After a frenetic, competitive start to the Formula One season, this weekend’s action from the Spanish Grand Prix felt like a rerun. Lewis Hamilton led from pole and took a dictatorial victory by 25 seconds, with his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas completing a 1-2 for the silver squad, while Red Bull’s fiery Max Verstappen punched above his weight to deny Sebastian Vettel and Scuderia Ferrari a podium.
It really did taste like a race of 2017 vintage — altogether unremarkable and rather boring. Formula1.com called a first lap shunt the “most dramatic” moment of the race, but the reality is it sadly was the only drama all day.
Lewis now leads the World Championship by some 17 points over Sebastian.
Lewis celebrates with the fans on the pit wall #SpanishGP (via alexbrasovan) pic.twitter.com/YBT4SkpWsf
— Lewis Updates (@LH44updates) May 14, 2018
The most dramatic moment of the race 😬
Three cars eliminated after just three corners at the #SpanishGP 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/x9WlKHJLlY
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 13, 2018
This article titled “Lewis Hamilton rejuvenated by Spain F1 victory but wary of Monaco GP” was written by Giles Richards, for The Guardian on Monday 14th May 2018 12.51 UTCLewis Hamilton said his world championship defence has been revived by victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel finished fourth as the Mercedes driver extended his Formula One lead to 17 points, though he and his team chief, Toto Wolff, warned they would not expect to enjoy such superiority at the next grand prix in Monaco.
Hamilton won from pole, unchallenged by the rest of the grid. Valtteri Bottas was second, securing Mercedes’ first one-two of the season.
“It was a rejuvenating experience,” Hamilton said. “It’s the greatest feeling to have that kind of performance and a convincing win. Not every win feels as great as this one. It’s my 64th but it feels special and unique. That is encouraging for me because I have been racing a long time – to still have that feeling when you win and that happiness.”
After three races when the driver and the team have struggled to unlock performance from tyres and car, Mercedes finally had the platform required at the Circuit de Catalunya. Hamilton was serene but stressed victory had by no means been a simple task. “People probably think it was an easy race, that I was cruising. But I wasn’t,” he said.
“At no point did I feel like I was going to lose but I was pushing every single lap – using it as a test bed to understand what I liked about the balance and understand where I can get more from.”
Despite the upturn, concerns remain at Mercedes as to whether their car is able to put its tyres in the correct temperature operating window. Last season they were off the pace in Monaco, with Hamilton failing to make it out of Q2 and finishing seventh after being unable to work enough heat into his tyres.
Wolff said he was worried about Monte Carlo. “It’s very difficult to undo the DNA of the car and Monaco, Singapore and Budapest were all tracks where we underperformed and it’s a great challenge for us to come back this year.
“Why our car doesn’t like to be quick around the corners in Monaco we haven’t found yet. As much as we are overwhelmed by the victory in Barcelona, my mind is already in Monaco and I remember Sunday night wasn’t as pleasant last year.”
The Mercedes works better on the harder tyres but Monaco will have hypersoft rubber available for the first time at the track and chances are Mercedes will struggle again.
Hamilton expected a renewed challenge from Red Bull, who also looked strong on the downforce‑dependent final sector in Barcelona. “Monaco is going be a serious challenge. The others are going to be hard to beat,” he said. “Daniel Ricciardo was much quicker in the final sector. That is all downforce. They are going to be rapid in Monaco.”
Wolff and Hamilton confirmed contract talks were almost concluded but had been put on hold while Mercedes tried to solve problems with their cars. “We don’t want to lose him and I don’t think he wants to go anywhere else and everything is going fine,” Wolff said. “I see no reason why we shouldn’t be racing with each other for a few more years. We have had other priorities in the last few weeks and finalising a contract is something you need to spend time on and we both decided to park it.”
Hamilton said the deal was almost done. “We are not far away from finishing things.”
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