Mercedes AMG has secured its fourth consecutive one-two finish in the 2014 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg fighting it out right to the very end of yesterday’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya. Hamilton was the victor (for the fourth time this season), with Rosberg crossing the line just 0.636 of a second behind his teammate.

Incredibly, the next driver wouldn’t cross the line until 49 seconds after Hamilton. That driver was Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing, who now has his first official podium under his belt. An earlier podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix was disqualified.

One of the great fights was that of fourth-placed Sebastian Vettel. The reigning world champion managed to drive his Red Bull from 15th on the grid to finish fourth at the checkered flag. In qualifying on Saturday Vettel suffered a gearbox failure that left him 10th on the grid, and with the unit requiring replacement overnight, he had to take a five-place drop for Sunday’s race.

Valtteri Bottas finished fifth for Williams, ahead of Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen in sixth and seventh spots respectively. Local favorite Alonso was considerably quicker of the two Ferrari men who were nose to tail, then side by side for a few corners until Alonso snatched sixth near the end of the race in an exciting inter-team battle.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean showed some promise but later suffered some brake problems, which dropped him behind the Ferraris though still saw him score his team’s first points of the season in eighth. The Frenchman crossed the line a mere second ahead of Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg who took ninth and tenth spots respectively.

With his latest win, Lewis Hamilton now charges to the top of the leaderboard in the 2014 Drivers’ Championship with 100 points versus the 97 of second-placed Nico Rosberg and the 49 of third-placed Fernando Alonso. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes AMG leads with 197 points followed by Red Bull Racing on 84 and Ferrari on 66. The next race on the calendar is the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix in a fortnight.

Below are top ten results of the 2014 Formula One Spanish Grand Prix:

1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG
2) Nico Rosberg, Mercedes AMG
3) Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing
4) Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull Racing
5) Valtteri Bottas, Williams
6) Fernando Alonso, Ferrari
7) Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari
8) Romain Grosjean, Lotus
9) Sergio Perez, Force India
10) Nico Hulkenberg, Force India

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