James Warren
LEWIS Hamilton made Formula 1 history with a lights to flag victory at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Starting from pole, the Brit made a faultless start to edge out a gap at the front into turn one, followed by Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll who swamped Valtteri Bottas into fourth.
Hamilton kept a consistant pace until the tyre management phase of the race, around lap 10 when he pulled the plug on worn Pirellis to edge out a four second lead over Verstappen.
Verstappen was the first of the front runners to pit on lap 21, with the Mercedes duo opting to continue for a further two laps.
A slow rear tyre change on Hamilton’s Mercedes cut the Brit’s lead from seven seconds to 4.3 seconds.
Verstappen, refreshed with new rubbers, traded fasted laps with Hamilton to bring the lead to under three seconds.
Hamilton once again however made a clear statement of intent by comfortably dropping into the 1m22s and outmatching Verstappens efforts.
With the second pit stops out of the way, Hamilton stuck to the medium slicks instead of opting for the softer compound, allowing him to increase his lead all the way to the flag.
After 66 laps, Hamilton crossed the line 24.1s clear of Red Bull’s Verstappen who traded places with Mercedes team mate Bottas in the latter stages of the race.
“I was just in a daze out there. I was in a different [zone], I felt really good,” Hamilton said. “Fantastic effort from the team, but God, it felt good out there today.”
Racing Point duo of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez finished fourth and fifth with Sainz, Vettel, Albon, Gasly and Norris rounding out the top 10.
Hamilton’s victory at the Spanish GP has earned him the title of most podium finishes in F1 history, beating Michael Schumachers record of 155.
The British driver is now just three victories away from breaking Schumacher’s all time victory record of 91 wins.
Hamilton now sits 37 points clear at the top of the table as the Formula 1 paddock travels to Spa for the Belgium Grand Prix on August 30.
