Montmeló (Spain) (AFP)

Smarter and faster: Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes won the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of Max Verstappen on Sunday and increased Sir Lewis' lead over the Dutchman at the top of the F1 World Championship from eight to fourteen points.

This third victory for the Briton, in four rounds this season, was played with strategy but, for Verstappen, it shows above all that Red Bull is "not where (it would) be" compared to the Mercedes.

In pole position but overtaken by the Dutchman at the first corner, Hamilton kept a cool head, "always aware that it is a marathon and not a sprint" that he runs during a GP.

And indeed, the timing of his second pit stop allowed him to come back to Verstappen with seven laps to go, with cooler tires, and overtake him on his first attempt to fly to victory.

"As soon as they stopped the second time, I knew it was over," did not hide the Red Bull driver.

“Even though we had stopped right after, I'm not sure we could have caught up with them. We were just lacking in rhythm.”

"This proves that we are not yet where we would like to be (ahead of Mercedes, editor's note) and that we still have to work to improve, even if we have taken a big step compared to last year."

And to think that, during pre-season testing and the first two GPs, Red Bull had the advantage in terms of performance ... Its German rival quickly caught up!

- Focus on 100 victories -

With 94 points (three wins, a second place, a fastest lap), Hamilton, at 36, also made his best start to the campaign in fifteen F1 seasons.

"Year after year, I have no choice, especially with such tight competition," said the seven-time world champion, in search of a record eighth world crown.

"Every weekend should be perfect. I don't think that's possible for anyone but I try to get as close to it as possible."

Knowing that it tends to rev up in the summer, that promises!

After passing the symbolic bar of 100 pole positions on Saturday, that of 100 victories is in the sights of the Briton: this weekend, it was the 98th.

And the fifth in a row on the Barcelona-Catalonia circuit.

The Finnish Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) completed the podium, allowing Mercedes to be 24 points ahead of Red Bull, its runner-up among manufacturers.

Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) is fourth, ahead of Mexican Sergio Pérez (Red Bull), Australian Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren), Spaniard Carlos Sainz Jr (Ferrari) and Briton Lando Norris (McLaren).

The two Frenchmen Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Pierre Gasly (AlphaTauri) closed the Top 10, Gasly having received a five-second penalty for having positioned himself too far forward on the starting grid.

Unusual image, the Italian Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) experienced a funny pit stop: one of his new tires was indeed deflated and unusable.

This Grand Prix was run in front of 1,000 spectators drawn at random, to mark the lifting on the night of Saturday to Sunday of the state of health emergency in force in Spain since October.

In 2021, a few spectators vaccinated or cured of Covid-19 were present for the inaugural round in Bahrain on March 28.

The next event in Monaco will take place in front of 7,500 people per day on May 20, 22 and 23.

© 2021 AFP