Mercedes one-two: Hamilton’s Titanic hits Rosberg in Spanish GP

The 29-year-old German, who had been beaten by Hamilton in all four of this season’s opening races, led from the 16th pole position of his career all the way to the chequered flag, his supremacy interrupted only by his pit stops.

It was his first win since last November’s Brazilian Grand Prix and the ninth of his career.

Hamilton, who slipped from second to third at the start, fought back, coupling great skill and daring with a three-stop strategy, to finish behind Rosberg and deliver another one-two for the dominant Mercedes team.

Four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, who outpaced Hamilton off the grid, came home third for Ferrari ahead of Finns Valtteri Bottas of Williams and Kimi Raikkonen, in the second Ferrari.

Brazilian Felipe Massa was sixth in the second Williams ahead of Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull and Romain Grosjean of Lotus.

Local hero Carlos Sainz won a late wheel-to-wheel battle with his Toro Rosso teammate, Dutch teenager Jos Verstappen, to take 10th and then stole ninth from Russian Daniil Kvyat in the second Red Bull.

It was another day of disappointment for struggling McLaren-Honda, who are yet to register any points this season.

Spaniard Fernando Alonso retired after brakes failure saw him narrowly avoid colliding with his pit crew, and Briton Jenson Button finished 16th.

In another dramatic pit lane incident, Grosjean also over-shot his pit stop and sent a mechanic, clinging to the front jack, flying. He, fortunately, managed to escape without serious injuries.

The race was run on another hot day at the Circuit de Catalunya, with an air temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and a track temperature of 45.

As the lights went out, Rosberg made a perfect start to pull clear of the field while Hamilton appeared delayed and was swallowed up by Vettel who swept past into second.

For a second, it seemed that Bottas also overtook the world champion, but Hamilton responded with a robust defensive surge to ensure he lost only one place going into the second corner.

Behind him, Bottas was fourth with Raikkonen, in the second Ferrari, making the biggest gain by jumping to fifth from seventh.

Rosberg revelled in his advantage and his rejuvenated speed. He reeled off the fastest laps to open up a 6.6 seconds lead over Vettel by lap 10 with Hamilton a further 1.1 seconds further adrift.

Bottas, fourth, was 4.2 seconds behind Hamilton who reported to his race engineer that “it is impossible to get close” to Vettel in his bid to recover.

For Hamilton, it meant a change of strategy and he was soon told to pit after 13 laps. A delay with the left rear tyre hampered him and he rejoined in seventh place, having added three seconds to his stop.

A lap later and Rosberg was in and out for new rubber in just 2.5 seconds, handing the lead to Raikkonen briefly before he headed into the Ferrari pits. By lap 18, the early order resumed with Rosberg leading Vettel by six seconds and Hamilton back up to third.

As Hamilton revealed his frustrations, Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus team removed half of his car’s rear wing, damaged in an earlier collision. He fell through the field, but fought back with some determination, passing both McLaren-Hondas on the way.

By lap 30, Rosberg was in easy control, leading Vettel by 8.7sec and Hamilton by 10 as the order settled. Hamilton appeared to ease off ahead of his second stop, after 32 laps, for a set of hard tyres and an aerodynamic adjustment.

The Briton pushed on and, with the help of a dazzling drive through the traffic and a rapid third pit-stop for fresh tyres, managed to overhaul Vettel for second place after the German slowed following his second stop.  

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th,  2015.

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