Lewis Hamilton edged Sebastian Vettel in a thrilling duel in Spain which saw both drivers overtake each other, as well as a wheel-to-wheel battle between the Mercedes and Ferrari men.
Vettel got the jump at the start to pass pole-sitter Hamilton, and set about extending his lead in the early stages of the race. Mercedes tweaked their strategy tweak to put Hamilton on the slower, medium tyres after his first pit stop, after Vettel had already pitted and stuck to the soft tyres.
It meant that Hamilton would be on the quicker tyre after the second round of pit stops, allowing him to attack. And the Brit nearly went ahead right after Vettel’s second stop, as the German came out from the pit lane only inches ahead of his rival. The two went wheel-to-wheel, but Hamilton was forced wide and Vettel kept his place.
It was *very* close - but Sebastian Vettel is your #F1DriverOfTheDay ๐#SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/1JTLHjFTm1
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 14, 2017
NEW FASTEST LAP! Oh yes, it's HammerTime for @LewisHamilton! Bring it home! #F1 #SpanishGP pic.twitter.com/UXAF44jW8b
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) May 14, 2017
A very unfortunate premature end to my race. Itโs a shame for all the fans that turned out to watch me. On to the next one. #SpanishGP ๐ช๐ธ pic.twitter.com/X7QciGRnNI
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) May 14, 2017
๐ - P7 for Pascal ๐๐ช๐ with the 5 second time penalty he moves in P8 - 4 points ๐! Marcus finishes the #SpanishGP in P11 #F1 #PW94 #ME9
— Sauber F1 Team (@SauberF1Team) May 14, 2017