Motorsport journalist and podcaster
The story of the Eifel Grand Prix was Lewis Hamilton’s record-equalling 91st victory, but for polesitter Valtteri Bottas it was the evaporation of his already fading title chances.
Bottas had beaten Hamilton to pole by a quarter of a second in what looked like a late resurgence in the Finn’s form after winning in Russia two weeks ago. And the early laps of his race were strong, getting his elbows out against his teammate at the first turn to hold the lead.
But a series of knockout blows dropped him from a promising lead to an early shower when his power unit gave up on him on lap 18.
Lewis Hamilton is the equal most successful F1 driver in history after matching Michael Schumacher’s record 91 victories at the Eifel Grand Prix.
Hamilton started second alongside teammate Valtteri Bottas but slipped past the Finn on lap 13 to take control of the race.
Bottas later retired from the grand prix with an engine issue, clearing the way for the Briton to cruise to the chequered flag.
Lewis Hamilton has equaled Michael Schumacher’s record 91 grand prix wins with a comfortable victory over Max Verstappen at the Eifel Grand Prix.
Continue reading on RACERFormula One hasn’t raced at the Nurburgring for seven years, and on Friday it seemed like it might yet not get the job done on its unexpected return either.
With thick fog enveloping the surrounding areas, the medical helicopter was unable to fly from the circuit to the designated hospital. No copter, to track activity, and so the day’s running was abandoned.
The FIA has devised a plant to ensure the race won’t be called off in similar circumstances — a short ambulance ride to a new helipad in a lower-lying area should do the trick — but the chilly autumnal conditions remain.
Valtteri Bottas will try to shrink his championship deficit for the second weekend in a row when he starts ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton for the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring on Sunday.
The fight for pole came down the final seconds of qualifying, with Hamilton taking top spot with his final lap only for Bottas to snatch the place back from the Briton in reply.
The Finn’s best time of 1 minute 25.525 seconds was a quarter-second quicker the Briton and more than two seconds quicker than the track record, which was previously set by Japan’s Takuma Sato in 2004.