F1 racing

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Hamilton conquers Spanish GP in sweltering heat Verstappen, a distant second ahead of Bottas; Racing Point takes 4 th & 5 th

Lewis Hamilton took a dominant lights-toflag victory in sweltering conditions at Spanish Grand Prix, eventually crossing the line 25 seconds clear of Red Bull Racing's Max Verstappen on Sunday, August 16. Hamilton's Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas was third ahead of the Racing Points of Lance Stroll and Sergio Pérez. In an ambien temperatures of around 30C˚ and on a track nudging above 50C˚ , Verstappen made a good getaway at the start and he was able to outpace the slower-starting Bottas on the long run to Turn 1 and steal P2 behind Hamilton. Stroll also made a good getaway from fifth place on the grid to pass team-mate Pérez and Bottas. Behind them Alex Albon in the second Red Bull also made a solid start and he might have claimed fourth but in Turn 1 he was boxed in by the battle between Bottas and Stroll and was forced to hold his starting position. Hamilton began to eke out a small gap to Verstappen, but the Red Bull driver clung to the race leader and after 10 laps he was just 1.6s behind the champion. Behind them, Bottas made his way past Stroll on lap five to close to retake third place. Verstappen made his first stop of the race on lap 22. The Dutchman switched to

medium tyres in just 1.9s, and when Hamilton made a slow change of 4.3s the Red Bull driver found himself back in second place, four seconds behind the Briton. Bottas was still in third, two seconds adrift of Verstappen. Fourth place was occupied by Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, though the Australian had yet to make his first pit stop. Verstappen made his second stop for a set of mediums, on lap 41 and after a two-second stop he was released back into third place, 18.2s behind Bottas. Bottas pitted eight laps later but though he was on fresher soft tyres he failed to make serious inroads on the gap to the Red Bull driver. Hamilton followed his teammate to the pit lane on lap 51 but after insisting to his team that he did not want softs, he was given a set of mediums before rejoining 9.6s ahead of Verstappen. From there the result was set. Hamilton again began

to build a lead and with little chance of an assault on the lead and with Bottas well behind, Verstappen managed his pace to the flag. The task was made more straightforward when Bottas made a late stop for medium tyres and a finallap blast to the fastest lap of

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the race. Behind the top three Lance Stroll took fourth place ahead of Racing Point team-mate Sergio Pérez, who dropped behind the Canadian due to the fivesecond penalty for ignoring blue flags. Sixth place went to Carlos Sainz, while Sebastian Vettel made a one-stop strategy last to take seventh place, just one second ahead of Alex. Ninth place went to AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly and the final point on offer was taken by McLaren's Lando Norris. .

FORMULA 1 B E L G I A N G P

Hamilton dominates Bottas takes second to wrap up Mercedes 1-2 at Spa

Lewis Hamilton further extended his Formula 1 Driver's Championship with a dominant Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps as Valtteri Bottas took second place to wrap up Mercedes third 1-2 finish of the season. Max Verstappen took third place to score his sixth podium finish in a row on August 30 When the light went out at the start of the race Bottas made a good start from P2 on the grid and he seemed poised to challenge pole sitter Hamilton as they went through La Source, but Hamilton had a small lockup and that forced Bottas to slow. Lacking momentum he was unable to get a run on Hamilton as they went through Eau Rouge and down the long Kemmel straight. There was a tougher battle happening directly behind the lead pair, however. Verstappen made a good getaway to hold his grid position of third place but on the long straight fourthplaced Daniel Ricciardo was able to pull alongside and the pair went into Les Combe side by side. Verstappen ran wide on the exit but he was able to fight back as they went through Pouhon and he closed the door on his former teammate to retain third place. Behind them Versatppen's team-mate Alex Albon also came under pressure from a Renault's Esteban Ocon on the run down the hill to Eau Rouge and on the long straight he lost the position to the Frenchman. The race then settled in the opening 10 laps, with the Mercedes pair eking out a slim gap back to Verstappen as the Dutchman pulled away from Ricciardo. On lap 10 Hamilton held a 1.8s advantage over Bottas, but the complexion of the race then changed when Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi lost control on the exit of Fagnes and crashed into the barriers on the right side of the track. His car bounced back on track and a detached wheel then hit the Williams of George Russell, who then arrowed off track into the barriers on the left side. Fortunately, both drivers emerged unscathed but the Safety Car was immediately deployed. With the race neutralised, the bulk of the field pitted and during the stops Albon managed to jump ahead of Ocon. Racing Point's Sergio Pérez and AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly opted to stay

out on track, however, and they rose to fourth and fifth respectively. Following the restart on lap 15 Hamilton held his lead ahead of Bottas and Verstappen while Ricciardo and Albon soon Pérez and Gasly who were beginning to feel their starting tyres go off. At the front, Hamilton began to stretch away from Botta. Verstappen doggedly hung onto the Finn for a while, but as the laps ground down the gaps at the front slowly began to spread and in the final third of the race Verstappen began to complain that his tyres were causing vibrations. With eight laps remaining and a healthy gap back to fourth-placed Ricciardo, The Red Bull driver opted to throttle back and cruised to his sixth podium in a row 15 seconds behind race winner Hamilton and with three seconds in hand over Ricciardo, who took the point for fastest lap on the final tour of the circuit. Behind them Albon and Ocon provided the entertainment in the last 10 laps Albon was beginning to struggle on the mediums he had taken during his sole stop and Ocon closed in. In the last five laps the Thai driver was forced to fend off a series of late attacks by the Renault driver and though he managed to defend well, on the final lap he ran out of pace and on the long run to Les Combes Ocon powered past and Albon was forced to settle for sixth place ahead of the McLaren of Lando Norris and Gasly who powered through the order in the late stages to claim eighth. Ninth place went to Racing Point's Lance Stroll and the final point went to Pérez. Hamilton now has 157 points to Verstappen's 110, with Bottas in thrid place in the Driver's Championship with 107. In the

Constructors' battle Mercedes have 264, with Red Bull on 158 & McLaren are third with 68 points. .