Lewis Hamilton took his 7th title with victory at Istanbul Park. Sergio Perez capitalised on his team-mate’s misfortune to take his first podium of 2020 while Sebastian Vettel climbed to 3rd on the penultimate corner of the last lap.
Race Report
Although it was not raining at the start, the track was sodden as the cars made their way to the grid. Russell and Giovinazzi struggled before lining up and had contact with the wall. Luckily, both were able to start the race.
Verstappen crawled off the grid and fell backwards. Ocon and Bottas spun through turn 1 and were lucky not to collect any other cars. A few corners later, Bottas then made contact with Ocon, relegating them further behind. Hamilton was next to make a mistake and his off track excursion took him from 3rd to 6th.
The cars tip toed round the track for the opening laps, but Stroll was able to pull out a strong lead, 15 seconds ahead of 3rd placed Vettel by lap 5. Leclerc was the first to stop for intermediates on lap 7. Several cars followed suit including both Mercedes and Ferraris. Stroll pitted from the lead on lap 9 and the Canadian came out in 4th while his team-mate inherited the lead of the race. Verstappen managed to switch his car on and devoured Perez’s lead. The Mexican pitted on lap 11.
Verstappen stayed out on track for much longer than expected and started to bleed time in comparison to the intermediate runners. He was one of the last to change tyres and came out 4th, ahead of Vettel and Hamilton.
Giovinazzi was unable to convert his best start in F1, he retired on lap 14 and brought out the VSC.
A tense battle began for 4th between Vettel, Hamilton and Albon. Hamilton made a rare mistake and lost 5th to Albon. The Thai driver then managed to take the Ferrari and stormed down the track.
Verstappen was finally able to close up on Perez in 2nd, but had a huge moment, spinning and relegating himself to 6th. Furthermore, the Dutchman flat spotted his tyres and had to pit as well.
Tricky Track Conditions
Albon, 3rd, started a superb stint on the intermediate tyres and started reeling in the Racing Points. He was on the gearbox of Perez by lap 23, but was unable to make an immediate overtake. By lap 30, the track was drying significantly and started causing high wear on the intermediate tyres. However, with the slippery track surface, drivers were reluctant to switch.
Vettel and Hamilton made superb progress, bringing themselves into the battle for 2nd by lap 31, these cars were only 4 seconds behind the leader, Stroll. Albon threw away his strong performance, spinning out in turn 3. This gave Hamilton 3rd.
Stroll pitted from the lead on lap 37, but came out behind Verstappen. Hamilton then started a charge and took 1st from Perez with a smooth overtake in sector 3. Stroll attempted a brave move on Verstappen, but ran wide dropping him to 6th as both Ferraris found their way past.
Hamilton started a masterclass on his worn tyres, still managing to set fastest sectors despite the tyres being 35 laps old. Behind, Perez was maintaining 2nd with Leclerc and Vettel chasing. With 8 laps to go, Hamilton had built up a 19 second advantage. Perez was holding second while Leclerc was losing time to Vettel behind.
Rain was predicted with 3 laps to go and Hamilton refused a ‘safety stop’. He would remain unchallenged to victory, but behind Perez lost 2nd to Leclerc with a few corners to go. Perez launched himself back into 2nd with 2 corners left and Leclerc locked up, giving 3rd to Vettel. Sainz almost capitalised on this, but lost the back end, keeping him 5th.
Standings:
- Hamilton
- Perez +31.633
- Vettel +31.960
- Leclerc +33.858
- Sainz +34.363
- Verstappen +44.873
- Albon +46.484
- Norris +61.259
- Stroll +72.353
- Ricciardo +95.460
- Ocon +1 Lap
- Kvyat + 1 Lap
- Gasly +1 Lap
- Bottas +1 Lap
- Raikkonen +1 Lap
- Russell + 1 Lap
- Magnussen + 1 Lap
- Grosjean + 1 Lap
- Latifi + 1 Lap
- Giovinazzi + 1 Lap
It was never a question of if, but when Lewis Hamilton would take his 7th world championship and at many times it seemed that he would have to wait until Bahrain. But, the Briton showed the magnitude of his talent and very few would dare to claim that he hasn’t proved himself worthy of being considered one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time.
Featured Image Credit: @F1 Official twitter
