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Formula 1
Spanish GP
2015 Spanish Grand Prix Sunday - Spanish Grand Prix
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McLaren tells Button that his team-mate's brake problem, "does not effect us."
Last time around Hamilton was 2.4s quicker than Vettel. He was only around 1.5s behind before he stopped.
Mega pace from Hamilton - a 1m29.910s, and Ferrari is still yet to pit Vettel. Right now it looks like the Mercedes might have got the job done with this blistering pace.
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Lotus are still having to remind Grosjean to lift off when using his "bad" fourth gear.
Rosberg leads Vettel by 10.5s, and Hamilton has just had nearly a second out of Vettel's (yet to stop) advantage in the first sector alone.
Hamilton's new tyres give him a great run out of the final corner, and while Raikkonen moves to the inside, Hamilton drives around the outside of him before they even reach the braking zone.
Hamilton is closing on Raikkonen on his first lap out of the pits. How tough will the second Ferrari make his life?
Maldonado's semi-wing-less recovery charge has got him to 15th now. Next up is Perez, 10.4s ahead.
It's a 3.4s stop for Mercedes, so not exactly a cracker. Vettel's stop earlier was 2.5s, so if Ferrari can repeat that it's got nearly a second in its pocket to play with.
Massa pits too on lap 32 of 66.
Here comes Hamilton, for a set of hards.
Vettel has fallen to +10s over the course of this lap.
After a spell in which Massa was starting to grow larger in his mirrors, fifth-placed Raikkonen is pulling away from the Williams again.
You'd expect Hamilton to make some inroads on Vettel if he's about to make another stop, but so far he's not been able to get tucked up behind the Ferrari.
Rosberg's lead is up to 9.6s now over Vettel.
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"I'm going to need a fast stop guys," says Hamilton. Looks like he's coming in soon.
Vettel is losing nearly a second per lap to Rosberg at the moment, as the leader continues to make sure he's got everything under control out front. Hamilton still 1.6s behind the Ferrari as they lap Maldonado.
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"Slightly more rear deg now," reports Bottas. The team asks how many laps they have left. "20," is his reply.
Hamilton couldn't stay within DRS range onto the main straight, and over the course of this lap Vettel has been able to eke out nearly half a second on him. They are separated by 1.6s as they complete lap 30.
EDD STRAW: "If Hamilton doesn't pass Vettel on track, he will surely have another go at undercutting the Ferrari by stopping earlier. If he can stay close before his stop, there's a good chance that will work."
Rosberg continues to push out front - he's got his lead up to over 8s now. The pitwall told him that it was worth a few quick laps to make sure that there were no difficulties (strategically) towards the end of the race.
Alonso is the race's first retirement. The Manors, now with Stevens ahead and pulling clear of Merhi, remain 18th and 19th.
Sainz had closed in on Toro Rosso team-mate Verstappen for 10th, but a personal best lap gives the Dutchman some breathing space again.
Hamilton is back in DRS range after a few quiet laps behind Vettel. The gap is 0.9s.
Rosberg's had some traffic, which has cost him around half a second to Vettel over the last couple of laps. The Mercedes responds with a personal best - "that's good Nico" - and he leads by 7.2s now to protect his lead.
Button's was just a standard pitstop. He rejoins on mediums.
Button is now pitting the second McLaren as well.
That's clearly a major brake problem on Alonso's McLaren. Very quick reflexes from the mechanics to get out of the way.
Nearly half distance. Top six:
1 Rosberg
2 Vettel +6.1s
3 Hamilton +7.3s
4 Bottas +17.0s
5 Raikkonen +27.7s
6 Massa +29.7s
1 Rosberg
2 Vettel +6.1s
3 Hamilton +7.3s
4 Bottas +17.0s
5 Raikkonen +27.7s
6 Massa +29.7s
McLaren's front jack man quickly jumped out of the way as Alonso overshot. Now the car is switched off and being retired.
Alonso shoots straight through the McLaren pit box, that looks like a brake problem.
Alonso skitters wide at Turn 1 but pulls back on line ahead of Perez. Now the McLaren pits.
Bottas is matching the top three for pace at the moment. It's a shame he's 9.5s back from Hamilton. He continues to pull away from the hard-shod Raikkonen though - that gap is up to 9.8s.
Having passed Verstappen for ninth, Kvyat is now by himself. He's dropped the Toro Rosso but can't catch Ricciardo and Grosjean ahead.
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"As soon as I touch the throttle, I have wheelspin," reports Button. "It's not normal," he adds, perhaps a touch unnecessarily.
Behind Verstappen in 10th, there's a train building featuring Sainz, Nasr, Hulkenberg, Alonso, Ericsson and Perez, all 1-2s apart.
Vettel has another tenth out of Rosberg, although the leader is at least back in the high 1m31s now.
Even with his wonky wing, Maldonado has now caught Button for 17th place.
Hamilton has dropped back from Vettel - he's 1.4s adrift now. Perhaps after those few laps of attacking, which the Ferrari responded to by upping it's pace, Hamilton has decided to pause for breath.
Replays again show a brush between Grosjean and Maldonado at Turn 1 early in the race, but it's hard to see how that wheel-to-wheel contact would've been the cause of Maldonado's rear wing breakage as that was much higher up the car.
By: Matt Beer, Lawrence Barretto, Edd Straw, Glenn Freeman, Alex Kalinauckas
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