Four in a row for Hamilton

Hamilton became only the third British driver to win four consecutive F1 races on Sunday, following in the footsteps of Damon Hill (1995/6) and Jenson Button (2009). A further positive omen for Hamilton was that no F1 driver has ever won four in a row and subsequently failed to win the driver's championship.

However, given the domination of Mercedes GP - winners and pole-sitters at all five races this season - Hamilton could still face a stern challenge from teammate Nico Rosberg. Both drivers currently look set for regular appearances on the podium all season long, and Rosberg pushed Hamilton fiercely in the latter stages without finding a way by.

"I wasn't really fast enough today, Nico was quicker," Hamilton said in the podium interviews with guest questioner Eddie Jordan. "Fortunately I was able to keep him behind."

"This is basically the toughest track of them all when it comes to overtaking," Rosberg lamented on German RTL television after the race, saying it was just "the little things" separating him and Hamilton at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The one-second-per-lap pace advantage Mercedes revealed late in qualifying turned the Spanish Grand Prix into just a two-horse race, with Red Bull the closest challengers. Hamilton, who retired in the Australian season-opener but has won every subsequent race this year, overtook Rosberg in the championship standings with the win, taking a 100 to 97 lead.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the podium in third, while German Sebastian Vettel charged from 15th on the grid to finish fourth.

"I think that was the maximum we could have achieved today," Vettel said afterwards. "I felt more at ease with the car today and was able to cause trouble for a few of the others."

Bottas leads the stragglers

Valtteri Bottas was "best of the rest," bringing his Williams home in fifth at the site of the team's solitary race win of the past decade - at the 2012 Spanish GP. The Ferrari duo of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen followed in sixth and seventh, treating the spectators to an all-scarlet battle for position - won by Alonso - late in the race.

Romain Grosjean rolled in eighth, bringing some much-needed points to the struggling Lotus outfit, ahead of the Force India pair of Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg.

Somewhat surprisingly, neither McLaren driver managed a points finish on Sunday, while Adrian Sutil was the only German driver to miss out on points in the race, rolling home 17th out of 20 finishers.