The continued domination of Lewis Hamilton in F1 could see him take the 100th GP win by the end of next year.
Lewis Hamilton has just scored his 92nd race victory at the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix.
He now holds the record for the most race wins by a single driver in the motorsport’s history. Smashing the 91 win record previously held by Micheal Schumacher.
First achieving victory in the 2007 Canadian GP, the Brit has been on a roll ever since. Stepping on the top step of the podium every single year since then, not to mention achieving 6 World Driver’s Championship titles in that time. With his sights firmly on a record-equalling 7th by the end of the 2020 season.
Debate will continue to rage on for years to come in the Formula 1 community on whether Hamilton is indeed the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time). A reasonable argument against this is that he was nearly always in dominant cars for all the time he was in this top tier motorsport. First joining McLaren when they were riding high in 2007, before switching to the currently all-conquering Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 team in 2013.
That said, credit where it is due though to Hamilton as, even with a good team backing one up, not every driver can extract all the performance necessary to pull off this monumental achievement. Described by many as the most complete drivers on the grid, Hamilton always seemed to be able to pull off the unimaginable. Be it on the last few seconds of qualifying to snag yet another pole position, or imperiously controlling the entire race the moment the chequered flag drops on Sunday.
Moreover, his achievements outside the track should also be lauded. Despite his playboy image in the early years, Hamilton has since been a loud, and more importantly respected, voice for social and environmental issues across the world. By not only being the first black driver in this pinnacle of motorsport, but the most successful driver in Formula 1 too, he has undoubtably been a role model for a generation to come.
As for the race where he netted this record-breaking achievement, a light sprinkling of rain on parts of the track made for a chaotic race start. Those who started on the soft compound tires managed to get a jump on the leaders ahead who were on the mediums. Thus enabling Kimi Raikkonen of Alfa Romeo to jump from P16 to P6 at one point, and Carlos Sainz in the McLaren to lead the Portuguese GP in the ensuing few laps of the race.
However as the race progressed, the normal HAM-BOT-VER running order returned by the middle of the race, and remained so till the chequered flag was waved on lap 66.
Naturally, more excitement was to be had watching the mid-fielders. A tangle between Lance Stroll and Lando Norris put both out of the points finishes for this race. Meanwhile, a racing incident between Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez in the opening lap of the race lead to scenes of Perez scything back up the field from P20 back to P5 on the last few laps of the race. Then again, brilliant overtakes from both Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz on the final few laps left the Mexican with P7 at the end of the race. Though he did also net the Driver of the Day award for his momentous effort.
Other notable highlights was Esteban Ocon managing to keep his original set of medium tires alive for nearly the entire duration of the race. Not to mention Charles Leclerc’s quietly amazing forth place in the Ferrari. His team mate Sebastian Vettel also managed a points finish in this race, finishing 10th.
