Hamilton wins fourth straight race at Spanish GP

Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg sped away to their fourth straight one-two finish at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday in a dominant performance that does not bode well for the rest of the Formula One field.

“Getting my first win here after trying for eight years, it is difficult to put into words my feeling. I have never had a car like this. I have never had a gap like this. I am grateful I was able to keep (Rosberg) behind me,” Hamilton said.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo finished third for his first career podium after coming close on three occasions this year.

Four-time defending champion Sebastian Vettel had a flawless drive to move up from a 15th-place start to finish fourth, with his Red Bull finally not having any problems following two days of it stalling in practice and qualifying.

Valtteri Bottas of Williams was fifth, followed by struggling Ferrari duo Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen in sixth and seventh.

Lotus’ Romain Grosjean and Force India’s pair of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the points.

McLaren made no progress with Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen coming in 11th and 12th.

Not even a three-week break for their rivals to improve their cars prevented Mercedes from earning its fifth win in as many events this year in a disheartening display for the other 10 teams. Ricciardo ended up more than 48 seconds slower than Rosberg.

Alonso was left in a distant third place in the standings with 49 points, followed by Vettel with 45.

Mercedes increased its lead in the constructor’s championship race to 197 points. Red Bull is second with 84 points, with Ferrari trailing in third with 66.

After executing a clean start, the Silver Arrows focused on protecting their tires and preparing a final fight at the end of the race to decide which driver would have to settle with being runner-up.

The two opted for different pit stop strategies, with Hamilton pitting first to change to a faster pair of medium tries before Rosberg went in to get a second set of slower, but more resistant, hard tires.

It appeared Rosberg’s tactics to then finish on his set of faster tires was going to pay off as Hamilton’s advantage evaporated, but Hamilton kept his nerves in check and his vehicle in front until the 66th and final lap.

And although this race didn’t see any close calls between the drivers, as happened in Bahrain earlier this season, they were close right down to the last turn as Hamilton crossed 0.6 seconds ahead of Rosberg.