Hamilton wins as Bottas retires. Red Bull finishes second (Verstappen) and Renault takes third (Ricciardo).
NURBURG, Germany—October 11th—Without teammate Valtteri Bottas to compete against, on Sunday Lewis Hamilton fought a late safety car incident to control Sunday’s Eifel Grand Prix at the famed Nurburgring circuit. He beat Max Verstappen by a bit over four seconds as Daniel Ricciardo gave Renault its first podium of the season–and his first podium in over two-and-a-half years–by taking third.
With the win, Hamilton tied Michael Schumacher’s all-time race record of 91 wins. “I don’t know what to say,” Hamilton said, referring to tying the record.
On this day, Hamilton took over the lead from Bottas on the seventh lap after the Finn passed the Briton early. Hamilton continued to hold a comfortable lead–even extending it–when Bottas retired on lap 19 (power unit problem). Verstappen began to close in on Hamilton.
When Lando Norris began to lose power in his McLaren and pulled off the track with 16 laps to go, the safety car came out and lasted four laps. Then, Hamilton once again assumed the lead, and Verstappen could not respond. Hamilton crossed the line to win.
Besides Norris, three other cars withdrew from the race. Esteban Ocon exited the race in his Renault with a hydraulic issue, while George Russell was hit by Kimi Raikkonen early in the race and had to retire. That incident left Williams at the side of the road on lap 16. Red Bull’s Alex Albon also retired from the race on lap 25 (power unit failure.)
Sergio Perez missed a chance at the podium, finishing fourth, while Carlos Sainz Jr. settled for fifth in the second McLaren. Pierre Gasly was sixth in the Alpha Tauri, and Charles Leclerc seventh in the Ferrari. Nico Hulkenberg, who was called up late in the week to replace a sick Lance Stroll, started from 20th (and last) but then worked his way up the field to finish in eighth. Romain Grosjean gave the American Haas F1 Team his first points of the season by taking ninth. Antonio Giovinazzi received his first points of the season by finishing in tenth. Kevin Magnussen finished in the second Haas car in 13th place.
At the end of the race, Schumacher’s son Mick, who could be in a Formula 1 seat as early as next season, presented Hamilton with one of his father’s helmets–the one he wore with Mercedes in his last years as a driver.
Lewis Hamilton: Seeing his dominance for so long and I don’t think anyone–especially me–thought I’d get close to this record. It’s an incredible honor. But I could not have done it without this incredible team. And a big thank you and huge respect to Michael.
Hamilton now leads Bottas bu 69 points in the world championship with Verstappen in third. Next up (in two weeks), F1 teams will compete at a new circuit for them in Portimao, Portugal.
