Lewis Hamilton won an enthralling wet-weather Turkish Grand Prix to claim his seventh world title and equal the great Michael Schumacher’s F1 record.
After suffering throughout qualifying on Saturday, Hamilton started from sixth position but was able to power through the field using all his experience to claim his 94th career victory which was enough to seal another world championship.
Hamilton, who is well known for his wet-weather driving, was able to secure the win after another excellent drive with his nearest competitor being 30 seconds behind.
Sergio Perez, whose future is still unknown, was able to hold on to second place and his first podium of the season – despite late pressure from the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc.
Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel completed the podium in third place after team-mate Leclerc lost the position just three corners from the chequered flag. This was the German’s first podium since Mexico 2019.
At the start of the race Hamilton got a great getaway moving up to third place instantly as he lunged down the inside of Daniel Ricciardo at Turn 1. It was a nightmare start for the Australian as just nine corners later he dropped down to sixth after he ran wide at Turn 10.
Max Verstappen had issues of his own at Turn 10 as the Red Bull driver spun while attempting a pass on Sergio Perez. This gifted Hamilton fifth place and the 35-year old went on to jump Vettel when he made a second pitstop and Alexander Albon when his Red Bull was sent spinning.
Racing Point’s Perez found himself in the lead after team-mate Lance Stroll pitted gifting Hamilton second. As the track dried up Hamilton grew in confidence and was able to easily pass the Mexican on the second DRS straight.
Hamilton questioned his Mercedes team’s call to pit for new tyres and took control as he stayed out on his old intermediates. Despite the heavy graining Hamilton was able to pull clear of any chasing pack, wrapping up another race victory and his seventh world championship.
Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas was nowhere to be seen as the Finn had a race to forget finishing in 14th place after being lapped by Hamilton. Bottas had to outscore Hamilton by eight points in order to keep any chance of the world title race alive.
Leclerc set his sights on a third podium of 2020 while battling Perez, but he ran deep at Turn 12 – gifting not only Perez second, but also Vettel third just three corners from the chequered flag.
Carlos Sainz was able to finish in an excellent fifth place helping McLaren in their battle for third place in the constructors’ championship, ahead of both Red Bulls who suffered spins throughout the race claiming sixth and seventh.
Lando Norris was able to beat pole-sitter Stroll to eighth place with a last-lap overtake on the Racing Point driver who only seemed to go backwards after pitting for a second time onto the intermediate tyres. Norris was also able to set the fastest lap securing an extra point for the Woking-based team.
Having survived a spin of his own in the final stages of the race, Ricciardo took the final points-paying position for Renault in what was a hard race for the French team.
In two weeks, the drivers will visit Sakhir, Bahrain ahead of a double-header event before the final round of the season hosted in Abu Dhabi.
By Cameron Anderson-Jones
