Lewis Hamilton left them trailing in his wake once again as he cruised to Formula 1 win No.88 at the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Briton would lead every lap as he managed the pace in the first stint on soft tyres before putting the hammer down in the second half of the race, crossing the line 24 seconds clear of the field.
Max Verstappen was able to get ahead of Valtteri Bottas into Turn 1 at the start but could ultimately do nothing to challenge the championship leader in second.
And it was a poor launch that ultimately cost the Finn, as he dropped to fourth in the early laps and, despite quickly regaining fourth, wasn’t able to mount a serious challenge to the Red Bull as he completed the podium.
Fears over tyre wear hurting Mercedes proved largely unfounded as Hamilton arguably could have done a one-stop strategy rather than sticking to the two.
But when the unexpected threat of a rainstorm that passed near the circuit arose, Lewis used that to up his pace and build a precautionary margin which continued to grow until the eventual 24.1s at the finish line.
Behind, it was Verstappen who seemed to have more tyre issues in P2 during the first stint, much to his frustration over the radio.
But splitting the Mercedes’ was still a solid result, as not even a switch to the soft tyre at his second stop gave Bottas enough of an advantage to really threaten the Dutchman.
Instead, securing the fastest lap on the final lap was the only consolation for Valtteri, in another disappointing race.
Behind, the two Racing Point’s ran fourth and fifth for much of the race. Sergio Perez had got ahead of teammate Lance Stroll at the second stop but a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags put him back behind the Canadian in the final standings.
Carlos Sainz used a strong strategy of two soft-tyre stints to move up to sixth in the McLaren.
Sebastian Vettel had a largely quietly race but ran fifth when those ahead pitted a second time and Ferrari took the gamble by completing a one-stop.
Despite losing two positions in quick succession, the German held on to seventh as the risk did reap somewhat of a reward.
Alex Albon was the only driver to use the much-hated hard compound in the race after an early stop. But that would put the second Red Bull back into traffic as a result, compromising his race and resulting in a lowly eighth.
Indeed, the Thai driver was holding off a train of cars in the closing laps, with Pierre Gasly half a second behind over the line in ninth and Lando Norris likewise in P10 for McLaren.
For Daniel Ricciardo, the frustration of qualifying continued as he completed the train behind Albon in P11 for Renault.
Daniil Kvyat was fully in the points battle too but would fall away in the closing laps in P12.
Alfa Romeo and Haas battled it out with Kimi Raikkonen coming out on top in 14th.
Romain Grosjean would fall back to 19th, however, after damaging his car on the speed bumps in the run-off area while battling Antonio Giovinazzi.
George Russell led teammate Nicholas Latifi as Williams finished 17th and 18th.
While Charles Leclerc was the only retirement for Ferrari, as an engine issue sent him spinning at the final chicane, before limping back to the pits.
Full results from the race can be seen below:
