Lewis took his 55th career victory today - his second at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and second of the 2017 season. Valtteri experienced his first retirement as a Silver Arrows driver with a mechanical failure on lap 39.
Lewis set the fastest lap of the race for the third time this season - the 50th Formula One fastest lap for the three pointed star.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (161 points) lead the Constructors' Championship by eight points from Ferrari (153 points) in P2. Lewis (98 points) closes the gap on Sebastian Vettel (104 points) to just six points in the Drivers' Championship, with Valtteri (63 points) a further 35 points back in P3
Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: That was an epic Grand Prix. Racing simply doesn't go more wheel to wheel - and we were treated to some fantastic racing for the win. Today's win was one for the whole team: an amazing drive from Lewis, great calls by our strategy team, good defensive driving by Valtteri, the fastest pit stops of the race and a quick, consistent upgraded car. Everything clicked and came together for us. It wasn't an easy race after we lost position at the start: we were on the back foot, so when Vettel covered the early undercut, we sent Lewis long and took the medium tyre - to give us options at the end with another set of softs. Then we made perfect use of the VSC and took a risk to run nearly half the race on a set of softs: we thought it would work out but it was always going to be tight. After that, it came down to some brilliant driving and then managing the tyres and engine just right to the final lap. But it was not a perfect day: we lost one car with a technical failure and Valtteri struggled with a damaged car after the contact at Turn One. In spite of that, he drove well and the one-stop approach could have worked out for him until the VSC happened. But it was a day when only one Ferrari finished, so in spite of the retirement, we built up our championship lead. But this was Lewis' day with a supreme drive. People have been asking me if Lewis is now back. The truth is he has never been away - and today's showed it.
James Allison, Technical Director: Grands Prix like that are why we go motor racing. Winning is always lovely. But when you win a proper 12 round heavyweight fight in this kind of style, and along the way answer all sorts of questions about tyre degradation, following other teams and the car's handling - and then see a driver at the peak of his craft like Lewis was today - there's nothing better than that. It was a body blow not to get our second car home and we will be looking carefully at what happened to Valtteri. But the sweetness of winning is some compensation for the bitterness of that retirement.
Christian Horner, Team Principal: "Daniel drove a good race today, quite a lonely race for him and unfortunately we didn't have the pace to go with the leaders but we obviously benefitted from Bottas' retirement for him to record his first podium of the year which was great to see. Max made a good start and after committing to the outside of turn one he was the unfortunate victim of Valtteri hitting Kimi who in turn went into him and broke his front suspension causing his retirement, a great shame for him. Looking at the weekend as a whole, we've definitely put some performance on the car, as we have done after every race this season but we are well aware we've still got a lot to do. Now we look ahead to the most prestigious race on the calendar in Monaco and hope we can continue the performance trend and put in a positive show there."
Maurizio Arrivabene: Shame for the end result, but we leave Spain knowing that we can count on a car that is solid and very quick. Seb's race was very good from the start, and he was able to lead for many laps. In the last stint, despite being on Medium tires, he held off Hamilton until he had to give way to his main rival, who could take the best of DRS and Soft compound. More time was lost behind Bottas and also because of the Virtual Safety Car, which ended just when we had to pit to cover Hamilton's move. Kimi's race did not last long, as he was rammed at the first corner. That's racing, and we must keep our concentration and humility, as we are aware that there is still a lot of work to do and so much to improve. The championship is still a long way and we are already focusing on the next race at Monaco.
Sahara Force India scored 22 points in today's Spanish Grand Prix as Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon raced to fourth and fifth places.
Robert Fernley: "A fantastic result for everybody at Sahara Force India. The 22 points scored strengthen our hold on fourth place in the championship and continue our 100% points-scoring record in every race this season. We are now the only team to have achieved this and that's a huge credit to the hard work of the race team and factory. It was a fairly routine race from our perspective with mature drives from Sergio and Esteban. They kept their noses clean and managed their pace to bring home our best result of the year so far. This consistency is a real strength of the team and we can feel very satisfied with our performance over the first quarter of the season."
Felipe Massa finished 13th and Lance Stroll 16th at the Spanish Grand Prix. Lance made a good start on a set of new soft tyres, avoiding the action to move up from P18 to P13 on the opening lap. After a great start, Felipe and Fernando Alonso made contact at turn two, resulting in a front-right puncture for Felipe and an early pitstop for a new front wing.
Lance made his first pitstop on lap 12 for a new set of soft tyres. On lap 33 Felipe and Stoffel Vandoorne made contact at turn one bringing out the virtual safety car as Vandoorne retired. Both drivers made their final stops under the virtual safety car for medium tyres. On the penultimate lap Felipe passed Lance for P14 and went on to finish 13th, while Lance fell back in the closing stages to finish 16th.
Felipe is now ninth in the Drivers' Championship, while the team is now sixth in the Constructors' Championship with 18 points, one point behind Toro Rosso.
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: It was tough day, particularly with the various incidents at the front, making it a bad day to not be up there in the points. Felipe had a fantastic start and gained several places, but unfortunately he came into contact with Fernando, which caused a front-right puncture. That ruined his race. His pace in clean air was very strong: He was matching Daniel lap-for-lap on his first stint. I think we had the potential to have a very good result. For Lance, he finished the race without incident and he was able to learn more about tyre management and race craft. We hope he can continue to progress in Monaco.
The McLaren-Honda team was unable to capitalise on the upgrades brought to the first European race of the season at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Stoffel made a good start from the final slot on the grid, moving up to 15th by the end of the first lap. Despite a fierce battle and a strong passing manoeuvre on Jolyon Palmer, Stoffel - like Fernando - struggled to maintain his place within the pack during the first round of pit-stops, and settled into 16th place until lap 32. At Turn One, Felipe Massa was unsighted as he closed in along the pit straight, and he and Stoffel made contact, the resultant suspension damage to Stoffel's car forcing him to retire from the race. Stoffel will take a three-place grid penalty in Monaco for the incident.
Despite his strongest grid slot of the year, Fernando lost his seventh position on the opening lap, after being pushed wide by Massa into Turn Two and taking a trip across the gravel. He lost ground and dropped down the order, ending the first lap in 11th place. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya being a relatively high speed track, the MCL32 wasn't able to progress through the field, and Fernando lost positions through the first and second round of pit-stops, after which he spent much of the afternoon in 15th place. A spirited drive and an unplanned final pit stop on lap 51 allowed him to find better pace in the closing stages, and he moved back up to finish his home race in 12th position.
Fernando will tonight fly to Indianapolis for the first practice session tomorrow morning ahead of his Indy 500 debut. Meanwhile, Jenson Button will visit the McLaren Technology Centre this week to drive the simulator again, before deputising for Fernando in the Monaco Grand Prix in two weeks' time.
Eric Boullier: "After our encouraging qualifying pace yesterday, it goes without saying that we're very disappointed today.
"Through no fault of his own, Fernando got involved in Felipe's [Massa] lap-one ‘off', and immediately dropped half a dozen places as a result. He pushed as hard as he could thereafter, but the gap proved unbridgeable and he ended up driving a lonely race to 12th place.
"After being awarded a 10-place grid penalty as a result of the team's decision to replace some elements of his car's power unit this morning, Stoffel was forced to start the race from 20th and last place. From there he drove the first third of the race very hard and very well, working his way up to P16 by lap 20, the highlight being a strong passing manoeuvre on Jolyon's [Palmer] Renault.
"Unfortunately, his good progress came to a halt on lap 33, when contact with Felipe's Williams damaged his suspension and rendered his car undriveable.
"So, results-wise, today is a day for us to forget, but there are positives to be taken from the weekend nonetheless, not least our solid qualifying pace. It's clear that the MCL32 is a chassis that our drivers can really lean on - and that quality augurs well for Monaco, on whose sinuous streets we'll do battle with our rivals once again in two weeks' time."
Yusuke Hasegawa: "After yesterday's good qualifying with a great performance by Fernando at his home grand prix, today's result turned out to be disappointing for all of us in the team.
"Fernando was running well despite having an unfortunate incident on the first lap and finding himself back down the grid. He never gave up and showed encouraging pace while chasing the cars in front. I'm disappointed as I think today his pace was good and we were competitive enough to get some points.
"It was a tough race for Stoffel. He had to start from the last row and then retired in the middle of the race. I think he's having a challenging time at the moment but we'll overcome the situation together with him.
"Next up is Monaco, and it will be a big opportunity for us. It's a very technical circuit and a real drivers' track, so here's hoping Stoffel and Jenson will run well there."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "A good race for us today: to finish P7 with Carlos and P9 with Daniil is a great result for us. Both the drivers and the team performed really well after a disappointing qualifying session yesterday but it's positive to see that no one gave up on the challenge and at the end, what counts is the race! It seems that all the upgrades that we brought here to Barcelona this weekend worked well. Especially in the race, we saw some good overtakes and we are now back to fifth position in the Constructors' Championship, which is always our target for the season. Regarding the strategy, we made very good decisions and both drivers did a great job. I always said that this race could be a good one for us, where we needed to score as many points as possible, as this track suits the set-up of our car and it's pleasing to see that we could actually do so. I believe the same is true for the next race in Monaco, so let's approach it in the same way and get ready for it now."
Haas F1 Team earned another point-paying result when driver Romain Grosjean finished 10th in the Spanish Grand Prix Sunday at Circuit de Barcelona - Catalunya. It was nearly a double-points effort for the American outfit, as teammate Kevin Magnussen ran among the top-10 before a cut tire on the penultimate lap forced him to pit. He finished 14th.
Both drivers made the most of the start when the typical chaos of turn one unfolded. With Scuderia Ferrari's Kimi Räikkönen and Red Bull's Max Verstappen making contact, along with Williams' Felipe Massa and McLaren's Fernando Alonso coming together, Haas F1 Team's drivers seized the opportunity.
Magnussen and Grosjean picked their way through the carnage to rise to eighth and 10th, respectively. After Magnussen left the grid in 11th and Grosjean in 14th, both drivers were suddenly in the top-10.
Joining them in the top-10 was Toro Rosso's Carlos Sainz Jr., who twice mounted spirited charges on Magnussen - the first on lap four and the second on lap 10 - only for Magnussen to close the door each time.
Sainz remained sandwiched in ninth between eighth-place Magnussen and 10th-place Grosjean, even after Magnussen and Sainz pitted together on lap 13. Sainz made another attempt to get around Magnussen when he put his right-side tires in the grass as the duo came off the pit lane and onto the track. Again Magnussen remained out of reach.
With a new set of Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft tires on his Haas VF-17, Magnussen held steady and returned to eighth as pit stops cycled through, creating a two-second gap over Sainz by lap 26. Grosjean, meanwhile, was only a second behind Sainz in 10th after emulating Magnussen by pitting for used softs on lap 19.
The chance of a double-points finish began to unravel when the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) deployed on lap 33 for Stoffel Vandoorne's stricken McLaren in turn one. Magnussen's advantage over Sainz was gone and after making their final pit stops, Sainz emerged ahead of Magnussen. Grosjean pitted a lap later.
When the race went back to green on lap 37, Magnussen and Grosjean, each of whom were shod on new White medium tires, were 10th and 11th, respectively. Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein, who was on a single-stop strategy, was the other driver ahead of the two Haas F1 Team pilots.
A rare mechanical problem sidelined the front-running Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas on lap 39, allowing Magnussen to climb to ninth and Grosjean to return to 10th.
However, Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat was rising, and he passed Grosjean for position on lap 43, dropping Grosjean out of the top-10. Then on lap 65 of the 66-lap race Kvyat made contact with Magnussen, cutting the left-rear tire on Magnussen's VF-17. Forced to the pits to make a quick change and finish the race, Magnussen dropped to 14th and Grosjean inherited 10th, picking up a single point.
Winning the Spanish Grand Prix was three-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton. It was the Mercedes driver's 55th career Formula One win, his second of the season and his second at Barcelona. Hamilton's margin of victory was 3.490 seconds over Scuderia Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. The victory cut Vettel's lead in the championship standings to six points with still 15 races remaining.
Five rounds into the 20-race Formula One schedule, Haas F1 Team is eighth in the constructors standings with nine points, five behind seventh-place Renault and four ahead of ninth-place Sauber. Grosjean is 12th in the driver standings and Magnussen is 14th.
Guenther Steiner: "A disappointing end following a good start to the race. We were in good positions, the car was going well on the soft tires, and then the Virtual Safety Car came out. We lost all our momentum. It just came out at the wrong time. We went too early onto the medium tires, not as planned. The medium tire - we just couldn't get it to work. The guys lost a few positions and then Kevin had a puncture. The only good thing coming out of here is that we got a point. We should have more, but that's racing."
Renault Sport Formula One Team secured its best-ever finishing position of sixth place thanks to a strong drive from Nico Hulkenberg in the Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Pirelli 2017 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Nico made a demon start from thirteenth to seventh, then his pit crew were able to assist in him making a further position during the 66-lap race. Nico's finish is one place better than the team's previous best, seventh thanks to Kevin Magnussen in last year's Russian Grand Prix. Jolyon Palmer endured a tough Grand Prix employing a three-stop strategy from his P17 start to finish in fifteenth. Thanks to today's result, Renault Sport Formula One Team moves to seventh position in the Constructors' Championship.
Nico started the race in P13 on new Soft tyres, changing to scrubbed Softs on lap 15 and then new Medium tyres on lap 33. Jolyon started the race from P17 on a new set of Medium tyres, pitting on the first lap for a new set of Softs, then stopping for further new Soft tyres on laps 21 and 42.
Cyril Abiteboul, Managing Director: "A fantastic race result after a difficult qualifying session yesterday. It goes to show, you should never let your head go down and you should always maximise every opportunity. Nico took advantage of a great start, the pit crew delivered exactly what was required during the race and also a bit of luck fell our way. We showed good execution of strategy and pit stops and our race pace was better than that of our competitors, Haas, Williams and Toro Rosso. It is positive that we continue to improve in these areas, however we still have to work hard to understand how to maximise the performance of the R.S.17; this weekend was rather unusual for us because our race pace was better than our qualifying performance. For Jolyon it was a tough Grand Prix and we are dedicated to understanding what we can do to improve this. We head next to Monaco, a circuit which presents very unique challenges, eager to continue the team's upward trajectory."
The Sauber F1 Team had an unexpected surprising result at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Pascal Wehrlein saw the chequered flag in P7 after starting the race from P15. The German got a five second penalty due to a mistake at the pit entry before his only pit stop, classifying in P8 at the end. It is Wehrlein's best result of his Formula 1 career so far. Marcus Ericsson also put in a good performance finishing the race in P11 - close to the points. After an overall challenging weekend, the Swiss team scored the first points of the season, maintaining P9 with four points in the constructors' championship.
{b}Monisha Kaltenborn, Team Principal:{/b} "A great result for our team - with a perfect strategy behind it. Both drivers have put in a good performance. Pascal managed to have an excellent race, whereas Marcus also made the most out of the car. Today's result proves that we are in the right direction and that there is definitely potential in our car. We are curious about what comes next in Monaco when further aero parts will be introduced."
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish Grand Prix after a battle that was so close with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel that the two even touched after the final pit stops. Both stopped twice after starting on the soft tyre, but Hamilton did a middle stint on the medium compound then finished on the soft, whereas Vettel did a middle stint on soft to finish the race on the medium.
Both fought hard on the track as well as in the pits with their different strategies, but eventually finished the race in the order in which they started it on the grid. Conditions remained dry and warm, ending in track temperatures of 43 degrees centigrade.
Only three drivers started the race on the medium tyre, with Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat running a medium-soft-soft race to finish in the points from the last row of the grid. Pascal Wehrlein was another points finisher for Sauber, ending up eighth (following a five-second penalty) after stopping just once, completing two roughly equal stints on the soft and the medium.
Mario Isola: "Hamilton sealed victory thanks also to the low degradation and strong performance of the medium tyre that he ran in the second stint; the same strategy adopted by Daniel Ricciardo in third. Degradation and wear was low despite the high track temperatures; demonstrated by the fact that Hamilton set the fastest lap of the race very close two laps from the end with a time more than 3.4 seconds faster than the equivalent last year."
Lewis Hamilton won the race using two pit stops: starting on soft, changing to medium on lap 22, and then going back to soft on lap 37. This was the most likely, but not theoretically fastest scenario, which was predicted to be a three-stopper. The highest-placed three-stopper was local hero Fernando Alonso, in 12th.
