LEWIS WINS PORTUGUESE GP, RECORD BREAKING RACE

Lewis Hamilton took a convincing victory in the FIA Formula 1 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix to score his 92nd career win and make history by surpassing Michael Schumacher's previous all-time win record.

"When the lights went out for the race start Hamilton made a good getaway and took the lead into Turn 1. Behind him Red Bull’s Max Verstappen also made a good start from the clean side of the track to put pressure on Valtteri Bottas. Finn fought back, however, and as the pair went through Turn 1, Verstappen was forced wide as the Mercedes driver held an aggressive line.

That allowed Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez to attack the Red Bull but as the pair battled there was contact and Pérez was bounced off track. Verstappen, though, was able to continue though he dropped to P5 behind the fast-starting McLaren of Carlos Sainz Jr. and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Ahead, Hamilton locked up into Turn 5 and slide and Bottas seized the opportunity to steal the lead through the following corners. However, with the medium tyre, Mercedes cars was struggling on the slippery track, so Sainz Jr. soon stunned both Hamilton and Bottas by surging past to take an unlikely lead.

The Spaniard’s time in P1 didn’t last long, however, and as the medium tyres came alive he was passed first by Bottas, on lap six, and soon after by Hamilton. Although he was on soft tyres, Verstappen too, began to find more and more pace and on lap he dismissed the McLaren driver into Turn 1 to reclaim third place.

Behind them, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, on medium tyres, was also on the move, and after slipping to seventh he rapidly bypassed Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen, who had made up a staggering 10 places on the opening lap, and then Lando Norris and Sainz Jr. to take back fourth place. With normal race resumed at the front, Verstappen then settled into a demanding first stint on the fragile soft tyres, and as Bottas and Hamilton stretched their stints, the Dutchman struggled to hang on to the Mercedes pair. By lap 19 he was 11 seconds behind the top two.

Bottas, though, was coming under increasing pressure from his team-mate and on lap 20 the lead changed hands when the championship leader tucked in behind Bottas out of the final corner and used DRS to blast past into Turn 1.

Verstappen made his first stop for new tyres at the end of lap and his switch to mediums saw him rejoin in sixth place, behind Sainz Jr., who had yet to pit. The Spaniard eventually steered towards the pit lane at the end of lap 26 and Verstappen rose to P5 behind the impressive Pierre Gasly who had climbed to P4 in the first third of the race.

The Frenchman pitted at the end of lap 28, took on medium tyres and rejoined in eighth pace. Verstappen moved up to fourth behind Leclerc and when the Monegasque driver shed his starting medium tyres on lap 34 and Verstappen once again slotted into third place.

As the race hit the halfway mark both Mercedes AMG drivers pitted for hard tyres and in the wake of their sole tyre change the race at the front then settled as the Mercedes pair raced towards a one-two finish. Verstappen dug in for a steady march to third, protecting his ageing medium tyres with Leclerc, on hard tyres, 18 seconds behind.

Sergio Pérez, meanwhile, made a great recovery from his first-lap incident to rise to fifth place but in the final laps, on fading tyres, he was passed by Gasly and Sainz. The Mexfinished in a still impressive seventh. Esteban Ocon took eighth place ahead of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. The final point on offer was taken by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

2020 Portuguese Grand Prix – Race 66 laps, 306.826km., Weather:Clouds/Sun
CLASSIFED:
P.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	1h29:56.828
2.	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes AMG	+ 25.592
3.	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	+ 34.508
4.	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	+ 1:05.312
5.	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	+ 1 lap
6.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	McLaren	+ 1 lap
7.	Sergio Pérez	Racing Point	+ 1 lap
8.	Esteban Ocon	Renault	+ 1 lap
9.	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault	+ 1 lap
10.	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+ 1 lap
11.	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo	+ 1 lap
12.	Alexander Albon	Red Bull	+ 1 lap
13.	Lando Norris	McLaren	+ 1 lap
14.	George Russell	Williams	+ 1 lap
15.	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	+ 1 lap
16.	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+ 1 lap
17.	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+ 1 lap
18.	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	+ 2 laps
19.	Daniil Kvyat	AlphaTauri	+ 2 laps
FASTEST LAP: LEWIS HAMILTON - 1:18.750
NOT CLASSIFIED:
20.	Lance Stroll	Racing Point	techical
ALGARVE, PORTIMAO 2020 Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes AMG - 1h29:56.828 @MkFormula1 - REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

CLASSIFICATION AFTER 12/17 RACES
DRIVERS:
1.	Lewis Hamilton	256
2.	Valtteri Bottas	179
3.	Max Verstappen	162
4.	Daniel Ricciardo	80
5.	Charles Leclerc	75
6.	Sergio Pérez	74
7.	Lando Norris	65
8.	Alexander Albon	64
9.	Pierre Gasly	63
10.	Carlos Sainz Jr.	59
11.	Lance Stroll	57
12.	Esteban Ocon	40
13.	Sebastian Vettel	18
14.	Daniil Kvyat	14
15.	Nico Hulkenberg	10
16.	Antonio Giovinazzi	3
17.	Kimi Räikkönen	2
18.	Romain Grosjean	2
19.	Kevin Magnussen	1
20.	Nicholas Latifi	0
21.	George Russell	0
CONSTRUCTORS:
1.	Mercedes AMG	435
2.	Red Bull	226
3.	Racing Point(-15)	126
4.	McLaren	124
5.	Renault	120
6.	Ferrari	93
7.	AlphaTauri	77
8.	Alfa Romeo	5
9.	Haas	3
10.	Williams	0