RACE REPORT
It was a double dummy, or Formula 1’s version of
Cristiano Ronaldo’s step-over. Gutsy, brilliant stuff!
Vettel said afterwards, “I was pushing. I had a
really good start. Lewis and myself picked up wheel-
spin straight away, I pulled the clutch in and could
gain on him. I stayed ahead an d then got into a nice
rhythm.”
Vettel leaves Spain with 104 points, leading
the championship standings by six points over
Hamilton, while Mercedes increased their lead in the
constructors championship to eight points.
On an afternoon that saw the two multiple F1
world champions in a battle of their own with the rest
so far behind they might as well have been in another
race, Daniel Ricciardo finished 75.8 seconds behind
the winner.
Ricciardo was the only driver not lapped by
the top two in a race where both Mercedes’ Valtteri
Bottas and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish
after colliding with Max Verstappen exiting the
first turn, retiring after a blown engine and first lap
collision respectively.
It was disappointment for last year’s winner
Verstappen, who was an innocent victim of the Turn 1
melee which resulted in a DNF for the teenager.
With three of the front-runners eliminated
Force India were the big winners on the day with
Sergio Perez and Esteban finishing fourth and fifth
respectively with Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg sixth.
Local hero Carlos Sainz again delivered a solid
performance to claim seventh, as did teammate
Daniil Kvyat who finished ninth after starting 19th on
the grid.
Splitting the Toro Rosso pair in the final standings
was Pascal Wehrlein in eighth for Sauber despite
a five seconds penalty and Haas driver Romain
Grosjean claiming the final point.