Race Rundown
Valtteri Bottas had pole position but Lewis Hamilton got a great start, got alongside and looked like he was going to take the lead. He tried to edge Bottas wide like he did with Rosberg many times, but Bottas got the drive and had the inside line at Turn 2 and was able to hold the lead. He held the lead until he locked up at Turn 1 which sent him wide and allowed Lewis to get in front. He pitted at the end of that lap however he would suffer a further hammerblow when the Virtual Safety Car was deployed for a collision between Raikkonen and Russell which forced Russell to park up. This enabled both his team-mate and Max Verstappen to pit under the Virtual Safety Car and get out in front of Bottas. It would get a lot worse though, as he then suffered a loss of power which forced him out. There were a lot of mechanical failures, as Bottas was joined on the sidelines by first Esteban Ocon, then Alexander Albon, who had a scrappy race, after a clumsy bit of contact with Daniil Kvyat and was eating through his tyres, who then had a PU issue. They were then joined by Lando Norris, who tried to continue despite his issue but eventually had to park up, costing him a podium. This brought out the safety car. This helped Daniel Ricciardo, who was running third but had a charging Sergio Perez on fresh tyres bearing down on him, but the safety car equalised the tyre advantage as both pitted. However he did still have his work cut out defending from Perez on the restart. Whilst back at the front it was Lewis Hamilton, who once taking the lead he never looked back, and he took his 91st career win, equalling Michael Schumacher, ahead of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo who finally took a long awaited podium for Renault. Sergio Perez finished in fourth ahead of Carlos Sainz who had a quiet race to fifth and Pierre Gasly who scored good points in sixth despite the car lacking pace. Charles Leclerc got probably the maximum out of his Ferrari to finish in seventh ahead of an incredible super-sub showing from Nico Hulkenberg, who fought his way to eighth from last despite having not driven the car round this track until qualifying. Despite a dodgy finger from a bit of gravel early in the race, Romain Grosjean took his first points of the season with a ninth place finish, with Antonio Giovinazzi rounding out the top 10. It was another tough race for Sebastian Vettel, once again failing to score a point, whilst Daniil Kvyat rounded out the finishers after his incident with Alexander Albon.
Hamilton makes history
It has finally happened. Lewis Hamilton has equalled Michael Schumacher’s win record with 91 wins. He looks to be well on the verge of not just beating but also eclipsing his records, something that when Michael set these records many believed wouldn’t happen for a very long time. Lewis came into the sport just after Michael’s first retirement and immediately set the world alight, coming agonisingly close to becoming the first rookie in Formula One history to win the title. But I am not sure anyone expected him to achieve this level of success. Since arriving at Mercedes in 2013 he has meshed with the team and when they got the hybrid regulations so right, it paved the way for his success. Many question whether he is talented or whether he is only winning because of the car. You don’t win 6 world titles by just having the best car. You have to be one of the most talented drivers ever to grace a racetrack to take even the best car to title glory. A lot of people are also stating Lewis is nowhere near as good as Michael. I believe it’s unfair to compare Lewis to Michael and say one is better than the other. There is legit no way you can say one is better than the other, nor is there a way you can say who the greatest individual driver of all time is. For me you can only say there are multiple drivers who are the best ever to start a Grand Prix, and Lewis is one of those drivers.
Ricciardo gets Renault’s first podium in almost a decade
An inspired performance from Daniel Ricciardo saw the team in yellow finally get their first podium since returning as a constructor. When Valtteri Bottas retired and Alexander Albon had his shenanigans, that opened the door for a midfield team to make it to the podium. And Daniel Ricciardo made the most of the opportunity. He did have to fight for it however, a rapid Sergio Perez was keeping him honest, a fight that would’ve been more difficult for the Australian had it not been for the safety car, as Sergio was on fresher tyres until then. Ricciardo has been on a run of results, finishing in the top 6 in the last 5 races, it was clear it was just a matter of time before he finished on the podium, and he finally did so this weekend. At the rate he is going, chances are this won’t be the last time we see him on the podium this season.
Leclerc rises above difficult car once again
Charles Leclerc once again showed how good he really is, dragging a very difficult car to places where it simply does not belong. Fourth on the grid was an incredible achievement, and despite dropping back in the race to the more competitive cars, seventh in a car like that is still a very solid achievement. In my opinion, Charles is proving himself more this year than he did last year when he took 2 wins. Dragging uncompetitive machinery to places where it simply does not belong is quite a skill, his performances this year are comparable to Fernando Alonso in 2014. With Sebastian Vettel unable to get to grips with this car, Charles is essentially carrying the weight of the team, and if it wasn’t for him their constructors position would look much more embarrassing than it currently does.
Alex Albon’s bad day
I think it can be said Alex Albon did not have his finest race, making so many mistakes in wheel to wheel combat, which included a misjudged move on Daniil Kvyat, and constant lockups destroying his strategy. He eventually retired with a power unit problem but many were speculating the team retired him on purpose. Mistakes in wheel to wheel combat is unusual for him as that is typically his strong point, so why were there so many mistakes? It seemed like he was simply trying too hard, and that is an obvious sign of being under huge pressure, and I fear this could be the start of a downwards spiral in confidence similar to what was seen with Pierre Gasly, and I stand by my point in saying putting a young driver as a number 2 alongside their chosen star Max Verstappen is not the right solution. Alex NEEDS to go back to AlphaTauri and find his feet again, and Red Bull NEED an experienced driver in that second car that can do the job.
The Super-Sub Stars
This brings me onto my next point which is Nico Hulkenberg’s performance on Sunday. He won driver of the day and rightfully so. He came into the weekend expecting to do TV duties. However he got an unexpected call up from Racing Point after Lance Stroll fell ill and his first go in the car around this track was qualifying. Yet he wasn’t far off making Q2 and then in the race he gradually dialled in and pulled off a fighting drive to finish in eighth place. This is showing why he was so highly rated and why it’s a shame not to see him on the grid as a full time driver. It’s no surprise in this COVID environment he has become the go to guy to stand in if a driver falls ill, when Albon returned an inconclusive test earlier in the week, it was stated that they were considering running Hulkenberg in that car if Alex tested positive. On the previous paragraph about Albon, many are saying that if Alex is demoted, many are stating the experience of Hulkenberg could make him the right driver for the seat.
The championship picture
Valtteri Bottas’s retirement was a massive blow to his title chances as he now sits 69 points behind his team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and he now looks set to take a seventh world title. Max Verstappen is still in third, just 14 points behind Bottas, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who has now moved up to fourth in the standings. Sergio Perez now lies in fifth ahead of Lando Norris in sixth, Alexander Albon in seventh and Charles Leclerc in eighth. Lance Stroll sits in ninth with Pierre Gasly rounding out the top 10.
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