Hamilton wins in Portugal to become F1’s most successful driver

October 26, 2020
Race winner Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, left, sprays champagne at the podium with second placed Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland after the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, Portugal, yesterday.
Race winner Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain, left, sprays champagne at the podium with second placed Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland after the Formula One Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao, Portugal, yesterday.

(CMC):

Lewis Hamilton snatched a 92nd career victory with a dominant performance in yesterday's Portuguese Grand Prix to become Formula One's most successful driver.

Starting on pole at the Algarve International Circuit, Hamilton slipped to third following a dramatic opening lap that saw him passed by both Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and McLaren's Carlos Sainz but recovered well to take the chequered flag and his eighth win of the season.

Bottas finished 25 seconds back in second while Red Bull's Max Verstappen rounded out the podium.

Lewis Hamilton celebrates his victory in the Portugese Grand Prix.

With the victory, Hamilton eclipsed the legendary Michael Schumacher's all-time record of 91 wins, and said afterwards the achievement had been an emotional experience.

"It's going to take some time for it to fully sink in, but I was still pushing flat out coming across the line. I'm still very much in race mode mentally. I can't find the words at the moment," said the 35-year-old, whose paternal grandparents are Grenadian.

"I knew that we would win championships. Did I think we would win as many as we have? No. Did I think we would win this many races? Of course not.

Phenomenal time

"But it is a phenomenal time for us and the great thing is that it's not just me that is living with the history, it's the whole team and I think everyone acknowledges and realises how much they are part of it, so I feel incredibly grateful to my teammates."

An historic victory for Hamilton appeared in doubt when he was out-paced by Sainz and Bottas amid dizzles at the start, and left to play catch-up.

However, once both Mercedes found the right temperature for their medium tyres, they grabbed control of the race, with Hamilton re-taking the lead from Bottas on lap 20 of the 66-lap encounter.

Despite the achievement, Hamilton said he nor Mercedes would be resting on their laurels as they continued to set new benchmarks for the sport.

"I don't believe in the saying the sky's the limit. It's just a saying," said Hamilton, who with the victory moved 77 points clear of Bottas in the standings.

"It depends how much we want it, how much we want to continue to raise the bar and going by our history together, just the way we work, we don't sit back on our results, we keep working, we keep elevating.

"Every race feels like the first one. I don't know how that's possible after all these races but for me it does, just as challenging as the first, and I think there is a lot more for us to do."

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