Espanha 2021: Hamilton ultrapassa Verstappen e vence

Lewis Hamilton won the Spanish GP after chasing and overtaking Max Verstappen in the final laps.

Starting from pole position, Hamilton lost the lead at the first corner, but Mercedes decided to call him in for an extra pit-stop, allowing him to push as hard as he could to close the gap on Verstappen before passing him with the advantage of newer tires.

Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas completed the podium in third, ahead of Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Sergio Perez (Red Bull).

At the start, Hamilton and Verstappen stood side by side on the nearly 600-meter stretch to the first corner, with the Dutchman on the inside. Both braked as late as possible, Verstappen dipped boldly and forced Hamilton to cede the lead. Behind them, Leclerc took third position from Bottas on the outside at turn 3.

Verstappen and Hamilton quickly pulled away from the pack until the safety car came out on lap eight, when Yuki Tsunoda's engine went out on the approach to turn 10 and forced him to stop at the exit.

Verstappen kept the lead at the restart on lap 11. As everyone started to make their first stops of the afternoon, Hamilton applied intense pressure on his rival.

The Dutchman was the first to switch to medium tires, but a slow pit-stop seemed to have put his lead in jeopardy. However, Mercedes chose not to recall Hamilton immediately, leaving its driver on track for a longer first stint.

With the speed advantage of the new tires, Verstappen was able to make up the time lost in his slow pit-stop and retake the lead when Hamilton eventually came in on lap 28.

The Briton quickly caught up with Red Bull on his newer tires, but could not get close enough to make a genuine overtaking attempt. After several laps behind, Hamilton and Mercedes decided to stop for a second time and put on a new set of mediums.

Red Bull chose not to do the same and left Verstappen on track. Hamilton began his chase, taking seconds off his rival's advantage with each lap. However, his progress was temporarily thwarted by Bottas, who did not make it as easy for his teammate to overtake.

Eventually, Hamilton pulled onto the leader's rear wing, and as they both opened lap 60, he used DRS to overtake Verstappen on the outside and take the lead. The Dutchman immediately stopped to put on new soft tires, retaining second position and easily setting the fastest lap.

With Verstappen too far back, Hamilton strode through the final laps towards the checkered flag and secured his third win in the first four races. Verstappen finished 15 seconds behind, while Bottas again completed the podium.

Leclerc was fourth and Perez fifth after starting eighth. Daniel Ricciardo was McLaren's best in sixth, followed by Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) and his teammate Lando Norris. Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Pierre Gasly (Alpha Tauri) rounded out the points after a duel to the finish line.

Race standings: