LEWIS HAMILTON served up a psychological hammer blow to Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg with victory in the Spanish Grand Prix.

It was Hamilton’s fourth successive win, and the team’s fourth consecutive one-two.

This race, however, is likely to be one that will hurt Rosberg for some time ahead of Formula One’s blue riband event in Monaco in a fortnight.

Although Hamilton was clean away from pole, the 29-year-old grumbled often throughout the race, complaining about oversteer, the back end of the car sliding out, graining on his tyres, his strategy, how much time he had lost to Rosberg in the pit stops.

At times it was a nervous, tetchy Hamilton behind the wheel, whereas Rosberg appeared to drive serenely behind as he managed the gap to his championship rival.

To give the German his shot at victory, Mercedes altered tyre plans from the first stop onwards, and as the race reached its denouement Rosberg reeled Hamilton in.

But despite finally managing to get within a second late on, Rosberg ran out of laps and not once had a crack at making a pass on Hamilton, who ultimately won by just 0.6 seconds.

It means for the first time since June 2012 Hamilton now leads the drivers’ standings, moving three points ahead of Rosberg who must be wondering what he has to do to triumph again.

Hamilton also has history on his side because on every one of the 19 previous occasions a driver has won four in a row he has gone on to claim the world championship. As wins go, Hamilton’s first in Spain, was crucial: “It means everything to me.

“Getting my first grand prix win here after being in the sport eight years, it’s very difficult to put the feeling into words when you have a result like this.

“Never have I had a car like this, nor a gap like this to anyone before.

“But I know I wasn’t fast enough. Nico was quicker, I struggled with the balance, but fortunately I was able to keep him behind.

“I really had to rely on my engineers a lot more to give me the gaps and try to find where I could find time, also with my settings as I was moving them up and down, really trying to find extra time.”

Despite the rivalry between the duo – and there was undoubted tension in the green room before they went on the podium– Hamilton insists they can remain friends.

“We’ve been racing together for a long time, so I don’t see why not,” remarked Hamilton.

As for Rosberg, he concurred, although his body language perhaps said different. Rosberg is determined Hamilton will not make it five wins in a row in Monaco, a race the former won from pole last year.

“I’ll be heading to Monaco where I’ll put in a massive effort to go one better, to repeat the win from last year.”

Daniel Ricciardo finished 49 seconds adrift in his Red Bull, but at least this was a legitimate podium for the Australian who was disqualified from his home race in March.