Hamilton’s party in Portimao: Analysis of the Portuguese Grand Prix, brought to you by Bahrain International Circuit

Newcomers to F1 can sometimes find certain technical aspects of F1 confusing. Tyres are one area which take a bit of time to get a grasp of, however even the most seasoned fans were left scratching their heads after qualifying. Hamilton set the fastest time on a set of medium tyres, which are theoretically slower than the softs, yet again taking pole away from Bottas by the smallest of margins. What Hamilton described as a ‘counter-intuitive’ approach left uncertainty over race strategies, and combined with F1’s first ever visit to Portimao, there were hopes for some surprises.

Indeed, the race got off to an incredible start as both Mercedes got bogged down on cold tyres, with Sainz on the softer rubber ploughing through the field on the opening lap to first place. Sadly for McLaren fans, that didn’t last long, as when the tyres got going for Mercedes, as did the world champ, who quickly meandered his way through the twist and turns of Portimao to restore normal order, subsequently gaining the lead from his teammate on lap 20. Whilst there was plenty of midfield action, Hamilton stayed there for the rest of the race to achieve his record 92nd win.

It somehow seemed fitting that he overtook Michael Schumacher’s win record in the manner in which he achieved it in Portugal. He was utterly dominant, beating his teammate by the largest winning margin of the year. When his tyres struggled at the beginning, he didn’t panic, he bided his time, knowing that once his tyres warmed up, he would come back. Throughout the rest of the race, his management of tyres was impeccable and you got the feeling he had more pace to spare if it was needed. After the race, he was as humble as ever, noting the contribution of the entire team, flanked by his long-serving race engineer Pete Bonnington and his father Anthony. Without doubt, he is simply in another class. Whilst some have criticized Valteri Bottas for not being more competitive, the reality is that Hamilton is just in a different league, not just from him, but pretty much every other driver in the 70 years of F1.

You probably could not make the same case for others on the grid who continue to struggle against their teammates. Charles Leclerc was impressive all weekend, finishing fourth and a full 40 seconds ahead of Vettel who was tenth, whilst Max Verstappen finished third yet again, with Albon a full 9 places back in 12th. Whilst Vettel will enjoy a fresh start at Racing Point next year, Albon’s seat at Red Bull is very much in question, something that team principal Christian Horner alluded to earlier in the week. Albon will not have alleviated those concerns this weekend. Elsewhere in the midfield, McLaren, Renault and Racing Point continued their entertaining scrap, with Sainz 6th, Perez 7th and Ocon 8th. A special mention should to go to Pierre Gasly in the AlphaTauri who finished fifth, which will have done his career prospects some good.

Speaking of career prospects, off the track, the news out this week was all about driver line-ups for 2021. Haas announced at the start of the week that it will drop both of its drivers for next year. Current speculation suggests that they will be replaced from F1’s feeder series, F2, with Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher seen as the favourites. If that is indeed the case, there are a fair few of the class of 2020 fighting for a limited number of seats for next year. That should keep many of the midfield on their toes for the rest of the season. Either way, next year’s lineup will have a very different feel to it.

F1 is back again next week for its third trip to Italy of the year, where Imola will host a race which is always popular with fans and drivers alike.