Spanish GP 2017 Live Race Updates

Mercedes lead the constructor's championship by 8 points, but Sebastian Vettel leads the drivers' championship still by 6!

This is the first race of 2017 that @alo_oficial has seen the chequered flag! #SpanishGP
— Anuradha Santhanam (@anumccartney) May 14, 2017

A solid showing from Force India F1 as well, who finish in P4 for Sergio Perez and P5 for Esteban Ocon.

Commendations for Daniel Ricciardo - who scores his first podium of 2017 here in Barcelona!

Hamilton wins, with Vettel in second. A solid solid fight from both right till the last few laps .

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE SPANISH GRAND PRIX!

LAST LAP!!!

Haas F1 mixup with Kevin Magnussen gunning for points and he has a right rear puncture!

Felipe Massa comes along right behind teammate Lance Stroll, STR in P14 and MAS in P15

Lots of confusion on the track right now. Force India are really giving Williams a run for their money in the championship. Solid points scoring!

Plan C is very likely Vettel pitting again. We've only got 8 laps to go so unlikely anyone's going to do that now, but Vettel's losing time and how. Same as Vettel. Mediums aren't doing too well here in Barcelona!

That is one MASSIVE gap between the top 3. P1 and P2 close enough.. P3 RIC 62 seconds behind race leader Hamilton. Surreal.

WELL DONE @ScuderiaFerrari pic.twitter.com/cWYPgKJrHx
— FakeDiscoRosberg🕺 (@FakeGhostPirate) May 14, 2017

Vettel is dropping back and Ferrari, curiously, tell him they want to switch to Plan C. What's up there?

EVERYONE is Kimi today! Radio comms keep hearing drivers asking to be left alone.

Hamilton's clearly having problems. "It's hard to pull away from him," he says over radio.

Hamilton's rears are overheating. May have to pit. Giving Vettel the lead. Heart's got to go out for Pascal Wehrlein though, he's raced brilliantly for P7 today but he'll have a 5s penalty - for failing to stay on the right side of the bollard!

But there's another twist in the tale! Hamilton's taken the lead but "the rear is already overheating," he complains! It's not so easy for Mercedes just yet...

"There was no chance" Vettel says, "he was going like a train."

We'll say.

The pace is ALWAYS with the soft tires.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. HAMILTON PUSHES AND PUSHES AND TAKES THE LEAAAD!

A moment of lightness in what is a VERY tight, very tense race as Sainz says "leave me alone" on team radio.

L42 "Leave it to me, Bono, please" pants Hamilton. I like the "please" there despite HAM being under maximum pressure trying to pass! #F1
— James Allen (@Jamesallenonf1) May 14, 2017

HOOO BOY. What a fight for P1 between VET and HAM! Vettel is driving very defensively to hold off Hamilton here and it's working...for now, but Hamilton is GAINING.

So we have Mercedes and Ferrari on equal footing again - and by that we mean each team has one driver remaining!

BREAKING: That's the END of the race for Valtteri Bottas! He has smoke pouring out of the back of his car.

At the start-stop chicane at Barcelona-Catalunya, Vettel is fighting on AND HOW! Vettel just releases the steering and sticks on the lead.

WOW that was CLOOOOOSE! VET pits and gets mediums for his final set - he comes out JUUUUUUUUUST ahead of Hamilton and stays in P1. I definitely held my breath there!

0.586s separating VET and HAM. Whew.

HAM pits - and he's going on to a set of softs for his LAST set of tyres for this race! He comes out same as he came in, in P2!

Wehrlein and Kvyat pit, so does Stroll! The Virtual Safety Car is out and we're just ahead of the halfway mark!

THAT is the end of the race for McLaren's Stoffel Vandoorne - and for once, it's through no fault of the car. VAN misjudges an overtake of Massa, who passes him, and now ALO is still out there. In p16.

Alonso pits in Lap 33 and goes onto another set of softs.

Mercedes push Hamilton to close the gap to Vettel - but he's not sounding happy with the tyres. "I don't think I can do five laps on this tyre" he says.

Trouble in championship paradise?

FYI: Vettel is quicker on the softs than Hamilton is on the mediums.

Force India moves on up though, with Perez in P5 and Ocon in P6! Two talented drivers for the team and this year, both performing really well!

Hamilton on Medium tyres while Vettel is on softs. Look like Mercedes are trying for a one-stopper for HAM - expect they believe he can go the remaining 39 laps on one set. Can that gap be made up?

I wouldn't be so sure.

Hamilton now closes in over Bottas and there's now a VET-HAM P1/P2! There's now a 4s gap between VET and HAM and Ferrari won't mind that Kimi shunt too much...

Curves, chicanes, and FINALLY, Sebastian Vettel TAKES THE LEAAAAD!

Vettel pretends to take the inside line and goes on the outside of Bottas instead. Brilliant commitment from the German.

Bottas in the lead is getting a whopper of a fight from Vettel and the 4-time champion is REALLY putting everything into that car!

Sergio Perez of Force India pits and loses a spot with a slow pit stop! Less than ideal that, but Vettel races ahead as HAM pits - and he's now in P2 behind Bottas!

Stoffel Vandoorne tries - and gets up a position on Jolyon Palmer of Renault!

Team Mercedes can hear it - and so can we! Lewis Hamilton is really, really wanting to pit - and team Mercedes tell him NOT to.

"This is your window Lewis, give it all you got" say Mercedes. He's not too pacey now given the tyre wear he's already seen.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel now in P3 - HAM, BOT and RIC all yet to pit!!

Vettel gets past Daniel Ricciardo!

Race leader Vettel pits on lap 15 and exits in P2 - but Massa enters the pits just ahead and delays him! Hamilton and Bottas now in the lead with Ricciardo behind them - Vettel in P4 now!

What on earth was Carlos Sainz thinking? The driver and Kevin Magnussen go side by side with Sainz on the grass saying Magnussen (HAAS) pushed him off!

Mercedes say on team radio they are now eyeing HAM's pit window. This one's looking like a three stopper with all of these drivers pitting.

Let's take a quick moment to remember Alonso's phenomenal racing yesterday. Despite a struggling engine with no pace on the straights, the two-time F1 champion finished quali in P7. Not a mean feat. And it's a testament to the Spaniard's talent more than anything else.

Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne has also pitted.

Alonso pits in lap 13! He comes out quickly in P14.