ALGARVE: Lewis Hamilton on Sunday surpassed Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher for most race wins in the sport by taking the top spot at the Portuguese Grand Prix and taking his 92nd victory. Hamilton, who started at the 97th pole of his career, fought back after losing his lead in the early part of the race at the Algarve International Circuit before putting his Mercedes well clear on front to take his record win.
Hamilton struggled for grip in the early part of the race which led to his team mate Bottas taking the lead with sports of rain on the track. After leading the opening lap, Bottas was passed by the charging McLaren of Carlos Sainz. Bottas took back the lead in lap 6 and Hamilton also passed Sainz a lap later as the rain stopped.
Hamilton eventually caught up with Bottas and passed in the 20th lap after which he put daylight between himself and the chasing pack. He was 10 seconds ahead of Bottas while pitting for hard tires with 25 laps to go and eventually eased his way past the chequered flag.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen also had a dramatic first lap, connecting with Racing Point's Sergio Perez and sending the Mexican spinning. Both drivers had a strong recovery though, Verstappen eventually climbing back into a comfortable third, while Perez made it up to P7 -- the Mexican passed in the latter stages by AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly and Sainz. IANS
HOW HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENTS BREAK DOWN
The 35-year-old's record haul of victories have come from 262 grands prix at a win rate of 35.1 per cent. Of his 92 successes, 80 have come from the front row of the grid (87 per cent) and 57 from pole (62 per cent). With seven wins after qualifying in third, two from fourth and one each from fifth and sixth, only one Hamilton victory has come with the Briton starting from outside the top six – the 2018 German Grand Prix, he claimed a remarkable triumph after beginning the race way down in 14th. Meanwhile, this latest win marked a 28th different circuit at which he has come out on top - another record - and arrives amid a dominant hybrid era. Hamilton had at least nine wins in every season between 2014 and 2019 and, with eight so far, is on course to reach that mark again this year. No other driver has achieved this feat in six different seasons.
WHAT IS LEFT FOR LEWIS
TO LOOK FOR?
The most notable Schumacher record still on the table is his tally of seven drivers' championships, an achievement Hamilton will surely match this year. But the German great also still leads the way in terms of various other statistics. Hamilton spoke this week of a desire to remain at Mercedes next year and that should allow him to bring other benchmarks into view. A victory in a 15th consecutive season in 2021 would tie Schumacher's historic run from 1992 to 2006. Hamilton's first (at Canada in 2007) came 255 races ago, with a longer stretch between successes enjoyed only by Kimi Raikkonen (294 between his first win in Malaysia in 2003 and his most recent in the United States in 2018).