Barcelona, May 9 (IANS): Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes secured victory at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday after an intense pitstop strategy battle with Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

This was Hamilton's third win this season and 98th of his career.

Sitting on pole position for the 100th time in his F1 career, Hamilton was overtaken by Verstappen at turn 1. The Red Bull driver retained position after the first round of pitstops but the Briton was flying on his new set of tyres, cutting the gap to Verstappen down rapidly.

Mercedes opted for a two-stop tyre strategy and Hamilton dropped to third, behind team-mate Valtteri Bottas. But he managed to overtake the Finn and then reach Verstappen, using DRS to slot past the Dutchman.

Conceding defeat, Verstappen made a final pitstop for fresh tyres and secured the point for the fastest lap point.

Hamilton now leads the drivers' championship with a 14-point advantage over Verstappen.