#EifelGP Report: @LewisHamilton equals @Schumacher’s record with 91st victory. #F1

Lewis Hamilton equalled the legendary Michael Schumacher for most wins in Formula One at 91 after claiming the Eifel GP victory as Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas retired due to a power-unit failure with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen second and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo scoring his first podium since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix.

When the 60 lap Eifel GP began, Hamilton made a perfect run off the line and pulled alongside pole-sitting team-mate Bottas approaching turn one.

The two F1 W11 EQ Power+ racers went deep into the right-hand corner, going wide into the run-off area on the exit as Bottas held on around the outside, which gave the Finn the inside line into the second corner and was able to wrestle his way through to get back into the lead.

Bottas pulled clear of Hamilton around the rest of the opening lap, ensuring that he was comfortably out of DRS range, increasing his gap slowly over the next few tours.

However, Bottas’ lead never went above two seconds as he, Hamilton and Verstappen rapidly pulled clear of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who was holding up Ricciardo and second Red Bull of Alexander Albon.

The front-three were the only drivers to lap in the 1:32’s during the early stages on the C4 red side-walled softer compounds, with Leclerc almost 20 seconds off the lead by the time Ricciardo overtook the Monegasque-youngster around the outside of turn two on the ninth lap.

At this point, Hamilton began to eat into Bottas’ advantage, and just after the Briton gained three tenths on the 12^th tour, the Finn locked up heavily into the first corner at the start of the following lap and ran deep.

Hamilton immediately went around the outside of turn one and claimed first place, with Verstappen quickly behind the rear of Bottas’ Mercedes, who pitted at the end of lap 13 to switch his softs for mediums.

This became costly for the Finn a few laps later, when the virtual safety car was deployed as Williams Racing’s George Russell peeled off the track after sustaining damage due to an incident with Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen who tipped the FW43 onto it’s left-hand wheels when he lost the rear of his C39 racer following Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel closely into the first corner, on the run-down to the turn-one hairpin.

The virtual safety car meant Hamilton, who moved further clear from Verstappen with a series of faster laps in the 1:31’s after claiming the lead, and the latter were able to pit and make a significant gain compared to Bottas.

The situation got worse for Bottas when he fell behind McLaren’s Lando Norris and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who were both yet to pit having been running behind Ricciardo before the Australian stopped under the VSC, reporting a loss of power.

The problem got worse over the next tour despite the Finn receiving numerous reset instructions and was forced to come in at the end of the lap and retire due to an MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit-Heat) failure.

Verstappen gained two seconds on race leader Hamilton as Red Bull made a quicker pit-stop, and momentarily got under two seconds behind the Briton as they both lapped in the 1:30’s, but the Mercedes driver was quickly able to re-build a clear gap.

As Hamilton gradually increased his lead over the mid-way point of the Grand Prix, taking it over ten seconds for the first time at the 42^nd tour, the focus turned to the fight for the final podium place.

Ricciardo’s stop during the VSC meant he would have to run a longer stint on a one-stop-strategy, with his rival in the battle becoming Perez after Norris was hit with a power issue that McLaren could not resolve with a string of reset instructions.

Perez who ran a long stint to the 30^th lap on the softer tyres, then caught Leclerc’s SF1000 racer, who pitted after being overtaken by Ricciardo earlier on, and it was the Mexican’s turn to lose time behind the Monegasque-youngster.

When Perez did reach the chicane on the 35^th tour, he was 17.5 seconds adrift of the Renault and rapidly set-about to cut the gap.

Perez gained four seconds over the next five laps, but the race was interrupted again approaching the races final 15 when Norris pulled off at turn six, with the right-rear bodywork of his MCL35 racer smoking and the safety car was deployed.

Mercedes, Red Bull and Renault brought their drivers in as quickly as they could, with Racing Point leaving Perez out on his medium rubber before he followed suit to put on a set of softs, which the leaders also opted for.

The safety car remained out until there were ten laps remaining, with Hamilton and Verstappen complaining about its speed as they weaved viciously to keep heat in their tyres on the fourth-straight day of cold weather at the Nurburgring.

When the race resumed, Hamilton already pulled clear of Verstappen at the chicane, when the Dutchman fell under attack from Ricciardo into the first corner, where he was able to stand his ground.

The top-two were able to lap in the 1:28’s – with Hamilton posting a series of fastest lap times to increase his lead – as Ricciardo, after momentarily coming under pressure from Perez following his failed attempt to take second place, slowly pulled clear from Perez.

The front positions remained stable over the final few tours as Hamilton pulled clear to take the Eifel GP victory and equal the record with the Briton 4.470 seconds clear of Verstappen as the latter posted the fastest lap on the last tour.

Ricciardo came home in third place and 1.4 seconds clear of Perez.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz completed the top five and in-front of AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, who passed Leclerc after the safety car as the Monegasque-youngster had run behind the top five due to not pitting during the final race caution.

Racing Point’s substitute Nico Hulkenberg came up from the rear to finish eighth – his cause aided by the deployment of the safety car, which also helped Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean who clinched his first points in 2020 as he came ninth on a one-stop-strategy, holding off Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi, who pitted just before the safety car.

Ferrari’s Vettel finished in the same place as he started, in 11^th place as the German spun whilst trying to pass Giovinazzi’s Alfa in the early stages, then having a tangle with Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen in the final tours (with the Dane taking 13^th place behind Raikkonen, who was hit with a ten-second time penalty for causing Russell’s retirement, but the Finn claimed the record for most Grand Prix starts from Rubens Barrichello).

Albon and Renault’s Esteban Ocon were the other retirees from the race as they stopped due to power-unit and hydraulics problems respectively in the pits, with the Thai-Briton being hit with a five-second timed penalty for taking off Daniil Kvyat’s front wing as he swept across the AlphaTauri going into the last corner during the early stages.

Kvyat finished at the rear behind Williams Racing’s Nicholas Latifi.

The Top Three

Eifel GP Winner – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W11 EQ Power+: “I managed to look after my tyres, I could see [Bottas] was graining his so I knew I could push, and he did lock up. The Red Bulls were quick though, we’ve got a serious fight on our hands. I’m knackered! Ninety-one wins and it never gets any easier, it is almost getting harder. I remember my first one in Montreal, I was so young. I didn’t have all the noise back then that I have now. Now it’s physically demanding and mentally demanding but in a different way.”

2^nd Place – Max Verstappen, #33, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB16: “I think the pace was good, we tried to do our own race as Mercedes were too fast. We just managed to get that fastest lap and one extra point so happy with that.”

3^rd Place – Daniel Ricciardo, #3, Renault F1 Team, R.S.20: “It’s been awhile, it feels like the first podium all over again. It’s been two and half years or something. So happy. [The tattoo] is real, it’s going to happen.”

Formula 1 Aramco Grosser Preis Der Eifel 2020 Race Results Classification (60 Laps)

https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1055/germany.html

Click here for the 2020 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings.

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