The Mercedes Festival in Formula 1 has also continued in Barcelona. Defending champion Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix ahead of team mate Valtteri Bottas. The competition is currently only behind, for the Silver Arrows it was the fifth victory in the fifth race. Sebastian Vettel loses fourth place in the title race. Third was Max Verstappen.
The dominance of Mercedes showed already at the beginning of the race. Hamilton got the best start and passed Bottas, who had taken the race from pole position. Vettel also tried to attack, but burned to the end of the straights and had to leave the lane shortly. The Dutchman Max Verstappen took advantage of this and pulled in the second corner with his Red Bull on the Ferrari of the Germans over.
At the start maneuver had also Vettel's tires obviously got something, he had to let his young teammate Charles Leclerc pass by temporarily - Ferrari had given the 21-year-old from Monaco before the green light to overtake the four-time world champion. Vettel was forced to visit the pit lane earlier than planned and then retake the race with a clear deficit in tenth place. Then he had to laboriously fight his way back through the field.
In the meantime Hamilton and Bottas went unchallenged round the clock. Even with pit stops and the interim deployment of the safety car after a minor accident by Lance Stroll their top position was not compromised. A start-finish victory, which was not spectacular for the audience - but that should not matter to the leaders. In the current form, the Mercedes racing team seems to be hard to beat.