Spanish stats - Hamilton ends his Barcelona hoodoo. Lewis Hamilton arrived in Spain second in the drivers’ standings, having never won in Barcelona in seven attempts. He leaves the Spanish track with a fourth consecutive winners trophy in his pocket and the lead in the world championship. Never before had the 2008 world champion won four races in a row and he now joins Jim Clark, Nigel Mansell and Jenson Button as one of only four British drivers to have done so in a single season. In addition, Hamilton’s win means that Mercedes have now scored five consecutive world championship victories for the first time in their history. With Nico Rosberg coming home second for the fourth event in a row, Mercedes now have four consecutive one-two finishes. McLaren hold the record for most one-two finishes in a season - 10 in 1988 - but even they could not better four one-twos in a row. Can Mercedes go one better in Monaco? Once again, Hamilton and team mate Rosberg shared the lead between themselves in Spain, meaning Mercedes remain the only team to have led a lap in 2014. However, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel did at least ensure the Silver Arrows no longer have a clean sweep of fastest laps this season by clocking the best race lap on his 55th tour. There was joy for Vettel’s team mate Daniel Ricciardo as he finally claimed his first F1 podium. Of course, Ricciardo finished second in his home race in Melbourne, but lost the result because of fuel flow irregularities. There were no such issues in Spain meaning Ricciardo becomes the fifth Australian to score an F1 podium, joining an exclusive club containing Jack Brabham, Alan Jones, Tim Schenken and Mark Webber. The Antipodean nation can now boast 99 Grand Prix podium finishes, taking them up to ninth place of all-time, one ahead of Argentina. Fifth, behind the Mercedes and Red Bull cars, was Valtteri Bottas who equaled his and Williams’ highest finish of the season. The Finn came home just ahead of the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, the Spaniard getting the better of his Finnish team mate once more. The Scuderia maintained their 100 percent finishing record this season - the only team to show such consistency. Better still, Ferrari have had at least one car in the points for 72 consecutive races, dating back to Germany 2010. Rounding out the top ten in Barcelona were Romain Grosjean - who scored Lotus’s first points of the season - and the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg. The Silverstone-based team got both cars home in the points for the third race in a row and fourth time this season - a solid achievement. There were a couple of points of interest outside of the top ten too. McLaren’s Jenson Button - who finished 11th - made his 252nd Grand Prix start in Spain, moving him into joint fourth on the all-time list alongside Jarno Trulli. Meanwhile, at the tail of the field Marussia’s Max Chilton maintained his 100 percent finishing record in F1 racing. The Briton has now finished all 24 of the races he has started.
Posted on: Wed, 14 May 2014 03:52:09 +0000
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