In Pictures: Eifel 2020
The 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, a race where many records were equaled or broken:
91 wins for Lewis Hamilton, equaling Michael Schumacher.
Most race starts in Formula 1 for Kimi Raikkonen with 323 .
Fastest ever race lap 1:28.139,, set by Max Verstappen on the last lap of the race.
Mercedes-Benz power units today tied Ford's all-time record of 228 consecutive points finishes, set between 1967 and 1983 with the legendary Cosworth DFV engine.
The weekend started with some weather issues and Friday practices were cancelled due to it as the helicopter could not fly to the nearest neurological hospital.
On Saturday things look way brighter, albeit very cold still. At Racing Point things were not so smooth as Lance Stroll was very sick and did not get better in time for FP3. The team decided to call Nico Hulkenberg, who drove from Cologne, about 100 km away, and got to the track on time to get tested for Covid-19 and get acquainted with the RP20. He could only manage four laps in qualifying and could not get better than 20th on the grid.
On the other end of the grid, it was Valtteri Bottas who qualified on Pole, ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
On Sunday, the day was a bit colder than the day before. The race started and after a bit of fighting for positions, everyone sorted out the first few corners in about the same order they started in.
On lap 9, Ricciardo passes Leclerc and takes P4, albeit very far from the trio upfront. A couple of laps later, Vettel spun off at Turn 1 after taking avoiding action trying to avoid running into the back of Giovinazzi, but fortunately he recovered and was able to continue.
On lap 13, Bottas locked up hugely into Turn 1 and allowed Hamilton to go by, losing the lead of the race, and having to pit for new tires to replace the badly flat-spotted ones, coming out in fourth, behind Ricciardo. Regretfully, his W11 was losing power and finally retired from the race on lap 19.
On lap 23, It's Ocon's turn to retire. It looks like a hydraulics issue in his RS20. Two laps later, Albon retired. A puncture radiator was the culprit. Then, Norris' issues started. He reported no power from his Renault power unit. The team instructed several modes to overcome the problem but none worked and finally, on lap 44, stopped on the side of the road at turn 6. The safety car was deployed, allowing several drivers to take free pitstops, being Ricciardo one of them.
At the end it was Lewis Hamilton with a sterling drive taking the win and equaling Michael Schumacher's record for the most wins in F1, 91.
In Parc-fermé, during the podium interview, Lewis, in celebration of the achievement, was presented with one of Michael’s helmets, by Michael’s son Mick. The helmet was the one worn by the seven times world champion at Brazil 2012. His last race in Formula 1.
That was the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, by the way, it wasn't called the German Grand Prix as Hockenheim holds the rights to it.