admin On Sunday, Lewis Hamilton won the Styrian Grand Prix from pole position to confirm an 85th career win and move within six of Michael Schumacher’s Formula One record.
When Hamilton stood on the podium he raised a clenched right fist.
Hamilton’s record-covering 89th career pole on a rain-drenched track was one of his best in extreme conditions, but during the race he was hardly challenged as he ended a sizeable 13.7 seconds ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas and 33.7 ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
The drivers on the podium had their trophies delivered by a remote controlled device due to the social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“What a weird year but (it’s) great to be back driving with this kind of performance. The team did a fantastic job, it was just for me to bring it home,” stated Lewis Hamilton. “Difficult weekend last weekend but this was a great step forward.”
Bottas earned last weekend’s season-opening Austrian GP on the same Red Bull Ring track in Spielberg at the foot of the Styrian mountains.
Alexander Albon, Red Bull driver did well to fend off persistent attacks from Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and ended fourth ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Perez, who dropped to sixth after touching wheels with Albon late on.
McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. began from third and finished ninth, but collected a bonus point for the fastest lap.
When race started, Hamilton got away cleanly while Verstappen did well to hold off Sainz.
Leclerc tried to overtake down the right entering a hairpin bend and finished up riding over the back of Vettel’s car, mangling his rear wing and prompting a safety car to come out for two laps.
Hamilton came in for new tires soon after and then Bottas a few laps later, meaning that by Lap 38 Verstappen was second again.
Verstappen’s front wing was broken on the right side and, with six laps remaining, his lead over Bottas was down to under a second.
“When Valtteri tried to pass me I tried to make it a bit more difficult,” Verstappen stated. “The podium is good but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Renault driver Esteban Ocon was unable to finish, but teammate Daniel Ricciardo was eighth behind Racing Point’s Lance Stroll, who ended up with seventh. Daniil Kvyat of AlphaTauri finished out the top ten, while Canadian Nicholas Latifi placed 17th.
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