

Photo by: XPB Images

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso finished the race better off than he started and took sixth place. The Spaniard may have been racing on home turf today, but he was not able to repeat his success in last year’s Grand Prix with back to back victories in front of his home crowd. Alonso did manage to beat his team mate, Kimi Raikkonen in the race in terms of positions though. The Finnish driver out qualified Alonso yesterday and the tables turned in the race today with Raikkonen ending the race behind him in seventh place.

Raikkonen was under investigation by the stewards on lap 39 of the race together with Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson for ignoring blue flags. It was reported on lap 43 that no further action would be taken with the pair.

Ericsson was also under investigation with Lotus Renault’s Pastor Maldonado, when the pair had a coming together at the beginning of the race. Maldonado was found to be at fault for causing a collision with Ericsson and he was issued with a five second stop and go penalty.

Maldonado’s team mate, Romain Grosjean finished a few places further down than his original qualifying spot of fifth position yesterday, but the French man still picked up some points for himself in eighth place.

Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 VJM07 leads team mate Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM07
Nico Hulkenberg, Sahara Force India F1 VJM07 leads team mate Sergio Perez, Sahara Force India F1 VJM07

Photo by: XPB Images

Force India’s Sergio Perez managed to secure ninth place at the end of the race and as a result was ahead of his team mate, Nico Hulkenberg who took the 10th and final point scoring position.

Beyond the top 10, the rest of the drivers in the midfield and towards the back of the pack fought over the remaining positions for the final race classification list. McLaren’s Jenson Button and his team mate, Kevin Magnussen were among those who failed to pick up some Championship points.

Of the 22 drivers in the field, there were two who did not reach the finish line. Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne became the first retirement on lap 25, when he was told via the team radio to return to the pits and he parked up his car in the garage which spelled the end of his race. The French man reportedly made an early exit from the race due to an exhaust problem on his car.

Ericsson’s team mate, Kamui Kobayashi joined Vergne in retirement on lap 36 when he reported via the team radio that he had a problem with the brakes on his car. The Japanese driver then returned to his garage in the pits and took no further part in the action.

Following his successful track record since the new season began, Hamilton certainly looks like the man to beat and especially now that he has led his team mate, Rosberg to topple from the head of the Driver’s Championship after today’s race result. The drivers and teams now have two weeks until they put the cars through their paces again, at the challenging spectacle of the Monaco Grand Prix, in the hope of securing one of the most desirable race victories on the Formula One calendar.

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