Hamilton takes unstoppable Mercedes double to Barcelona

We will first have shivered during a frantic sprint towards the first turn as well as in the sequences which open the 4,655 km of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Yet forced to start from the dirty side of the track, Lewis Hamilton tore himself from his 2nd place with this extra bit of speed which quickly raised him to the level of the Mercedes de Valtteri Bottas started on pole.

Outside the Silver Arrows, Sebastian Vettel undoubtedly sinned out of greed by attempting a daring maneuver. Victim of a wheel lock, the German veered wide, destabilized Bottas on his right and almost got hit by his teammate Charles Leclerc.

Max Verstappen didn't ask for so much and sneaked up to 3rd position aboard his Red Bull. And then that was pretty much it until the 47th lap and the intervention of the Safety Car. 

Fortunately, in these moments, we can always count on Ferrari to entertain us, between shaky strategy, obscure team instructions, and mix-ups in the stands. Expected around the corner on a circuit where it shone so much during winter testing, giving rise to the hope of a new order in 2019, the Team disappointed again.

After five races, Mercedes, whose relentless strike force must absolutely be saluted, has just as many doubles. Because Hamilton will never really be worried, despite the intervention of the Safety Car just when he had to observe his second tire change, the result of a collision between Lando Norris et Lance stroll in the depths of the rankings. 

At the restart, the wearer of number 44 quickly took off ahead of Bottas, Verstappen, impeccable once again this weekend, and Vettel. The leading quartet will finish in this order under the checkerboard. Behind, there was a severe clash between Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly for the gain of 5th place on the re-start, without success for the Red Bull driver, who finally finished 6th. 

There may be little explanation of text at Haas where Romain Grosjean et Kevin Magnussen gave their boss Guenther Steiner a cold sweat by crashing several times in the first corner. The Dane shoehorned his French teammate on the restart before rebuffing him a few loops later in the same place.

Severely lacking in points before this Catalan weekend, Grosjean then had to grit his teeth until the finish to snatch his first unit of the season after slipping behind the McLaren Carlos Sainz, 8th, and the Toro Rosso by Daniil Kvyat, 9th. He will resist the return ofAlexander albon (Toro Rosso) until the end.

After another complicated weekend, Renault ends at the points gate with Daniel Ricciardo 12th and Nico Hulkenberg in its wake 13th. Far ahead, Hamilton had already completed his 76th career success with the best lap in the race, synonymous with a bonus point and a perfect score for the Briton, who takes the reins of the championship by 7 points against Bottas. 

Discover the full report and analysis of the Spanish Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Catalonia, in issue 2216 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.