Lewis Hamilton earns 98th F1 victory in Spanish GP

Lewis Hamilton scored his 98th F1 victory in the Spanish GP and crept ever closer to the century mark after earning his 100th pole earlier in the week. This is his third win in the fourth race of the 2021 season.

It was not as simple as leading flag to flag, however. Hamilton was involved in a race-long strategy battle with runner-up Max Verstappen.

Verstappen’s Red Bull took the lead on the opening corner of the first lap and led most of the race on a one-stop strategy.

Employing two stops — the second that left him 22 seconds behind the leader with 22 laps remaining — Hamilton benefitted from having fresher tires.

After getting passed for the lead by Hamilton with five laps remaining (after the No. 44 McLaren made up a 22-second gap to first in 16 laps), Verstappen stopped a second time in the closing laps so he could secure the fastest lap in the race.

“It was actually a really good day,” Hamilton said after winning his sixth Spanish GP and fifth consecutive. “I learned a lot about Max today and perhaps more than all the other races probably put together.

“Obviously I was following relatively, closely and I learned a lot about his car and learned a lot about how he uses it. So that was a good race in that respect.”

Max's start was soooooooo good 🔥#SpanishGP 🇪🇸 #F1 pic.twitter.com/sZXq3Gf8gf

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 9, 2021

The duo extended its advantage over the field by combining to win all four races this season. It’s an early indication this would be a two-driver championship race just as the season has been principally a battle between the McLaren and Red Bull contenders.

“I am beginning to love this battle we are having,” Hamilton said. “Red Bull has started incredibly strong. With Max, they have a championship-winning car. We have to bring our A-game every week.”

Verstappen made his first and only stop on Lap 25 of 66, and Hamilton made his first on Lap 29, coming out about 5 seconds off the lead.

He was within a second of Verstappen when his team made the call to pit for a second time on Lap 43.

Verstappen said he realized he was a ‘sitting duck’ once Hamilton affixed the fresh rubber.

“In a way, I could see it coming, you know?” Verstappen said. “Already at the end [of the first stint] with the softs, [Lewis] was faster. Then when we put on the mediums, he clearly had a lot more pace, he could just stay within one second.

“There was not much more we could have done. They went for another stop, then I knew it was over. I was already struggling with the tires. You could see every lap he was just getting closer and closer. So a bit of a sitting duck.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas finished 11 second behind in third.

Just off the podium, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez in fifth.

With three victories, Hamilton expands his championship points lead to 14 over Verstappen, who won the only race that Hamilton has not claimed in 2021.

“It shows that we are not where we want to be. But compared to last year, it has been a big step,” Verstappen said. “We just need a faster car. It is very simple.”

At least the Red Bull driver could take solace in being faster on the start as he ran wheel to wheel with Hamilton through the first turn.

“As I went into Turn 1, I just gave Max as much space as I could,” Hamilton said. “This is a race, not a sprint. I always have my mind on the long game. As soon as I got past Turn 1, I switched into a different mode.”

Vicki Golden has earned a career worthy of a thousand stories and 805 Beer tells at least one of them, as “Inverted Perspective” premiered March 30 on the company’s website and YouTube channel.

Golden did more to break the glass ceiling in SuperMotocross than she ever thought possible. She knows this because riders have never felt the need to explain any of her accomplishments with the disclaimer, “for a girl”.

At this point in Golden’s career, she’s been the first woman to finish top 10 in AMA Arenacross Lites, the first woman to qualify in the Fast 40 in Monster Energy AMA Supercross and the first woman to compete in freestyle Moto X competition, earning a bronze medal by doing so.

Her love for moto came from childhood while she watched her dad and brother ride. By seven she was on her bike and making waves throughout Southern California.

Golden, 30, is still madly in love with the sport and has no plans on moving away but her career is already one to talk about. 805 Beer’s film series wanted to do exactly that.

“I’m taken aback by it all,” Golden told NBC Sports about the documentary. “It’s just crazy to see your story, it’s one thing to live your life and battle everything that comes about but it’s another to just sit there and talk about it.”

805 approached Golden about the feature by asking, “Do you even realize that what you do, and your story is special?”

Golden took the question as a blank canvas to map out the highs and lows of her career and life.

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The title “Inverted Perspective” came from a brainstorming session with Dominick Russo and it highlights Golden’s outlook on the sport of SuperMotocross and her life in general.

“My whole life, my whole career was thinking differently and looking at things that shouldn’t be done and aren’t there, while being able to make a place for myself, where no one thought there should be a place,” Golden said. “It’s inspiring someone to think in different ways. It sums up my life.”

*Vicki Golden is not “fast for a girl”; she’s just fast. – 805 Beer*

While Golden is no stranger to the spotlight, this was the first time she’s been fully involved with the storytelling and creation of a feature about herself.

“It’s not like a full new experience,” Golden said. “Obviously, you get your standard questions about your upbringing and accomplishments, but I’ve never really put into perspective things that happened in my past with my dad and putting that to light. Also, certain other things that maybe got overlooked in previous interviews or films. I wanted to touch on these and Dom wanted to create a story. It’s just cool to see it come to light, it’s a nearly impossible thing to tell somebody’s life story in 40 minutes.”

Golden’s father was left paralyzed after an ATV accident, robbing him the opportunity to ride again. This happened a few months before the father-daughter duo was set to compete in the Loretta Lynn’s Amateur Nationals when Vicki was 12. While she might have been unable to grasp the severity at the time, it’s something she carries with her. Golden continues to ride in his honor.

Years later, an accident in 2018 nearly sidelined the then 25-year-old Vicki when a freestyle accident almost resulted in the amputation of her lower leg.

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Golden 805 Beer — *Vicki Golden has ridden a variety of disciplines in SuperMotocross, which gives her a unique perspective. – 805 Beer*

“Inverted Perspective” highlights her father’s diligence in helping Vicki continue with her career and the kindness and strength he carried while fighting his own battle.

“My dad was the entire reason that I started riding in the first place,” Golden said. “So, to honor his memory and to honor what we went through and how hard he pushed to keep our dream alive and keep everything going – in that sense then, it was really special to be able to honor him and talk about him.”

The 40-minute feature was filmed entirely in black and white, a stark contrast from the oversaturated world of motocross where the brighter the suit the easier it is for fans to find their rider and follow him in the race. By filming in monochrome Russo and Golden had the chance to focus on the race and track from a different perspective.

“It was cool to be able to film it differently,” Golden said. “It created a challenge in the sense of what was going to be more visually impactful for the film.

“I couldn’t be here without the companies that back me but at the same time, it’s not like the logos or colors disappeared, it’s just different lights shed on different spots. It’s just a cool way to do it and to take color away and still be impactful. When you think of black and white, you think of old school, the OG way of doing things.”

Lewis Hamilton wins F1 Spanish GP ahead of Max Verstappen

Vicki Golden and 805 Beer tell a unique story from an Inverted Perspective

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