The weather at Circuit de Catalunya was part cloud, which meant excellent conditions for the race. The lights out was the most thrilling moment of the Spanish GP. Pole-setter Bottas had an unexpected issue with his clutch, which made the Finn's start everything but smooth. Teammate Hamilton used his chance and stormed into the lead. Sebastian, who had started from P3, made a venturesome move at the end of the start straight, diving into the outside of Bottas. He locked up his front-left tyre, which caused a major flat spot on the tyre. Sebastian ended up going a bit wide, which was a relief for the Finn, who managed to keep his second place. Red Bull's Verstappen took full advantage of Sebastian having damaged his tyres, making a successful overtaking move and moving third in the race. Further down in the midfield, Kimi had a bad start on the medium Pirellis. Cold tyres made the opening lap challenging, and Kimi went wide in Turn 1, driving quite a bit on the gravel before getting back on the track. After this the Iceman was at the very back of the pack.
Hamilton took control of the race right from the very first laps. Soon the Briton had built a 2-second gap to his teammate. Verstappen was third, followed by the Scuderia duo of Sebastian and Leclerc. Leclerc was putting serious pressure on his teammate, who was struggling with his flat-spotted tyres. Charles was within DRS distance from Sebastian, and at the end of the main straight the Monegasque was lurking for a chance to get past. Verstappen benefited from the Ferrari drivers' battle, which lasted for several laps. On lap 12 the team obviously told Sebastian to let Charles by, and they switched positions. Charles was significantly faster and opened up a gap to his teammate right away. Sebastian was in serious trouble with his tyres and asked on the team radio, that the team would pit him.
Sebastian came in on lap 20 as the first top driver. The German switched to the yellow-walled medium compound. Red Bull reacted to Sebastian's strategy and pitted Verstappen on the following lap. Max was clearly on a two-stop strategy, as the Dutchman opted for another set of soft Pirellis. Teammate Gasly, on the other hand, opted for a fresh set of medium compound. Ferrari called Leclerc in on lap 26. The Monegasque's tyre choice was quite surprising, as he switched to the white-marked hardest compound. Charles re-joined the track right ahead of his teammate, who was on the softer tyres. Both Mercedes drivers pitted for a fresh set of medium rubber.
Towards the halfway point of the race the tables had turned in terms of the red-suited drivers. Now Sebastian was within striking distance from his young teammate and seemed to have more pace than Charles. They kept driving closely in single file for some six laps, which cost valuable time for both drivers. On lap 36 they swap places again, and Charles let Sebastian by. Now it was Sebastian, who opened a gap to his teammate right away.
Hamilton had the race perfectly under his control. He had increased the gap to his teammate into nine seconds already. On lap 41 Sebastian opened the second round of pit stops. He opted for another set of medium Pirellis and re-joined the track in P6. Red Bull's Gasly was right ahead of him, but Sebastian managed to overtake the Frenchman with ease. Verstappen pitted for a similar tyre compound to Sebastian. Mercedes drivers were a different case. They had no fresh sets of mediums left, so both drivers had to settle for a used set of soft tyres.
With 20 laps to go, McLaren's Norris tried an overtaking move on Racing Point's Stroll, which led into contact between the two. Both of them spun on the gravel, which ended the race for both of them. Safety car was deployed. Hamilton and Leclerc saw their chances and pitted right away. Behind the safety car the order of the top six was unchanged; Hamilton was leading the race, with teammate Bottas second, Verstappen third, Sebastian fourth, Leclerc fifth and Gasly sixth.
Safety car came in on lap 52, and the race was on again. The re-start saw no changes in the positions of the top six. Hamilton's pace was absolutely outstanding, as the Briton managed to build up a four-second gap to Valtteri in just two laps. The pecking order of the top six was stabilized, but further down in the midfield there was a thrilling battle between the Haas teammates for the 7th place. McLaren's Sainz was also putting pressure on Grosjean, which led into a wheel-banging contact, but the Frenchman managed to keep his 8th place just barely. However, a lap later Sainz managed to get past Grosjean, snatching P8.
Hamilton crossed the finish line as the race winner for the 76th time in his career. Bottas made it an astonishing fifth 1-2 for Mercedes in five races, which is the ultimate jack pot indeed. Verstappen completed the podium, which was well-deserved. Ferrari, who had brought an engine upgrade to this GP in order to improve their performance, had to settle for modest P4 (Sebastian) and P5 (Charles). Gasly finished 6th for Red Bull and Magnussen 7th for Haas. McLaren's Sainz, Toro Rosso's Kvyat and Haas' Grosjean completed the top ten. Unfortunately Kimi didn't make it in the points this time.
Hamilton has now taken back the championship lead by 7 points to his teammate. Thanks to Max's podium finish today, the Dutchman moved third in the standings, leaving Sebastian fourth. In terms of the teams, the Red Team are in serious trouble, not only with Mercedes but also with Red Bull. Mercedes have increased their lead to Ferrari in terms of performance. On the other hand, Red Bull have caught Ferrari insidiously race by race. After five 1-2s it seems inevitable, that there's only one team, which is the favorite for winning the constructors' championship this year. But the second place certainly cannot be taken for granted by Ferrari, as Red Bull are lurking right behind the Red Team's back. The Red Team seem to in a crisis, more or less. What should be done to turn things around? If the Red Team knew the answer, they wouldn't be in the current situation.
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