Setshaba Mashigo_Motoring Journalist & Driver

SPANISH GRAND PRIX<br /> <br />  Red Bull&#39;s Max Verstappen cruised to a third consecutive victory, his fifth in<br /> seven races, to win the Spanish Grand Prix and take control of the season.<br />  The Dutchman&#39;s 40th career victory extended his championship lead over<br /> team-mate Sergio Perez to 53 points.<br />  Verstappen was followed home by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell on an<br /> encouraging day for Mercedes.<br />  Carlos Sainz slipped from second on the grid to fifth at the finish in the<br /> upgraded Ferrari, losing fourth to Perez in the closing stages.<br />  Red Bull chose the medium tyre for both cars for the start unlike the soft on<br /> most of the other cars. That gave them the option of either a one-stop or a<br /> two-stop strategy.<br />  They fitted the hard at his first stop and Verstappen could have gone to the<br /> end on that, but he decided he did not like it and swapped to the soft for a<br /> short final stint.