Hamilton extends championship lead with Spanish Grand Prix victory

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) wins the Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, the fifth round of the 2018 F1 season. Hamilton converted his pole position into his third win in Spain, the 64th Formula 1 victory in a career and the second in 2018, extending his lead in the championship.

Valterri Bottas doubles up a celebration for Mercedes by finishing in the second place, third time this season. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) finally reached his first podium of the season by finishing third, beating Sebastian Vettel (Scuderia Ferrari) in a fight for the last podium spot. Daniel Riciardo (Red Bull) completed the top 5.

Kevin Magnussen (Haas) finished in the sixth place, ahead of Carlos Sainz Jr (Renault), Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Sergio Perez (Force India) and Charles Leclerc (Sauber).

Hamilton started from pole and won the race

The race was marked by a huge crash in turn 3 on the opening lap, caused by spinning Romain Grosjean’s car. He smoked up a track and then collected Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly.

Three more drivers retired later during the race, one of them was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen whose engine expired after 25 laps. Esteban Ocon (Force India) stopped after 38 laps with power unit issue while Stoffel Vandoorne’s race lasted for 45 laps before a retirement due to technical problems.