F1 Recap - Spanish Grand Prix 2020.
Another dominant performance from Lewis Hamilton
Originally posted on Sun Aug 16 2020
Lewis Hamilton comes 1st by more than 24 seconds after a near perfect race, with Max Verstappen's Red Bull coming in 2nd to split the two Mercedes.
This victory means Hamilton has broken the record for most podiums for an F1 driver, moving past the legendary Michael Schumacher, reaching 156. And with the utter dominance he is showing in his Mercedes, that number will only continue to rise.
The two Mercedes once again qualified on the front row, after only 0.059 seconds separated them.
The start of the race was good for Hamilton, who got out in front, then lead every lap until the end to take his 4th Spanish GP victory in a row.
It was not so good for Bottas, who dropped down to from 2nd to 4th after Verstappen and Lance Stroll in the Racing Point were able to slipstream the front runners and go past him. He fought back into 3rd, but throughout the race was never really able to catch up to Verstappen. By the end of the race, Bottas was too far behind to challenge for second, instead pitting for fresh tyres with a few laps to go in order to ensure he would get the extra point for fastest lap. Not only did he achieve the fastest lap, he set the track record for a race lap at 1:18.183.
Charles Leclerc was having a decent race in the Ferrari after a dissapointing qualifying result which saw him start in 9th, but ended up frustrated as his engine cut out after hitting a bump on a corner. He was able to restart the engine and get to the pit, however he ultimately had to retire from the race.
Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari had a decent race, despite clear frustration with his team. He qualified in 11th after failing to reach Q3, but managed to convert a one stop stategy into 7th place after great tyre management. Segio Perez in the Racing Point was the only other driver to run with the one stop strategy and manage to score points. This performance got him the driver of the day award from the fans.
Alex Albon in the second Red Bull cannot be too happy with his team either. He qualified in 6th place and had a really great start to the race, but was put onto a rather different strategy that seemed to really halt his progress, ultimately leading him to finish in 8th. The team pitted him early and put him onto hard tyres, he came back out into traffic and never managed to get up to speed. He eventually pitted again for mediums but the damage had already been done.
The Racing Point's were able to maintain their qualifying positions and finish in 4th and 5th, with Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll swapping positions, the Canadian Stroll finishing ahead of his team mate after Perez got a 5 second penalty for ignoring blue flags.
Carlos Sainz in his McLaren was able to finish his home Grand Prix in 6th place, gaining a position from qualifying. Lando Norris in the other McLaren had a slightly more disappointing result, finishing 10th after qualifying 8th, however he did put in a good defensive performance, holding off a charge from Leclerc earlier in the race.
Romain Grosjean on the penultimate lap had a close shave after hitting a curb and almost spinning, hitting a sweet drift in the process.
Ultimately it was another race where the Mercedes showed just how good they really are, lapping every other car bar the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.
Here are the results from this week:
And here are the driver standings now, with Hamilton 37 points clear at the top:
Two weeks off now as we eagerly await the Belgian Grand Prix.
BONUS CONTENT:
I couldn't write about the Spanish GP and not mention the latest video bombing from the Williams Racing crew: