Hamilton conquers Spanish track
Mercedes driver secures nail-biter as teammate Rosberg finishes second.
Lewis Hamilton stamped his authority once again at the Formula One circuit to take the lead in the title race with 100 points to his credit. PHOTO: AFP
BARCELONA:
A delighted, but dignified Lewis Hamilton thanked his Mercedes engineers on Sunday after holding off teammate Nico Rosberg to win a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix and take over as leader of the drivers’ world championship.
After winning by just a few car lengths at the Circuit de Catalunya, Hamilton said Rosberg had been the faster driver, but he had won thanks to advice from his race team in the closing stages of a dramatic race.
“A big thank you for my team,” he said, as he sat on the podium afterwards.
“They have done an incredible job this year and the support here [in Spain] is the best I have ever. My first win in Spain means everything to me.”
Asked about his frequent questions for his race team, he said: “I was not upset, but I was not fast enough today [Sunday]. Nico was quicker. I struggled with the balance and needed to rely on my engineers.
“I was moving my settings up and down and fortunately I was able to keep Nico behind.”
In a heart-stopping conclusion to an intriguing 66-laps race, Hamilton resisted the pressure from Rosberg to finish just 0.6 seconds ahead.
His victory lifted him to 100 points for the season and into the lead of the title race ahead of Rosberg, on 97.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo came home third for Red Bull ahead of his team-mate defending four time world champion German Sebastian Vettel, who had started from 15th on the grid.
I just needed one more lap: Rosberg
Rosberg, after finishing second behind Hamilton for the fourth consecutive time, said he felt he needed just one more lap to make a passing move on his teammate.
“I just needed one more lap to overtake him [Hamilton],” he said. “Unfortunately that was it and I am a bit gutted about it. But still, second place and second in the championship is good enough... I will go to Monaco to go one better and try and repeat the win from last year.”
A beaming Ricciardo, who finished 49 seconds behind Hamilton, said: “We did not have the pace on Mercedes.”
It was Hamilton’s fourth win this year, his first in Spain and the 26th of his career while Mercedes one-two stamped their complete supremacy on the constructors’ championship which they now lead by more than 100 points.
Finn Valtteri Bottas finished fifth for the resurgent Williams team ahead of local hero and two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso and his Ferrari teammate 2007 champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean was eighth for Lotus, signaling their return to some form after a dismal start to the year, ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez and his Force India teammate German Nico Hulkenberg, who was 10th.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2014.
A delighted, but dignified Lewis Hamilton thanked his Mercedes engineers on Sunday after holding off teammate Nico Rosberg to win a thrilling Spanish Grand Prix and take over as leader of the drivers’ world championship.
After winning by just a few car lengths at the Circuit de Catalunya, Hamilton said Rosberg had been the faster driver, but he had won thanks to advice from his race team in the closing stages of a dramatic race.
“A big thank you for my team,” he said, as he sat on the podium afterwards.
“They have done an incredible job this year and the support here [in Spain] is the best I have ever. My first win in Spain means everything to me.”
Asked about his frequent questions for his race team, he said: “I was not upset, but I was not fast enough today [Sunday]. Nico was quicker. I struggled with the balance and needed to rely on my engineers.
“I was moving my settings up and down and fortunately I was able to keep Nico behind.”
In a heart-stopping conclusion to an intriguing 66-laps race, Hamilton resisted the pressure from Rosberg to finish just 0.6 seconds ahead.
His victory lifted him to 100 points for the season and into the lead of the title race ahead of Rosberg, on 97.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo came home third for Red Bull ahead of his team-mate defending four time world champion German Sebastian Vettel, who had started from 15th on the grid.
I just needed one more lap: Rosberg
Rosberg, after finishing second behind Hamilton for the fourth consecutive time, said he felt he needed just one more lap to make a passing move on his teammate.
“I just needed one more lap to overtake him [Hamilton],” he said. “Unfortunately that was it and I am a bit gutted about it. But still, second place and second in the championship is good enough... I will go to Monaco to go one better and try and repeat the win from last year.”
A beaming Ricciardo, who finished 49 seconds behind Hamilton, said: “We did not have the pace on Mercedes.”
It was Hamilton’s fourth win this year, his first in Spain and the 26th of his career while Mercedes one-two stamped their complete supremacy on the constructors’ championship which they now lead by more than 100 points.
Finn Valtteri Bottas finished fifth for the resurgent Williams team ahead of local hero and two-time champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso and his Ferrari teammate 2007 champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen.
Frenchman Romain Grosjean was eighth for Lotus, signaling their return to some form after a dismal start to the year, ahead of Mexican Sergio Perez and his Force India teammate German Nico Hulkenberg, who was 10th.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 12th, 2014.