Lewis Hamilton Wins His Fifth Consecutive Spanish Grand Prix

Photo Credit: Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.

The fourth event of the 2021 Formula 1 season, the Grand Prix of Spain was the second week in a row that drivers and teams of the top open wheel racing series were pressed into competition. So far in this grand prix year, a fierce battle between Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and Red Bull Racing led by drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen has delivered on the pre-season precise of being a close, enduring affair. In qualifying, Hamilton’s #44 car narrowly bettered the Honda-powered race machine of Verstappen for what was the British driver’s 100^th career Formula 1 pole.

With two fairly equal competitors in 2021, the results in the past three grand prix events ended in favour of the party that avoided a major mistake. For the third time in four races, Lewis Hamilton would be the driver closest to perfection as he sailed to the win at the Spanish Grand Prix.

While the majority of the race was led by the Honda-powered Red Bull race of Max Verstappen, the Dutch driver was unable to hold off the rush of the #44 Mercedes. Placed on a two-pit stop strategy, Hamilton was trailing the Red Bull Racing entry shortly before he took a set of scuffed medium compound tires on lap 42. Falling to almost 24 second behind Verstappen when he returned to the track after leaving pit road, Hamilton methodically ran down the #33 car with lap times often a second faster than the leader. At the start of lap 60, the Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes AMG race car superior grip and some assist from DRS was too much for the Red Bull Racing pilot. Taking the lead into turn 1, Hamilton comfortably drove to his fifth consecutive victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Photo Credit: Charles Coates/LAT Images/Pirelli

“What a day! It was a remarkable job by the whole team again this weekend and it’s so good to see fans back here.” said the defending Formula 1 World Drivers’ Champion in a post-race release from the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team adding his pleasure to see several Union Jack flags in the grandstands. Lewis Hamilton’s 98^th career victory in the series places him in a 14-point lead in this season’s point standings after four races.

 

An opening start where Max Verstappen shot to the lead over the polesitter Lewis Hamilton was not effort to secure victory in Spain. Hindered by a tire change on the first pit stop that lasted more than four seconds and leading on worn medium compound tires towards the end of the Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen came up short of winning again at the track where he claimed his first Formula 1 victory in his debut with Red Bull Racing in 2016. Verstappen’s second place finish comes with the consolation of claiming the race’s fastest lap. The #33 Red Bull Racing car was summoned to pit road for soft compound tires in the successful campaign for the extra point in the event. The 2021 Spanish Grand Prix was Max Verstappen’s 100^th start with the Red Bull Racing team.

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli

As was the case with Hamilton and Verstappen finishing in the same spot as their qualifying position, third and fourth place on the starting grid crossed the line after 66 laps in the same spot. Valtteri Bottas grabbed the final podium spot with his Mercedes AMG race car while Charles Leclerc crossed the line in the fourth position. Overcoming a difficult qualifying outing where the Mexican settled for eighth place, Sergio Perez drove his #11 Red Bull Racing vehicle to fifth place at the end of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. The top-finishing McLaren Racing entrant of Daniel Ricciardo settled for sixth place. The Australian described the event in a post-race press release saying, “It was a good weekend. I would say the best weekend so far as a whole and I felt like I got the maximum out of the car today.”

Photo Credit: Jiri Krenek for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.

The second Scuderia Ferrari car drive by Carlos Sainz Jr. was the highest-finishing Spanish native in the 2021 Formula 1 race on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso came across the line in 17^th place after a gamble to gain a top-10 finish on a single pit stop strategy on medium compound Pirelli tires failed to pay off. Alonso’s Alpine F1 Team teammate Esteban Ocon insured the squad gained points in the Spanish Grand Prix taking ninth place behind the McLaren Mercedes of Brit Lando Norris. Ocon was the only driver to collect points after the warm 66-lap event on a single tire change. Pierre Gasly finished 10^th and took the point final of the event in what was an aggressive fight for the spot in the final laps that involved Fernando Alonso and the Aston Martin F1 Racing Team’s Lance Stroll. The only driver not running at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix was Sceuderia AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda who retired on track due to a yet-to-be unidentified issue.

The next race on the Formula 1 racing calendar is the historic Monaco Grand Prix with the main event scheduled for May 23^rd.

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2021 Formula 1 Season
Spanish Grand Prix
Race Results
Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	Honda
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
5	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	Honda
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
7	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
8	4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
9	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
10	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
12	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
13	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
14	63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
15	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
16	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
17	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
18	47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
19	9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
20	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda

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For The Hundredth Time For Hamilton: Mercedes Driver Grabs Milestone Pole In Spain

Photo Credit: Lat Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd

Lewis Hamilton’s performance in qualifying is one attribute that will establish the knighted British driver as true legend in Formula 1. A tally beginning at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Hamilton’s career count for pole positions eclipsed the previous series record set by Michael Schmacher of 68 in 2017 on the weekend of the Italian Grand Prix. Since the latter part of the 2017 Formula 1 season, the driver of the #44 Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team car has gone on a tear in qualifying collecting 11 of 21 possible race poles in 2018 and the top spot in 10 of 16 races last year. Entered in his 270^th Formula 1 event this weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosting the Spanish Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton has set a new mark of greatness.

Lewis Hamilton muscled his Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance race car around a 16-turn, 4.675-kilometer track in a time of 1 minute, 16.741 seconds in Q3 to take his 100^th career pole position. Battling Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen throughout all three qualifying sessions, the Brit’s #44 car edged out the Dutch driver’s Honda-powered machine by 0.036 seconds. In three of the four races this year, the front row has been shared by a Mercedes AMG team car and a Red Bull Racing vehicle.

While Verstappen mounted a challenge against the Mercedes machines in Q3, Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez finished qualifying lacking the pace of his teammate. A spin out by Perez in turn 13 during a Q3 lap hindered the performance of the #11 Red Bull Racing vehicle. The Mexican driver will start the Spanish Grand Prix in 8^th place.

Less than a tenth of a second slower than Max Verstappen, the second Mercedes race car driven by Valtteri Bottas will start third for Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. Bottas was quicker than Hamilton during the opening two stages of qualifying but settled comfortably into the second row in the conclusion of Q3.

The Scuderia Ferrari team had a very acceptable showing in Spain at the end of Saturday’s qualifying. Gaining pace throughout the three practice sessions, Charles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. will both start Sunday’s grand prix in the top 10. Leclerc posted a strong 1-minute, 17.510-second lap time in Q3 to place himself in the second row beside Valtteri Bottas. Qualifying sixth and sharing the third row with the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, Sainz recorded a time just 0.002 quicker than the McLaren Mercedes driven by Daniel Ricciardo. The teammates of Ocon and Ricciardo (Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris) also found their way into the top 10 for the 66-lap race.

 

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/LAT Images/Pirelli

Teams not appearing in the top 10 in a 2021 starting grid for the first time will be Scuderia AlphaTauri and Aston Martin Racing. Lance Stroll finished Q2 just 0.008 seconds short of tenth place driver Fernando Alonso in the session. Pierre Gasly’s Honda-powered AlphaTauri was 0.008 seconds off the mark set by 11^th place Stroll.

Entering the triple digits in his career pole tally, Lewis Hamilton’s pursuit towards pushing his victory towards the century mark will face a statistical challenge. After the first three races of the 2021 season, the driver starting on pole failed winning on Sunday.

The 2021 Spanish Grand Prix is will start at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. Eastern Time).

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2021 Formula 1 Season
Spanish Grand Prix
Qualifying Results
Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	Honda
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
4	16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
5	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
6	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Misson Winnow Ferrari	Ferrari
7	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
8	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	Honda
9	4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
10	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Renault
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
12	10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
13	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Mercedes-Benz
14	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
15	63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
16	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	Honda
17	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo Racing	Ferrari
18	47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari
19	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Mercedes-Benz
20	9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Ferrari

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2021 Formula 1 Season: Spanish Grand Prix Preview

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	Spanish Grand Prix
Race Date	May 9, 2021
Location	Montmelo, Catalonia, Spain
Track Name	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Course Length	4.675-kilometer (2.905-mile)
Laps	66
2020 Pole Winner	Lewis Hamilton
2020 Pole Time	1:15.584
Past Five Grand Prix Winners
2020	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG
2019	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG
2018	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG
2017	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG
2016	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer

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Hamilton Wins Fourth Consecutive Spanish Grand Prix in Masterful Fashion

 

Photo Credit: LAT Images/Mercedes AMG

The sixth race for the 2020 Formula 1 season, the 4.655-kilometer Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya plays host to a special summer edition of the Spanish Grand Prix. Taking place in the middle of August rather than its typical early May, this season’s edition of the event presented a little extra heat than drivers and teams would be accustomed to on the track.  

A 66-lap race, the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix was another example of the prime form of Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team. From pole position, the British driver shot out to an early lead and would go unchallenged over the race’s 66-lap distance. Hamilton would take the chequered flag 24.177 seconds ahead of the runner-up. “This feels absolutely incredible. I was just in a daze out there, I didn’t even know it was the last lap in the end, that’s how in the zone I was.” Lewis Hamilton commented in a post-race release on his team’s website. Sunday’s triumph for Hamilton was the fourth year in a row that he won the Spanish Grand Prix.

Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A

From the standing start of the Spanish Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes launched near-flawlessly, his teammate had a less-than impressive start. Claiming second in qualifying on Saturday, Valtteri Bottas is beaten into the first corner by the Honda-powered Red Bull race car of Max Verstappen and later the Racing Point piloted by Lance Stroll. Rising from fifth to third in the first lap, the Canadian driver would fend off the Mercedes AMG team car for several laps but Bottas was able to overtake the Mercedes-Benz propelled Racing Point RP20 shortly after DRS would be enabled. Earlier this season in the grand prix of Hungary, Valtteri Bottas had a poor launch that dropped him to sixth place by the first lap. While Bottas humbly admitted the Hungarian Grand Prix miscue was a result of reacting to the wrong light, the reason for the difficult start in Spain was not immediately identified. 

As the 66-lap Spanish Grand Prix progressed beyond one-third distance, teams began making pit stops with Max Verstappen pitting on lap 21 while Hamilton and Bottas came to the attention of their crew on lap 23. Lance Stroll pushed his vehicle deeper into the event waiting until lap 27 to come to pit road for new tires. The top-10 starters at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya started the event on the soft compound option Pirelli tire. Starting outside of the top-10, Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel would run the opening laps on medium tires allowing his car to run until lap 29 before coming to pit for its only pit stop. Several teams attempted a single-stop strategy with drivers as Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen and the two Renault factory racers of Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon joining Vettel. Through tire management, Sebastian Vettel would ultimately score a seventh place finish. 

While Max Verstappen’s tire selection mirrored Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull Racing experimented with belting hard compound Pirelli tires to the car of Alexander Albon. The harder tire was seen as a less viable choice during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend with Red Bull Racing becoming the only team to try it on Sunday. Running 22 laps on the hard compound Pirelli tires, Albon’s fastest time was more than 2.2 seconds slower than his teammate’s best time running on medium compound rubber.

Photo Credit: Pirelli & C. S.p.A

The only race retirement over the course of the Spanish Grand Prix was the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Operating on a one-stop plan that Ferrari believes could have placed Leclerc in fourth place at the end of the event, an electrical fault with the control unit on the race car derailed their fight on lap 38. 

As Lewis Hamilton stormed to victory for the 88th time in his Formula 1 career, Max Verstappen took a solid second place collecting his fifth consecutive podium finish. The Dutch driver took the chequered flag by a comfortable margin just shy of 20.6 seconds over the Mercedes-AMG race car of Valtteri Bottas. The second Red Bull Racing driver Alexander Albon came across the start/finish line in eighth place.

Despite generating more headlines during the Silverstone races based on Lance Stroll’s practice pace ahead of the British Grand Prix, the substitution of Sergio Perez with Nico Hulkenberg and penalties related to the RP20's rear brake ducts, it’s rational to suggest Racing Point enjoyed a more successful race effort taking part in a slightly more quiet outing in Spain. Taking fourth and fifth place, the Racing Point team drivers would be classified in reversed positions. Aided by a single-stop tire strategy, Sergio Perez crossed the finish line fourth but was given a 5-second penalty for failing to acknowledge blue flags as Lewis Hamilton was passing his Racing Point. Lance Stroll assumed Perez’s spot in the race results being 2.2 seconds behind his teammate on track at the end of 66 laps. The points scored by both Racing Point drivers elevated the team to a narrow third place in the constructors’ championship as of after the Spanish Grand Prix. Appeals related to the August 7th ruling have been made by Racing Point as well as other competing teams that resulted in a loss of 15 constructor points.

Carlos Sainz Jr. led the McLaren squad across the line at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in sixth place becoming the Spaniard’s best result in his native grand prix. Lando Norris finished in 10th place just behind Pierre Gasly’s AlphaTauri.

The next location for the 2020 Formula 1 series is the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix with the main event scheduled on August 30th. 

2020 Formula 1 Season
Spanish Grand Prix
Race Results