Lewis Hamilton made the most of a brilliant Mercedes strategy to beat title rival Max Verstappen at the Spanish Grand Prix.
History seemed to repeat itself as a similar situation arose in the 2019 Hungarian Grand Prix as Hamilton switched onto a two-stop strategy before hunting down Verstappen to claim victory late on in the race.
Verstappen made his way into the lead at Turn 1 after a brilliant start, the Dutchman soared down the inside as he took the lead of the race.
Mercedes flipped the race on its head when some quick-thinking kept Red Bull napping as Hamilton darted into the pits for the second time on Lap 42.
The seven-time world champion had 24 seconds to find in his hunt of Verstappen, who was on tyre nearly 20 laps older than the Mercedes driver.
Just as he did in Hungary two years ago, the 36-year-old charged to victory as he swept around the outside of Verstappen at Turn 1 with six laps to go.
It is Hamilton’s fifth win in Barcelona as he stormed to his 98th career victory in Formula 1, he finds himself with a 14-point lead over Verstappen in the championship.
Having lost the lead of the race, Verstappen pitted in the dying embers of the race to claim the fastest lap, ensuring he collected an extra bonus point as he finished nearly 16 seconds off Hamilton.
Race Rundown
Valtteri Bottas completed the top three for Mercedes, the Finn endured a tricky start to the race as he was stuck behind the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
The Monégasque finished in fourth, best of the rest, as he continued his fine start to the season for Ferrari.
He beat the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who fought his way to fifth after a disappointing qualifying session yesterday.
Daniel Riccardo had his strongest race since joining McLaren as he fended off Carlos Sainz to finish sixth.
The Spaniard finished seventh, as he found himself frustrated after being stuck being his former team for the duration of the race.
Lando Norris ensured both McLaren cars scored points in every race this season as he finished a distant eighth.
Esteban Ocon pipped AlphaTauri driver Pierre Gasly for ninth as the two had a drag race to the line, which completed the points-paying positions.
The drivers will now have a two-week break before they return to the streets of Monaco, after a one-year absence of the circuit.
