MOTORSPORT: Hamilton 'hunts down' Verstappen
British champ makes F1 history again during qualifying, and is fastest when it matters, as Ricciardo improvesNot even bullying tactics and aggressive driving could give Max Verstappen a win over Lewis Hamilton at the Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Verstappen pushed Hamilton out of the way at the first corner and led from the start with his Red Bull racer, but he had no answer to a faster Mercedes and smart tyre tactics that put Hamilton back in front at the flag.
Valtteri Bottas was third as usual in the second Mercedes-AMG racer, but had to recover from a lacklustre qualifying effort and was also ordered out of the way as Hamilton dropped back to third at one stage.
Charles Leclerc was a solid fourth for Ferrari while Sergio Perez – another who was lacklustre in time trials – drove the second Red Bull back to fifth and Daniel Ricciardo outclassed his McLaren teammate Lando Norris for sixth.
The result means Hamilton now leads Verstappen 3-1 on the win table, with no-one else looking remotely capable of victory unless the leaders run into trouble in season 2021 of Formula One.
“I tried everything I could today. They were just faster than us,” said Verstappen.
“I took the lead at turn one but from there we were just lacking a bit of pace to Mercedes. I was able to at least keep second place and take fastest lap. Now we need to look at why they seem to have jumped ahead a bit in terms of race pace.”
For Hamilton, who took his 100th pole position in Barcelona – becoming the first driver in history to achieve the milestone – it was a tough but rewarding day.
“It was really close off the start. I then went hunting,” he said.
But Bottas was not happy after being asked to move aside by the team to help Hamilton.
“I’m not here to let people by, I’m here to race. I definitely could have let him by earlier,” said Bottas.
For Ricciardo, who has been suffering in comparisons with his mercurial young teammate, Spain showed an upswing in his ability to get the best from his McLaren-Mercedes.
“The best weekend so far as a whole and I felt like I got the maximum out of the car today,” he said.
“We jumped a few spots at the start and I think naturally those cars were a little quicker, which left me defending. I was defending the whole time. The team made some good calls for the pit stops and I think top-six was the best result possible.”
After showing speed in qualifying, the Alpine team was outpaced in the race and Esteban Ocon could only manage ninth place from fifth on the grid, while Fernando Alonso’s 10th in qualifying only translated to 17th at the flag after a late stop to replace his worn Pirelli tyres.
2021 Spanish Grand Prix results:
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
6. Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren
7. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
8. Lando Norris, McLaren
9. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
10. Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri
2021 Formula 1 driver standings:
Hamilton – 94
Verstappen – 80
Bottas – 47
Norris – 41
Leclerc – 40
Perez – 32
Ricciardo – 24
Sainz – 20
Ocon – 10
Gasly – 8
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