Hamilton dedicates Spanish GP win to terminally ill F1 fan

Lewis Hamilton has dedicated his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix to a terminally ill fan that acted as inspiration for the Formula 1 world championship leader.

Hamilton controlled proceedings in Barcelona after taking the lead at the start from Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and led every lap en route to recording his 76th career victory as he reclaimed the lead of the drivers’ world championship.

Following the race, the five-time world champion revealed he drew inspiration for his performance following a message he received from five-year-old Harry Shaw, who was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, in August last year and was given just seven days to live on April 29.

“Today I was more just super inspired by this young kid that sent me a message, Harry,” Hamilton said. “He was kind of my spirit angel today.

“I had a really nice message from him, and we’d sent him a card and a cap, and I saw that today, and going into the race, I was looking for something for inspiration, something to grab onto, so I dedicated that race to him.

“You try and go out there and do something for someone, but it doesn’t always turn out as well as it has. I hope he’s watching. I’ll be sending him a message shortly after this that he’ll get, and we’re going to try and do something special for him.”

This one’s for you, Harry https://t.co/mfXOEjOaZZ

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) May 12, 2019

Start 'decisive' moment in Spanish GP win 

Hamilton said his lightning-quick start was the “decisive” moment of the race and felt he had redeemed himself after being comfortably beaten by Bottas in qualifying.

“I looked at the support races and noticed that both sides were quite equal,” Hamilton explained. “When the lights went out, the initial start I think was good, and then after that we were quite close down to Turn 1.

“I think the Ferrari may have even been alongside us again. It was a great battle, and naturally a decisive moment. Once we were around Turn 1 I just had to keep my head down and focus on just trying to deliver each track.

“I think today was just trying to redeem myself from a poor performance yesterday, and just back into a strong battle that we’ve had for years now. It was respectful and balanced, as we always are.

“I think the team has spoken and Valtteri and I have spoken, saying we have the best pairing that any team has, especially with the balance that we have in terms of how respectful we are. A lot of drivers don’t do that and don’t have that respect between themselves.”