Lewis Hamilton beat championship leader Sebastian Vettel in a direct head-to-head duel as the Spanish Grand Prix delivered a spectacular fight for victory between F1 2017's big two.
What a thriller Spanish GP Lewis Hamilton overtakes Sebastian Vettel to close the title gap
It was a tense and gripping battle befitting the closeness of the fight between Formula 1's top teams and the two biggest favourit drivers of the 2017 season.
Four-time Formula One World Champion German Sebastian Vettel took control of the race with a superb start, sweeping around the outside of Lewis Hamilton into Turn One and building a 2.2-second lead with a blistering first lap.
When Ferrari beat Mercedes to making the first pit stop, preventing Hamilton passing by stopping earlier and benefiting from fresh tyres, the race appeared to be Vettel's to lose and Mercedes to win but...
A clever strategic move by the Mercedes team
Despite losing the lead to his Ferrari rival at the start, Mercedes played Hamilton's strategy cleverly to give the Englishman a chance and he then overtook Vettel on track after the final pit stops to claim the lead.
Hamilton's second win of the season cut his deficit to Vettel in the championship to six points after five of 20 races.
The championship two biggest favourites totally dominated the Spanish race, finishing 75 seconds ahead of Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in third, after Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen ran into
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya racing accidents.
Speaking after the race, Vettel reflected: "It was very close when we came out. I was just guessing on the braking but there was no room for him. I don't know if we touched. It was really close."
"That's how racing should be," enthused Lewis Hamilton. "It was incredibly close." Hamilton, Said after the race.
Bottas and Raikkonen were involved in a three-way collision at the first corner, with the Ferrari and Max Verstappen's Red Bull, who was on the outside of them, making heavy contact and retiring as a result.Valtteri Bottas later dropped out when running a distant third with what appeared to be a Mercedes engine failure.
With Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull all losing one car apiece, Force India profited and finished fourth and fifth with Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon respectively. The team, the only one to finish with two cars in the points at every race so far in the F1 2017 Championship.Best race seen for some time. Great timing on the Pit stop by Mercedes, bit aggressive from Vettel, but understandable as he had to maintain the gap. Also, well done to Alonso for a good home race. Bring on Monaco.
Full Spanish Grand Prix race results following Round 5 of the 2017 World Championship at the Circuit de Catalunya.
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes - Mercedes 66 laps
2. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari - Ferrari +3.4s
3. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull - TAG +1m 15.8s
4. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
5. Esteban Ocon FRA Force India-Mercedes +1 lap
6. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault - Renault +1 lap
7. Carlos Sainz ESP Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
8. Pascal Wehrlein GER Sauber - Ferrari +1 lap *
9. Daniil Kvyat RUS Toro Rosso-Renault +1 lap
10. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari +1 lap
11. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber - Ferrari +2 laps
12. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda +2 laps
13. Felipe Massa BRA Williams - Mercedes +2 laps
14. Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas-Ferrari +2 laps
15. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault - Renault +2 laps
16. Lance Stroll CAN Williams - Mercedes +2 laps
Did not finish
17. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes - Mercedes 39 laps completed
18. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL McLaren-Honda 34 laps completed
19. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari - Ferrari 0 laps completed
20. Max Verstappen NED Red Bull - TAG 0 laps completed.
Driver Standings Top 5
1. Sebastian Vettel GER. FERRARI (104)
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR. MERCEDES (98)
3. Valtteri Bottas FIN . MERCEDES (63)
4. Kimi Räikkönen FIN. FERRARI (49)
5. Daniel Ricciardo AUS. RED BULL (37)
The next race is the GRAND PRIX DE MONACO 2017, in Thu 25 May – Sun 28 May 2017.