Despite a rough start, Lewis Hamilton took back the lead of the race and from then on was untouchable, as he won the race by a whopping 25 seconds back to his team-mate, breaking Michael Schumacher’s record of the most wins in the history of Formula One.
When the lights went out, we were treated to an awesome first lap with so much side by side action. Lewis Hamilton held the lead but he would eventually lose out to Valtteri Bottas, and then Carlos Sainz, who would unbelievably go on to take the lead. It was a manic first lap on a damp track. Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez collided at Turn 4, sending Perez to the rear of the field, whilst Kimi Raikkonen got an incredible start and worked his way into the points. Eventually the race settled and both Mercedes and Verstappen found a way past the McLaren, before the Spaniard dropped down the points.
Valtteri Bottas led the way for a while but Lewis Hamilton was gradually reeling him in and he found a way past and did not look back from that moment on. He took the win and now holds the record for the most victories in the history of Formula One, with his father Anthony there to record the moment he crossed the line to take victory. Valtteri Bottas finished in second with Max Verstappen finishing in third.
Charles Leclerc had an incredibly quiet race starting on the soft but he did an incredible job to bring his Ferrari home in fourth. One of the drivers of the day was Pierre Gasly, who pulled off some good overtakes to work his way up to fifth place, taking that position with 2 laps to go. Carlos Sainz finished in sixth, passing Sergio Perez on the last lap to finish in sixth, a slight disappointment considering he led at the start. Despite losing 2 positions at the end, it was a solid drive for Sergio Perez who made his tyres last and recovered to seventh after his first lap drama. Esteban Ocon made his tyres last a long way but like many he was unable to make the soft tyre work despite a late switch. He finished in eighth ahead of his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Whilst Sebastian Vettel scored the final point in tenth.
Kimi Raikkonen could not maintain his points paying position he got at the start and finished in eleventh place. It was another dismal race for Alexander Albon who finished in twelfth place. Lando Norris finished in thirteenth, his race was destroyed by a collision with Lance Stroll which forced him to pit with damage. Lance Stroll was the race’s only retirement, having a forgetful day.
Lewis Hamilton now leads the standings by 77 points back to his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and looks set to take a 7th world title in the next few races.
Here is the full classification of the Portuguese GP.
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