Hello and welcome to ESPN's live coverage of the Spanish Grand Prix.

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14:02: Hamilton lines back up on pole position for the start. Here we go!

14:01: Alonso very slow to get away on the formation lap but he manages to before too many cars get past him, meaning he can catch back up to seventh...

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14:00: Palmer, Kvyat and Vandoorne the only men on medium tyres. The rest on softs.

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13:59: Lots of fans in the grandstand this afternoon. The stands looked a bit sparce yesterday but Sunday here is always popular.

13:57: 66 laps this afternoon. Air temperature 24 degrees Celsius, track temperature is 44 degrees Celsius, so the conditions are almost identical to the start of qualifying this time yesterday.

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13:54: The Saubers line up 15th and 16th, a pretty mega job considering the fact they're ahead of a Renault and a Williams. Palmer and Stroll unsurprisingly the men behind - both of them are struggling to match the pace of the teammates this season and yesterday was no exception. Kvyat gains one position thanks to Vandoorne's engine penalty.

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13:52: Magnussen and Sainz on the sixth row. Hulkenberg qualified a disappointing 13th - early Friday practice suggested Renault had the one-lap pace for a place in the top ten.

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13:50: Force India once again got both cars into the top ten. That team really benefitting from having two competitive teammates -- not the case in the midfield, with Renault, Williams and Toro Rosso especially this weekend struggling to get both drivers high up the order.

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13:47: The drivers are at the front of the grid for the national anthem. The winners' trophy is at the front of the grid, in front of all of them. One of them will have their hands on it later this afternoon.

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13:45: Behind Ricciardo is the undoubted star of qualifying, local hero Fernando Alonso. An astonishing performance yesterday to make it into Q3, and then to put the car into P7. We know he's a fast starter so let's see where he is after one lap - it could be a great chance for some points.

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13:43: As they did last year, Red Bull will be watching the battle in front eagerly. When Mercedes collided last year it propelled the team into a one-two and helped Verstappen to victory. This weekend he lines up fifth, next to teammate Ricciardo.

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13:41: I backed Hamilton coming into this race and, if he can nail the start, I would think he has a huge chance. Ferrari's race pace could force Mercedes' hand, though, so that throws another random element into this afternoon's race. Don't count out Bottas or Kimi from the second row either.

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13:39: The run down to Turn 1 could be decisive this afternoon. Even with the DRS detection point being moved back 100m on the main straight, overtaking here is going to be tricky. Track position is key here and is likely to make teams consider the theoretically slower two-stop strategy rather than a three-stop, because the three-stop requires sacrificing track position to take on a fresher tyre.

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13:37: A few exploratory laps for several drivers. Assessing grip levels on the circuit will be the name of the game on those laps -- as well as making sure not to lock up a tyre or put the car in the wall, of course...

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13:33: Grid penalty for Stoffel Vandoorne this morning, the perennial cursed Belgian having another engine change in his McLaren. He'll start from the back of the grid for the second race in a row.

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13:30: The pit-lane is open.

Lap 1

Great staert from Vettel and he leads into Turn 1! Hamilton slots into second. Raikkonen and a Red Bull have come together. Alonso has gone off at Turn 1 to avoid those two. Puncture for Massa! Drama all over the place!

Raikkonen's front left steering arm has broken, he won't get far around this circuit. Vettel leads the two Mercedes drivers.

Verstappen crawling around the circuit too, his steering looks to be damaged as well. Carnage on the first lap. Alonso the big loser on that first lap, he's down in 13th! The Force Indias up in fifth and sixth.

Lap 2

Hulkenberg has climbed to seventh, that's a mega first lap.

Kvyat comes into the pits for soft tyres. Massa, with a puncture, pits for Williams. Verstappen has just made it back to the pits. Raikkonen has pulled off the circuit to retire.

Advantage Ferrari but Vettel has two Mercedes drivers behind him. Ricciardo happily sitting their in fourth waiting to pounce. This one is developing into a great race already.

Vettel already 2.7s clear of Hamilton at the front.

Lap 3

Another fastest lap for Vettel, a 1:26.210. The FOM feed shows a young boy, decked out in Ferrari kit, crying at Raikkonen's retirement.

Lovely move from Sainz to try and get past Magnussen, switching back behind the Haas driver, but then Magnussen holds firm through Turns 2 and 3.

Lap 4

Stewards say no action will be taken for the Raikkonen-Verstappen collision.

Lap 5

Fastest lap from Hamilton now, a 1:25.892. He's 2.4s behind.

Replay of the start show Vettel and Hamilton having similar starts but Vettel nailing the second phase. Bottas and Hamilton were neck and neck coming into Turn 1 but Hamilton had the racing line, Bottas then clipped Raikkkonen, sending him into Verstappen's car! Bottas clipped Raikkonen's right rear tyre as those two cars passed him.

Lap 6

Bottas lucky there, he was on to lose two positions! Not much he could do about it, they were three wide at that stage. That contact then forced Massa wide and into Alonso, forcing the Spaniard wide and across the gravel.

Lap 7

The gap at the front staying around the 2.3-2.6s mark. Bottas five seconds behind his teammate.

There's a real battle forming from fifth downwards - some big, big points up for grabs for the midfield teams. Force India in a superb position.

Hamilton tells Mercedes he's in "Attack-2", but that its tough to get close to him at the moment. Strategy could be key in this one.

Lap 8

I wonder if Bottas has a damaged car from that first corner incident because he's off the pace of the leaders. It was quite a hefty bit of contact with Raikkonen's car.

Lap 9

Alonso tells McLaren he's being held up "a lot" by Grosjean's Haas, he's at the back of a train of cars behind Magnussen in eighth. McLaren thinking of doing something a bit different on strategy.

Sainz pushing like crazy in that Toro Rosso, but there aren't many places to get past Magnussen on this circuit.

Bottas getting a bit of a hurry-up from the Mercedes pit-wall. Much like the early stages of the Russia race for Ferrari, this one is slipping away from Mercedes a bit after an encouraging qualifying.

Lap 10

Another fastest lap from Vettel - a 1:25.806, but it's only 0.09s quicker than Hamilton, so there's not much change in the gap at the front.

Looking further down, Wehrlein and Stroll have climbed to 12th and 13th.

Lap 11

Lots of chatter on the Mercedes radio about strategy at the moment. In this position, you start thinking about the undercut. We know from pre-season testing that it's difficult to follow other cars here.

Hamilton cuts the gap to 2.2s.

No action between Alonso and Massa.

Lap 12

"Leave me to it Bono!" Hamilton asks when his race engineer tells him to push. Love hearing the drivers give those messages, so much pressure in the cockpit during these races.

Stewards confirm Bottas and Verstappen are under investigation for the big clash at Turn 1.

Lap 13

Hamilton cutting the gap again, now its 2.0s.

"Give us an idea on balance," Mercedes ask him. "All OK!" he replies, quite breathlessly. Make no mistake about it, he's chasing hard.

Ricciardo in no man's land - eight seconds down on Bottas. So Red Bull's upgrade not able to get them into the mix.

Alonso pits for soft tyres. They're sticking to the soft-soft-medium strategy that seems to be the most logical here.

Lap 14

"What's going on guys?" Hamilton asks. Mercedes tells him they're looking at pit window. That suggests he's in his 'Hammer time' laps - the gap down to 1.8s - and he expects to pit very soon. He's on it.

Magnussen and Sainz pit.... And they nearly collide as they exit, Magnussen just getting him out and forces Sainz on to the grass as they exit the pit lane!

"He pushed me off!" Sainz complains.

Lap 15

Vettel pits! That's a surprise. Hamilton inherits the lead. Did Mercedes push Ferrari into that? Vettel's emerged right behind Ricciardo and a lapped Williams.

Replays of Sainz, Magnussen got out of the box slowly, Sainz had to take evasive action. He waved angrily at Magnussen as he did so but I can't see the Haas driver at fault there.

Lap 16

Hamilton sets a fastest lap, a 1:25.701.

Vettel makes an important move to pass Ricciardo into Turn 1, he needs to clear this traffic quickly. This is going to be so close when Hamilton pits!.

Kvyat moves over to let Sainz through. Sainz still behind Magnussen after that bizarre pit incident.

The two Saubers, both yet to pit, are up in eighth and ninth.

Lap 17

Hamilton starting to lose a bit of pace now. This has to be the lap Mercedes wants to pit - Vettel sets a fastest lap, a 1:24.901.

Magnussen on Sainz: "He's crazy, he went on the grass! He could have taken us both out."

The incident is under investigation. Sainz's afternoon could be about to get a bit more frustrating, I fear.

Lap 18

Hamilton stays out. Are Mercedes starting to think about a two stop strategy?

Sainz and Kvyat nearly bang wheels coming up to Turn 4! Alonso having to take evasive action to avoid.

Hamilton's radio messages sound absolutely frantic on the radio. He sounds like he's on the absolute limit.

Lap 19

Vettel now lapping a lot faster than Hamilton.

"Surely this is not a good time," Hamilton tells Mercedes about his falling lap times. They tell him there will be opportunities later in the race. That to me suggest they are doing two-stop strategy. That's the only way this works at the moment.

Lap 20

Williams confirm Massa's second pit stop, made just a few laps ago, was tactical - he was coming up behind blue flags so they've brought him in again for tyres. He's last.

Lap 21

Vettel is going to come up behind Bottas soon. Clearing the Finnish driver quickly could be vital to winning.

Hamilton sliding all over the place on the tyres. Says the rear tyres are the weaker point.

Vandoorne passes Palmer nicely around the outside of Turn 1.

Replays show a sluggish stop for Perez at Force India but it doesn't seem to have cost him a position, he's emerged ahead of teammate Ocon.

Mercedes out in the pit lane now. For who?

Lap 22

Race leader Hamilton pits. Bottas inherits the lead, but he's got Vettel, on fresher tyres, bearing down on him.

Well then... Hamilton has taken on the medium tyre!

Vettel now within DRS range of Bottas. Mercedes surely has to leave the Finn out on the circuit to give Hamilton a chance of winning here. Vettel has to get past him immediately.

Hamilton on slower medium tyres, but the more durable tyres. Ferrari will have to take on those slower tyres for the final stint while Hamilton will have the option to take softs! This race is shaping up beautifully.

Lap 23

Vettel flicks open the DRS and can't get close enough to Bottas, who has to clear a lapped McLaren on the run down to Turn 1. This right here is massively important.

How much risk is Vettel willing to take? Hamilton 7s behind this fight, but being told he'll have "opportunities at the end". Vettel losing time and damaging those tyres behind Bottas.

Ricciardo is so far back, Mercedes can afford to do this to Bottas' race and not ruin his podium.

Lap 24

Vettel gets much, much closer on the DRS and he swings to the outside of Bottas' car, but the Finn holds firm through Turn 1 and keeps hold of the lead! Hamilton just took two seconds out of the gap to Vettel too!

Bottas locks up at Turn 10 but again holds position ahead. Vettel surely will have him in the DRS. Hamilton has these two in his sights now.

Lap 25

Vettel dummies one way, then the other, flicks his tyres onto the grass but makes the move stick on the inside! Lovely, lovely move from the German. That's awesome.

Lap 26

Hamilton eases past Bottas on the next run down to Turn 1. The advantage is 3.9s but Vettel needs to take the slower medium tyre, Hamilton will have the option of softs.

Hamilton owes Bottas a beer after that one - Bottas now a pit-stop behind the leaders. He's 33 seconds clear of Ricciardo, however, so looks to be fairly comfortable for third.

Lap 27

Vettel needs some almighty push laps in these next few.

Bottas finally pits for mediums.

Away from the race for the lead, Wehrlein's up in seventh but hasn't pitted yet, he's still on the same softs he started the race with. When he pits, Hulkenberg will move up to seventh.

Ericsson has passed Stroll for 14th, so not sure if the Williams driver made a mistake somewhere.

Lap 28

Vettel's lead up to 5s now.

Seeing replays again of that Vettel pass on Bottas. Absolutely fantastic racing. Vettel has turned in some great passes this season so far.

Lap 29

Poor Fernando. After starting seventh, he's just been passed for 13th by Ericsson.

Lap 30

Bottas does a fastest lap on the medium tyre, a 1:25.042.

Vettel just starting to eek out that gap in front, it's up above six seconds now. But the key is still to come - the tyre situation is reversed for the final stint. Clearing Bottas when he did might just have won him this race because Hamilton will still need to catch and pass Vettel at the end.

Lap 31

Hamilton being told he needs to cut the gap and he chuckles and says "I don't think I can close the gap on this tyre, guys..."

It was massively slower during practice. Ferrari now have to switch to a two-stop strategy because they have to take that same medium tyre.

Lap 32

Replays also showing the young kid who was crying when Raikkonen crashed earlier jumping up and down celebrating when Vettel passed Bottas.

Lap 33

Vettel us up to 7.7s. That Ferrari surely has the quicker race car despite Mercedes' big upgrade, they are able to really open up these gaps when in these situations.

Alonso pits and emerges in 17th. This afternoon unravelled as soon as Turn 1 unfolded.

Hamilton not happy with Wehrlein, who lets him past by slowing on the entry to Turn 8 and getting off the racing line. We hear all the front runners complaining about the backmarkers in these situations but in cases like that it's hard to know what else they can do.

Lap 34

Vandoorne and Massa have hit at Turn 1! Vandoorne out at Turn 1 in the gravel trap.

Virtual Safety Car.

Hulkenberg, Wehrlein< Magnussen immediately pit. What does Ferrari do now?

Hulkenberg gets out ahead of Wehrlein!

Replays show Massa catching and passing Vandoorne on the inside, and Vandoorne just turning in on the Brazilian driver.

Lap 35

Vandoorne trudges away from his car. That's not what people came to expect from him from his GP2 career.

Vettel weaving behind the Haas of Grosjean.

The Force Indias have pitted under the VSC too.

Mercedes readying their pit crew.

Lap 36

Hamilton stays out... nor does Bottas. Mercedes playing games with Ferrari?

Replays again of Massa v Vandoorne - 100 percent on Vandoorne there. He just turned in on MAssa when he came alongside him.

Radio of Vandoorne apologizing to McLaren for the clash.

Lap 37

VSC is still out as they remove that McLaren. Mercedes mechanics come back out with tyres... This time Hamilton pits! So he'll be taking on the soft tyre.

VSC period ends and Wehrlein catches Sainz napping and moves into eighth position! lovely move on the run down the hill to Turn 5.

Lap 38

Vettel pits! He comes out alongside Hamilton and they bang wheels into Turn 1! Hamilton goes across the kerbs and has to rejoin behind the Ferrari driver. Great defence from Vettel - Hamilton complains it was dangerous.

Hamilton and Vettel will have the chance to do it again this time around!

Lap 39

Hamilton comes right behind Vettel again but this time doesn't get close enough to pass. But he's so so close on that quicker tyre. He has to get this done while there's life in these soft tyres.

Hamilton says he was ahead of Vettel when they collided. It looks oh-so-close but I think Vettel was in his rights to defend there.

Hamilton didn't use that bollard to rejoin either.

Bottas is out! His engine is up in smoke! Red Bull moves into an unlikely podium position with Ricciardo.

Lap 40

This time around some backmarkers help Vettel snake through and keep the lead. Hamilton has to make these soft tyres for a long, long time. This race has just got very interesting.

Lap 41

it's close as they come round the final corner this time...Hamilton has a brief look down the inside but opts against it. Wehrlein was right there ahead of Vettel which probably meant Hamilton opted against it.

Replays show Bottas' engine dying as he came through Turn 3. That's the old engine they were forced to take yesterday when his new engine had a water leak.

Lap 42

Hamilton close again and has ANOTHER look at Turn 1 but he opts against it. Every lap that passes here, he's losing life from those soft tyres.

Wehrlein doing a mega job in seventh. Hulkenberg has moved up to sixth following Bottas' engine failure.

"Leave me to it Bono please!" Hamilton replies again. He's in the zone.

Lap 43

They come up behind Hulkenberg, giving Vettel DRS down the mainstraight as well. That means he can't get close enough to pass. Vettel is hitting this traffic at just the right moments. I'm not taking anything away from his drive though, he's been on it.

"OK. Leave me alone, now!" Sainz tells Toro Rosso.

Lap 44

Hamilton leads! The Mercedes driver closes up behind Vettel with the DRS, goes one way, Vettel takes the bait and Hamilton powers around the outside. Lap 44, No.44 takes the lead. This one ain't over yet.

"No chance, no chance," Vettel says.

"Keep going, he will struggle with the tyres," Ferrari replies.

Lap 45

Controversially, stewards decide no further action on Hamilton for not using the bollard to re-join the race.

Lap 46

Hamilton up to 1.6s in the lead. Mercedes telling him to look after the tyres.

"Do I pull the gap now or do I cool the rears down?" he asks.

This has been a wonderful grand prix so far.

Lap 47

Wehrlein has a five-second penalty for not staying the correct side of the pit exit bollard. At the moment that would drop him down to 10th. He doesn't need to serve that in a pit lane but it will be added to his finish time.

Lap 48

Hamilton not shaking Vettel at the moment, the gap still at 1.5s. Ferrari giving lots of words of encouragement to Vettel to keep his own medium tyres alive.

"It's not easy to pull away," Hamilton says. Vettel very much still in his sights.

Lap 49

Hamilton and Vettel, at this rate, are going to lap everyone except Ricciardo.

Lap 50

"What can we do to go quicker?" Haas asks Magnussen. "Just let me drive," is the response.

Sainz all over the rear of Wehrlein's Sauber now. Kvyat, who started on the back row, within striking distance of ninth-place Magnussen.

Lap 51

"How about switching to Plan C?" Ferrari asks Vettel.

"I don't know, it doesn't look like he's pushing too hard."

Plan C is surely a pit for fresh soft tyres and push like hell.

Lap 52

The lead out in front is now 2.4s.

Great moment in the Ferrari motorhome, the kid who cried when Raikkonen retired is now in there meeting the Finnish driver. Raikkonen puts a hat on him and the kid has the biggest, toothiest grin I've ever seen. That's genuinely brilliant.

Lap 53

Hamilton still asking for plenty of feedback from the Mercedes pit wall.

Lap 54

Hamilton and Vettel doing identical lap times. Even if Vettel pits and takes on new tyres, it's an almighty gap to try and overhaul, with traffic as well.

Ricciardo a massive 62 seconds off the lead pair. Everyone else behind him a lap down.

Perez and the incredibly impressive Ocon fourth and fifth. Huge points' haulage for Force India.

Lap 55

Ericsson passes Stroll at Turn 1 after flipping open the DRS down the main straight. That's a 2016 Ferrari engine vs this year's Mercedes... come on Lance.

Lap 56

Ten laps left and it's now or never for Ferrari if they want Vettel to have any chance to win this one. I don't know about you, but this is one of the best races I've seen for a long time.

Lap 57

Hamilton is told this gap is enough to stop Vettel being moved onto a three-stopper. Vettel's radio messages sound he's been a bit deflated about this one ever since Hamilton got by him. The race just got away from Ferrari in the middle stint and during that all-important VSC period.

Lap 58

Kvyat seems to have taken everything out of his soft tyres, so he's eased out of DRS range of Magnussen in the battle for ninth.

Wehrlein in seventh but has a five-second penalty to serve at the end of the race. That will see him swap places with Sainz as it stands, but he'll hold eighth from Magnussen.

Massa is about to catch and pass teammate Stroll.

Lap 59

Sainz complaining that he's losing power.

Hamilton navigates through the Williams drivers.

Lap 60

Hamilton asks if there's still a chance of a three-stop from Vettel, Mercedes tells him no.

Vettel is going to be livid after this one, he passes Massa at Turn 10 on the inside and Massa nearly takes the Ferrari's front wing off! Those two had things to say after the final lap in Russia.

The gap had been down to three seconds, now it's up to 4.2s. If there's any chance for Vettel to attack late on, that will have hurt his chances.

Lap 61

"I think he's afraid of me, man!" Massa says.

"Why does it always have to be Massa?" Vettel complains.

Lap 62

Five laps remaining. Alonso goes wheel to wheel with Stroll and he's able to out-drag a Mercedes engine into Turn 1, helped by 11-lap old soft tyres compared to 21-lap medium tyres. An up and down weekend (Mainly down) for Honda, but there are certainly reasons to be optimistic for the Japanese manufacturer this weekend. At least one, anyway.

Lap 63

Looking at a replay again, harsh to say it's only Massa's fault. The guy moved off the racing line and Vettel just went too deep into the corner and nearly hit him.

Lap 64

Three laps to go. Bottas watches on from the Mercedes garage, talking to Niki Lauda. He's been very unlucky this weekend. I wonder how much he was pushing that engine in the laps he held up Hamilton? He's going to lose a lot of points to the lead pair right now.

Lap 65

Hamilton sets a fastest lap, a 1:23.593. Two laps to go and the gap is 3.7s.

Stroll leaves the door open for teammate Massa to pass around the outside of Turn 1. Replays show him locking up heavily through the middle sector on the previous lap, helping Massa close up no doubt.

Magnussen has a puncture! After a great drive in the points that's cruel.

"Push Dany, push!" Kvyat is told. Replays show him and Magnussen banging wheels as they came through Turn 4 earlier on. Magnussen has pitted for fresh rubber but he's out of contention.

Lap 66

Hamilton rounds the final corner to WIN the Spanish Grand Prix! Vettel finishes second. The gap at the front is now six points. What a race that was. Ricciardo finishes third, the Force Indias finish a mega fourth and fifth.

Hulkenberg ends in sixth, a great result for Renault. Wehrlein hung on to seventh and was far enough ahead of Sainz, I believe, to keep the position! Sainz, Kvyat and Grosjean round out the points.