Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton became Formula One’s winningest driver on Sunday by racking up his 92nd win, or one more than Michael Schumacher.
Hamilton took home his latest win at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, which played host to a special Portuguese Grand Prix forming the 12th round of the revised 2020 calendar.
Hamilton has been a consistent top driver throughout his career, with his first win coming with McLaren at the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, in what was his debut season. Incidentally, he missed out on the championship title that year to Kimi Raikkonen by just one point. A year later and he had his first title under his belt.
Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix
Given his stellar run this season, Hamilton is almost certain to secure his seventh title in 2020, which will see him equal Schumacher’s record tally.
Hamilton’s record-breaking win on Sunday was yet another dominant run, though perhaps not at the start where, despite starting on pole, fellow Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas and McLaren’s Carlos Sainz were both able to jump ahead of Hamilton when the lights turned green, and Sainz was briefly in the lead at one point though was passed by Bottas on lap six. Hamilton was able to pass Sainz quickly, too, and eventually passed Bottas about a third of the way through the race.
From this point on Hamilton cruised to victory, with Bottas finishing second some 25 seconds back. Third place went to Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen some 34 seconds behind the winner. It was an impressive run for Verstappen who, after contact with Racing Point’s Sergio Perez in the first lap, suffered a spin and had to make an unscheduled pit stop.
2020 Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc also put in an impressive performance. Despite a poor start that saw him lose four places, slipping back to eighth place, he managed to keep cool and fight his way up to fourth at the finish line, passing Sainz, as well as Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren’s Lando Norris and Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen in the process. AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly also managed to pass those drivers to secure fifth place.
There were few dramas, though Racing Point’s Lance Stroll on lap 18 suffered a spin near Turn 1 after coming into contact with Norris. Stroll was able to continue racing but received his first of two time penalties of the race. He received his second for a track limit violation and was later called in by his team while running last.
Hamilton’s lead in the 2020 Drivers’ Championship now extends to 256 points. Bottas is second with 179 points and Verstappen is third with 162 points. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes leads with 435 points versus the 226 of Red Bull and 126 of Racing Point. The next round on the calendar is a special Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on this coming weekend at Italy’s Imola.
Mercedes-AMG’s Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix
Below are the full results from the 2020 Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix:
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
2) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-AMG +25.592 seconds
3) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +34.508 seconds
4) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +65.312 seconds
5) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +1 lap
6) Carlos Sainz, McLaren +1 lap
7) Sergio Perez, Racing Point +1 lap
8) Esteban Ocon, Renault +1 lap
9) Daniel Ricciardo, Renault +1 lap
10) Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari +1 lap
11) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
12) Alexander Albon, Red Bull Racing +1 lap
13) Lando Norris, McLaren +1 lap
14) George Russell, Williams +1 lap
15) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
16) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1 lap
17) Romain Grosjean, Haas +1 lap
18) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +2 laps
19) Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri +2 laps
NC) Lance Stroll, Racing Point DNF