2014 Spanish Grand Prix - Race Report: Hamilton wins last lap thriller against Rosberg

The Spanish Grand Prix saw a mixed up starting grid, with the likes of Vettel down in 15th after a penalty and Maldonado continuing his poor qualifying form of being knocked out in every Q1 session so far this season.

It was a Mercedes front row with Hamilton on pole with Ricciardo and Bottas behind, then it was Grosjean, Raikkonen, Alonso, Button, Massa and Hulkenberg. All drivers in the Top 10 would start on the Medium compound tyre that they had qualified on.

The reigning World Champion, Vettel suffered a minor brake problem on the grid and with frantic work from the Red Bull mechanics, it was quickly resolved in time for the start of the formation lap.

Hamilton off the line well at the start, Rosber slotted into second place with Bottas and further back Grosjean, Alonso, Raikkonen and Massa became embroiled in a battle in taking 5th place. Vettel made an average start, gaining only one place on the opening lap after being caught in high volumes of traffic.

The opening few laps did not see many position changes, although the two Mercedes romped away from the rest of the field, with their laptimes being over a second quicker than that of Bottas who was being chased by Ricciardo for 3rd.

An incident between Maldonado and Ericsson on Lap 3 caused an investigation to be launched, with Maldonado ultimately being given a 5 second Stop/Go penalty.

On Lap 7, Ricciardo made a dive up the inside of Bottas into Turn 1 but failed to get past the Finn, meanwhile Grosjean began to close the deficit to the pair. Behind the Lotus, it was Raikkonen, Alonso, Massa, Hulkenberg and Perez.

Lap 9 saw a fight for 12th place between Gutierrez, Button and Vettel. The Mexican made a move around Turn 3 of Renault but ultimately had to give way to Button and later Vettel. The German then set about trying to make a move against Button but then pitted at the end of Lap 12 and re-emerged in 19th.

Gutierrez then fell into the clutches of Magnussen who overtook the Mexican around the outside of Turn 1.

On Lap 15, Ricciardo opened the pit-window for the front runners and put pressure on the Williams team to make a stop. He came out in 12th. One lap later we saw Grosjean and Massa change over to the Hard compound of tyres.

With a new set of Medium compound tyres, Ricciardo set about making his way through the field and quickly got past drivers including Button and Kvyat and was up to 8th place. Meanwhile on Lap 17, Alonso pitted from 5th and rejoined in 14th behind Magnussen and Gutierrez.

Raikkonen pitted on Lap 18 and came out just tenths ahead of team-mate Alonso, much to the annoyance of the home-town hero. Hamilton pitted on the same lap with Rosberg taking over the lead and Hamilton temporarily taking 2nd place.

Rosberg pitted on Lap 21 for Hard compound tyres, counter to that of Hamilton. He emerged 3 seconds behind the Briton with the lapped Caterham of Ericsson splitting the two.

On Lap 24, we saw Grosjean and the ailing Ferrari of Raikkonen battle for 5th place, with the Frenchman losing out after a lap long battle. Meanwhile, Jean-Eric Vergne retired his Toro Rosso with an exhaust problem.

Grosjean then came under pressure from Alonso who eased past him for 6th place, much to the delight of the home crowd. It became suspected that the Frenchman was suffering a mechanical fault as he was quickly caught by Massa's Williams, Vettel's Red Bull and the two Force India's of Hulkenberg and Perez.

At half race distance it was Hamilton leading, Rosberg in 2nd, Ricciardo 3rd, Bottas 4th, Raikonen 5th, Alonso 6th, Grosjean 8th, Perez in 9th and Kvyat 10th who was under pressure from Magnussen.

Lap 36 saw Alonso pit for a set of Hard compound tyres and come out just tenths ahead of Massa in 8th. He overtook Magnussen for 7th a lap later. Meanwhile, Vettel had made his way up to 9th after passing Massa with a late lunge into Turn 4 of Seat and then Magnussen a corner later, meaning the German was up to 7th.

On Lap 43, the gap between Hamilton and Rosberg had been reduced and the Brit made his final pit-stop, and emerged in 2nd place after his team-mate took the lead. The pit-stop was comparatively slow compared to Rosberg's previous and to add further to Hamilton's frustration, there was a miscommunication between how many turns of front wing there should have been.

Lap 46 saw Rosberg retaliate and come out behind Hamilton. Williams pitted Bottas from 3rd who rejoined in 4th ahead of the two Ferrari's.

Lap 47 saw a fight between Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Perez take place with the two Force India's looking to have the pace in the later stages of the Grand Prix despite Grosjean's earlier promising pace.

As we hit Lap 48, it became apparent that Rosberg would not settle for 2nd place and closed the gap to his team-mate by 1.5 seconds in two laps, with the gap down to 2 seconds by Lap 53. Meanwhile Magnussen and Kyvat has a small scrap, with the Dane emerging as the victor. Vettel pitted for the final time on the same lap and joined the race in 7th place.

Lap 54 saw Alonso pit for a set of Medium compound tyres and get overtaken by Vettel as the Spaniard came out of the pit-lane. The Red Bull driver then set about challenging Raikkonen for 5th and after an incredibly late lunge up the inside into the hairpin of Turn 10.

The gap between Hamilton and Rosberg had shrunk further to 1.8 seconds by Lap 58 and with Hamilton complaining of tyre graining, it looked to be the former World Champion's race to lose.

The two Ferrari's became inter-locked in a battle for 6th place with Alonso continuously challenging Raikkonen for the honour of top Ferrari which he eventually managed on Lap 64. Whilst this occurred, Bottas came under pressure from Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull for 4th place with the German ultimately managing to get past the Finn after another hairpin lunge.

With two laps remaining, all other battles aside from the race winner decided. As they headed into the final lap, Rosberg made two passing attempts down the main and Nissan straights, all to no avail as Hamilton fended off the pressure from his experienced team-mate to take the victory.

Ricciardo finished 3rd and achieved his first podium in Formula 1, Vettel came home in a delighted 4th place, and Bottas was a dejected 5th. Alonso, 6th and Raikkonen 7th meaning that Ferrari have work to do before Monaco. Grosjean finished 8th, scoring Lotus's first points of the season and the two Force India's of Perez and Hulkenberg rounded out the points.

With Hamilton's fourth victory in a row he takes the lead in the Drivers Championship over Roserberg. McLaren struggled with pace as expected, but Marussia made some good gains over rivals Caterham and even harassed some Sauber's which will renew optimism for the fledging Russian-backed team.

The next Grand Prix is in the principality of Monaco in two weeks time on May 25th. We will, as ever, have reports of every session and news that unfolds throughout the weekend.

Tom Brooks
Chief UK Editor