INDIA in F1

Tag: Michael Schumacher

  • Hamilton rewrites history with convincing 92nd win: Race Analysis

    Hamilton rewrites history with convincing 92nd win: Race Analysis

    By Malhaar Khaladkar

    London, 26 October 2020: Lewis Hamilton achieved a record breaking 92nd career race win as he surpassed Michael Schumacher to be the most successful driver in terms of wins in Formula 1. Mercedes achieved their fourth 1-2 of the season as Valtteri Bottas finished 2nd and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen completed the podium.

    Hamilton re-wrote history by winning the most number of races in Formula 1, 92. This was also his 8th win of the season and won by the biggest margin of 2020, by 25.592s despite suffering cramps towards the end, from teammate Bottas who had no answer for his loss of pace. Verstappen finished in P3 in the process lapping his teammate Albon, who finished in P12. Leclerc crossed the line in an impressive P4. Gasly yet again had a mega drive in P5, Sainz following him in P6 as Perez recovered from last at the start to P7. The Renault duo finished P8 and P9, Ocon finished ahead of Ricciardo only the second time this season. Vettel completed the top 10.

    Raikkonen just missed out on points finishing 11th while his teammate Giovinazzi had to race without radio during the whole race, ultimately finishing 15th. Norris recovered to 13th after contact and damage with Stroll, one place ahead of Williams’ Russell in a well-deserved P14. Teammate Latifi finished last, ahead of Haas duo Magnussen and Grosjean. Only one car retired from the race, that of Stroll due to floor and car damage.

    The race start was arguably the most hectic of the season as dark clouds loomed over the circuit with droplets appearing on the track. Hamilton started well but had an oversteer moment and lost places to Bottas and Sainz. Meanwhile, behind Verstappen and Perez touched, sending the Racing Point car spinning to the back of the grid. Behind, Raikkonen displayed superb skills to make up 10 places in the first lap to run P6. All medium-tyre runners were struggling with cold temperatures as they were taking time to warm-up.

    Lewis Hamilton, right, with his Sr. race engineer Peter Bonnington on the podium. An AMG Petronas Mercedes image

    By Lap 2, Sainz has overtaken Bottas for the lead as Norris too was running in P4. By Lap 6, Bottas overtook Sainz for the lead, Hamilton followed suit the next lap, settling in P2. By Lap 10, Bottas was leading, with Hamilton 2nd and Verstappen 3rd. Verstappen was beginning to struggle on the soft tyres due to graining as both the Mercedes cars pulled away. In the midfield, Ricciardo pit for medium tyres to undercut the likes of Gasly and Raikkonen. Stroll and Norris collided in Turn 1, as Stroll misjudged his closing speed from behind on Norris and turned in his path. Stroll was handed a 5-second penalty for causing a collision.

    By Lap 15, Hamilton had started closing in on Bottas, the gap around 1.5s and coming down. On Lap 19, Hamilton made use of DRS to shoot past Bottas and take the lead as Bottas struggled for pace on his tyres. Verstappen pitted on Lap 23 for medium tyres but the damage had already been done as the leader was already 10sec ahead. Sainz and Gasly pitted on Lap 26 and 28 respectively for medium tyres, dropping behind a recovering Perez. The Mercedes duo and Leclerc were yet to pit as they ran in top-3 positions, while Ocon too was running in P5, yet to do a pit stop.

    Leclerc pitted on Lap 34 bolting on a set of hard tyres, emerging in P4 as Verstappen slotted back in P3. Russell in his Williams ran in P7 for a brief amount of laps as after his pit stop he emerged outside of the top 10 on lap 37. Hamilton pitted on Lap 40 for hard tyres, Bottas doing the same on the next lap. Ocon pulled off a mammoth 53 lap stint on the mediums as he pitted and emerged with soft tyres. Similar to Perez who had bolted softs 8 laps prior. Unfortunately, for both the soft tyres did not work as Perez was overtaken by Gasly and Sainz in the dying laps and Ocon was unable to close the gap to Sainz in front of him.

    A Pirelli graphic of the pit stops on Sunday.

    Mercedes confirmed before the race weekend that they had stopped the development of the W11 and are focusing on next year’s car. They still maintain one-lap and race-pace advantage over Red Bull. Red Bull have closed that advantage with the help of new parts such as rear suspensions and a new front wing endplate. Ferrari has improved in the last couple of races, especially in the hands of Leclerc. Their race pace has improved as Leclerc managed to hold on to P4. They brought a new barge board package and a new diffuser for greater and efficient downforce generation. The upgrades have seemed to work, but remains to be seen if they can challenge McLaren, Renault and Racing Point consistently.

    McLaren showed good one-lap and race pace this weekend. They were unable to capitalise fully as Norris’ race was compromised by the collision. Renault seemed to struggle here as they lost their one-lap pace, they couldn’t finish higher than P8. It was damage limitation for them. Racing Point were arguably the fastest midfield cars as evident by Perez’s recovery. If not for the Perez and Stroll entanglements, they could have got a solid result. AlphaTauri once again capitalised on their superior race pace as Gasly finished in P5, best of the rest. AlphaTauri still lack the one-lap pace that prevents them from starting in higher positions.

    Alfa Romeo and Williams both showed good race pace and points potential, though in the end just falling short. Williams tried a new set of barge boards during free practice, remains to be seen if they will use it for the rest of the season. Haas once more had a mediocre race as they never really challenged for higher positions or points.

    Earlier, Lewis Hamilton started from pole position and Bottas from P2 on the grid as Mercedes locked out the front row for the ninth time this season. Verstappen qualified in his customary P3 position, while a superb qualifying from Charles Leclerc saw him start P4. Sergio Perez qualified in P5, meanwhile, his returning Racing Point teammate Lance Stroll could only manage P12. P6 starter was Alex Albon and both the McLarens of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris occupied the fourth row of the grid. Pierre Gasly started in P9 as AlphaTauri teammate Daniil Kvyat only managed to start in P13. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo lined up in P10, one place ahead of teammate Esteban Ocon. George Russell put in an impressive qualifying performance as he lined up P14 in his Williams, ahead of Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari. Alfa Romeo’s of Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi started in P16 and P17 respectively. Haas duo of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen started in P18 and P19, the former ahead of latter. Rookie Nicholas Latifi lined up last.

    The predicted fastest strategy was medium tyres to hard tyres as the soft tyres were prone to graining. Only Hamilton, Bottas and Leclerc started on mediums in the top 10.

  • Lewis Hamilton takes 92nd win to beat Schumacher record

    Lewis Hamilton takes 92nd win to beat Schumacher record

    Portimao, 25 October 2020: Lewis Hamilton took a convincing victory in the FIA Formula 1 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix to score his 92nd career win and make history by surpassing Michael Schumacher’s previous all-time win record winning the 12th round of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship here on Sunday. 

    When the lights went out for the race start Hamilton made a good getaway and took the lead into Turn 1. Behind him Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also made a good start from the clean side of the track to put pressure on the P2 Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas. 

    Bottas fought back, however, and as the pair went through Turn 1, Verstappen was forced wide as the Finn held an aggressive line. That allowed Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez to attack the Red Bull but as the pair battled there was contact and Pérez was bounced off track. Verstappen, though, was able to continue though he dropped to P5 behind the fast-starting McLaren of Carlos Sainz and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

    Ahead, Hamilton locked up into Turn 5 and slide and Bottas seized the opportunity to steal the lead through the following corners. However, with the medium tyre-shod Mercedes cars struggling on the slippery track, Sainz soon stunned both Hamilton and Bottas by surging past to take an unlikely lead. 

    The Spaniard’s time in P1 didn’t last long, however, and as the medium tyres came alive he was passed first by Bottas, on lap six, and soon after by Hamilton. Although he was on soft tyres, Verstappen too, began to find more and more pace and on lap he dismissed the McLaren driver into Turn 1 to reclaim third place. 

    Behind them, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on medium tyres, was also on the move, and after slipping to seventh he rapidly bypassed Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, who had made up a staggering 10 places on the opening lap, and then Lando Norris and Sainz to take back fourth place. 

    With normal service resumed at the front, Verstappen then settled into a demanding first stint on the fragile soft tyres, and as Bottas and Hamilton stretched their legs, the Dutchman struggled to hang on to the Mercedes pair. By lap 19 he was 11 seconds behind the top two. 

    Bottas, though, was coming under increasing pressure from his team-mate and on lap 20 the lead changed hands when the championship leader tucked in behind Bottas out of the final corner and used DRS to blast past into Turn 1. 

    Verstappen made his first stop for new tyres at the end of lap and his switch to mediums saw him rejoin in sixth place, behind Sainz, who had yet to pit. The Spaniard eventually steered towards the pit lane at the end of lap 26 and Verstappen rose to P5 behind the impressive Pierre Gasly who had climbed to P4 in the first third of the race. The Frenchman pitted at the end of lap 28, took on medium tyres and rejoined in eighth pace. Verstappen moved up to fourth behind Leclerc and when the Monegasque driver shed his starting medium tyres on lap 34 and Verstappen once again slotted into third place. 

    As the race hit the halfway mark both Mercedes drivers pitted for hard tyres and in the wake of their sole tyre change the race at the front then settled as the Mercedes pair raced towards a one-two finish. 

    Verstappen dug in for a steady march to third, protecting his ageing medium tyres with Leclerc, on hard tyres, 18 seconds behind. Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, made a great recovery from his first-lap incident to rise to fifth place but in the final laps, on fading tyres, he was passed by Gasly and Sainz. The Mexfinished in a still impressive seventh. 

    Esteban Ocon took eighth place ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. The final point on offer was taken by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. 

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Portuguese Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 66 1:29’56.828 
    2 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 66 1:30’22.420 25.592
    3 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 66 1:30’31.336 34.508
    4 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 66 1:31’02.140 1’05.312
    5 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 65 1:30’13.864 1 Lap
    6 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren/Renault 65 1:30’15.280 1 Lap
    7 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 65 1:30’16.886 1 Lap
    8 Esteban Ocon Renault 65 1:30’18.457 1 Lap
    9 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 65 1:30’19.151 1 Lap
    10 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 65 1:30’20.291 1 Lap
    11 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 65 1:30’26.810 1 Lap
    12 Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 65 1:30’33.049 1 Lap
    13 Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 65 1:30’47.438 1 Lap
    14 George Russell Williams/Mercedes 65 1:30’55.041 1 Lap
    15 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 65 1:31’07.621 1 Lap
    16 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 65 1:31’10.875 1 Lap
    17 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 65 1:31’13.472 1 Lap
    18 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 64 1:30’01.078 2 Laps
    19 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 64 1:30’28.169 2 Laps
    Lance Stroll Racing Point/Mercedes 51 1:12’34.495 Accident damage

  • Hamilton equals Schumi’s record with 91st win

    Hamilton equals Schumi’s record with 91st win

    Lewis Hamilton took his 91st career victory with a dominant drive to the flag in the Eifel Grand Prix that puts him level with Michael Schumacher on Formula 1’s list of all-time winners. In cold and tricky conditions at the Nurburgring the Briton passed team-mate and early race leader Valtteri on lap 12 and thereafter drove faultlessly to finish ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo who scored the French marque’s first podium finish since 2011. 

    When the lights went out at the start, Verstappen held his starting place but when pole position man and early race leader Valtteri Bottas dropped out of the race with a technical issue Verstappen climbed to second place behind Hamilton and thereafter drove a composed race to the flag. 

    It was a more painful day for Alex Albon, however, with the Thai driver forced out of the race after 23 laps by stone damage to a radiator.

    At the race start Hamilton made a better getaway than team-mate Bottas but as the pair headed into Turn 1, the Finn tried to hang on around the outside, a move that sent both Mercedes cars wide. Verstappen closed in but Hamilton and Bottas were swiftly back on track, with Bottas somehow squeezing through Turn 2 ahead of his team-mate. 

    Behind them Alex made a sluggish start from P5 on the grid and as he went into Turn 2 he was passed by Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo. The Thai driver tried to fight back but locked up into Turn 3 and lost ground to the Australian who quickly began to chase down Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. 

    The race settled briefly, but on lap 12, under pressure from Hamilton Bottas locked up and went wide into Turn 1 and the championship leader seized the chance to power past his team-mate and take the lead. Bottas then pitted and took on a new set of medium tyres. 

    Within moments of the lead changing hands, the complexion of the race changed again. George Russell was involved in a collision with Kimi Raikkonen when the Alfa Romeo driver braked too late into Turn 1 and lost and bounced the Williams off track. 

    Russell tried to limp back to the pit lane but the damage was too great and he was forced to stop at the side of the track. The brought out the VSC and during the caution Hamilton and Verstappen pitted, with both taking on medium compound tyres. 

    At the front Hamilton was now firmly in control of the race and at two-thirds distance the Mercedes driver was a little over nine seconds ahead of Verstappen who was now a massive one minute ahead of Ricciardo 

    However, what seemed like a foregone conclusion was briefly spiced up on lap 43 when Lando Norris pulled over at the side of the track, his McLaren finally succumbing to electrical issues that had plagued it for most of the race. 

    The Safety Car was deployed and that sparked a rush to the pitlane. Both Hamilton and Verstappen took on soft tyres under the SC, with Ricciardo also pitting for the red-banded rubber. 

    When the SC left the track, Hamilton held his lead but Verstappen, who had suffered a small lock-up in the final corners, was almost mugged by Ricciardo as they went into Turn 1. The Dutch driver recovered, however, and swiftly slammed the door on his former team-mate to reating second place. Ricciardo held third ahead of Pérez and Sainz but behind them Pierre Gasly completed a brave move past Leclerc to claim sixth place.

    And there the order settled. After dismissing Ricciardo’s re-start challenge, Verstappen steadily opened a gap to Ricciardo, as ahead Hamilton eked out a small margin back to the Red Bull driver. 

    The only tussle remaining was the one for fastest lap. On lap 58 Hamilton powered to a purple time of 1:28.145, but as if to prove the point that the Bulls had closed in over the weekend, Verstappen found an extra reserve of pace on the final lap of the race to edge the Mercedes driver by six thousandths of a second. 

    Behind the top two, Ricciardo took his first podium finish since his win with Red Bull Racing in Monaco 2018, while Sergio Pérez took fourth for Racing Point. Fifth place went to McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, with the Spaniard finishing just ahead of Gasly and Leclerc. Racing Point supersub Hulkenberg finished in an impressive eight place after starting 20th and the final two points places went to Haas’s Romain Grosjean and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi.

    2020 FIA Formula 1 Eifel Grand Prix – Race
    1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 60 1:35’49.641 
    2 Max Verstappen Red Bull/Honda 60 1:35’54.111 4.470
    3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 60 1:36’04.254 14.613
    4 Sergio Pérez Racing Point/Mercedes 60 1:36’05.711 16.070
    5 Carlos Sainz McLaren/Renault 60 1:36’11.546 21.905
    6 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri/Honda 60 1:36’12.407 22.766
    7 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 60 1:36’20.455 30.814
    8 Nico Hülkenberg Racing Point/Mercedes 60 1:36’22.237 32.596
    9 Romain Grosjean Haas/Ferrari 60 1:36’28.722 39.081
    10 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 60 1:36’29.676 40.035
    11 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 60 1:36’30.451 40.810
    12 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo/Ferrari 60 1:36’31.117 41.476
    13 Kevin Magnussen Haas/Ferrari 60 1:36’39.226 49.585
    14 Nicholas Latifi Williams/Mercedes 60 1:36’44.090 54.449
    15 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri/Honda 60 1:36’45.229 55.588
    Lando Norris McLaren/Renault 42 1:06’15.551 Power Unit
    Alexander Albon Red Bull/Honda 23 36’51.535 Power Unit
    Esteban Ocon Renault 22 35’10.341 Hydraulics
    Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 18 28’59.777 Power Unit
    George Russell Williams/Mercedes 12 19’37.453 Collision

  • Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport wishes Michael Schumacher all the very best

    Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport wishes Michael Schumacher all the very best

    File photo of Michael Schumacher courtesy Mercedes AMG Petronas

    On 3 January 1969, a boy named Michael Schumacher was born in the small town of Hürth, Germany – a boy, who would go on to become the most successful Formula One driver of all times. For his 50th birthday, the entire team of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport tips their hat to Michael Schumacher and wishes him all the very best! 

    Very few names are so synonymous with Formula One as that of Michael Schumacher. With 91 race wins and seven FIA Formula One Drivers’ World Championships, he is an absolute icon of the sport who has dominated the series like no one else.

    “Michael has had a tremendous impact on Formula One,” said Toto Wolff. “Not only did he set an incredible record – a record that is yet to be beaten – but he also shaped and changed the sport forever. As a driver, Michael took Formula One to a whole new level with his attention to detail and his technical knowledge. He did everything with great determination, from his engineering debriefs to his physical training, and was always searching for new ways to improve his on-track performance.”

    Michael took some of his first steps as a professional racing driver with Mercedes when he joined the brand’s junior programme in 1990, racing in Group C sports cars and DTM. Together with Karl Wendlinger, he won the last race of the season in sports car racing- Michael’s first and only victory with Mercedes. He moved to Formula One in the following year, racing for Jordan before joining Benetton with whom he went on to win the Drivers’ World Championship in 1994 and 1995. One year later, Michael switched to Ferrari, where he laid the foundations for one of the most successful eras in Formula One. He stayed with the team from Maranello for a decade and won five consecutive Drivers’ (2000-2004) and six consecutive Constructors’ (1999-2004) Championships with the Scuderia.

    Michael retired from Formula One after the 2006 campaign; however, when Mercedes re-joined Formula One as a works team in 2010, he made his return to the series as a driver. Working with the team in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart, Michael played an important role in developing the long-term capabilities of the team that were the foundation of our future success in F1.

    “I remember when I first met Michael back in 2012, it was on a flight from Zürich to Singapore,” said Toto. “He was sitting next to me and asked me if I was up for a game of backgammon. I think that I’m a decent backgammon player, but he absolutely crushed me in the first two rounds because I was so star-struck. Once I was over that, my game improved, and we ended up playing and talking for the entire flight. We had a really good and honest conversation and when we landed it felt like I had known him for much longer than I actually did.”

    At that point, Michael only had a handful of races with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport left before he retired from Formula One at the end of 2012. He never won an F1 race in a Mercedes, but he played an important role in the success the team would enjoy in subsequent years.

    “Michael is one of the founding fathers of the success we have had in the last five years,” said Toto. “There is no other driver like him and his vast experience contributed tremendously in the development of our team. He played a crucial role when we re-joined F1 and was one of the people who laid the foundation for our future success. We’re extremely grateful for everything he did for us. Today, we all tip our hats to you – happy birthday, Michael!”