Mercedes Lewis Hamilton made it four wins in a row, winning the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in a close-fought race with team mate Nico Rosberg.

He finished just 0.6 seconds ahead of Rosberg who has maintained a perfect presence on the podium throughout the first four races this season – albeit playing bridesmaid to Hamilton in the last four outing.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo proved that he is no flash-in-the-pan as he again finished earned a podium position, beating his more illustrious and senior team mate Sebastian Vettel into fourth.

The gap between the last Mercedes and the Red Bull was just under 50 seconds, underlying the strength of the German team.

Hamilton admitted his team mate was faster as he struggled a bit with the car balance, crediting his engineers for the win.

Rosberg meanwhile thought had the race been one lap longer, he could have stood a better chance of making up the 0.6 seconds gap and overtaken Hamilton. “I will go into Monaco now even more determined to go one better,” he said to race interviewer Eddie Jordan on the podium.

Sebastian Vettel may have finished fourth but he started way down in 15th, emphasising that the reigning world champion is still a force to be reckoned with once his team gets their act together.