As I sit here writing this the day after Lewis Hamilton claimed victory in Turkey to clinch title number seven I have to think carefully about my words. For there is a lot to take in and process after the weekends events, first of all the new track surface at Istanbul Park and the weather joined forces to make it one of those F1 weekends where you felt anything could happen. Even after FP3 on Saturday morning we had no idea where everyone was and who was looking the strongest. And then after all of that we saw Lewis come back from being 30 seconds off the lead at one point to take the title in style.
First I will discuss the race itself and give myself more time to put Lewis’s momentous achievement into context.
It felt like a race of two halves really as at the lights both Racing Points shot away into a one-two lead and put some distance between themselves and the pack as Verstappen from second on the grid made a terrible getaway and fell deep into midfield. Indeed it was both RedBull drivers who got off the line poorly in what was portent of what was to come later in the race for the team from Milton Keynes. Despite having reasonable pace Verstappen had a couple of spins including one at high speed while attempting to pass Perez for second and although we thought he may fight his back to fight for the win he never really looked comfortable for the rest of the afternoon.
Albon looked like and felt that he could have been on for a win before he too hit troubles and had to recover the car after a spin. As he tries to convince RedBull to keep him he could really have done with a special result to take the pressure off. Alas the best the team could come away with was sixth and seventh with Max ahead of his team mate. A poor return from an afternoon where RedBull could have got a great result.
Valtteri Bottas’s afternoon went south from the first corner as he had the first of what would be six spins as he avoided the also spinning Ocon at the first corner. It must have seemed like an race that would never end for the Finn as he struggled all the way through and came home fourteenth and embarrassingly a lap behind his victorious team mate. We all knew that Valtteri’s title chances were next to nil but that is not the way he would have liked it to finish. He needs to bounce back in the last three events to avoid a winter of dejection.
Meanwhile out front the two Racing Points looked in control with Pole sitter Lance Stroll creating a reasonable gap to team mate Perez. Stroll gets a lot of flack for owing his place in the sport to his father’s millions but on this occasion he was showing his worth and not making any errors in conditions which even the very best were finding it a handful.
It is at this point though that the race’s “second half” started to happen as Racing Point among others elected to pit their drivers for intermediate tyres as the track surface started to dry slightly. Stroll in particular didnt seem to like the inters as much as the full wets and while he stayed at the sharp end his pace was nowhere near as strong. And when he pitted for a second set of inters later his pace got severly worse and Stroll was to drop like a stone and unbelievably ended the race in ninth place. A bitterly disappointing result after starting from pole and controlling the race so well for the first part.
Team mate Perez though looked after his inters better and didn’t stop for a second time and despite Lewis storming through and finding great pace on the intermediate tyres Checo never looked like losing his second place. I said before the start of the season that Racing Point would make it to the podium this year and my only surprise is that it has taken this long for it to happen. It could have happened at other races but the team haven’t brought it home for various reasons but on Perez’s side at least they got a well deserved second place at the end. And who could not be happier for Sergio after a difficult year for him where he as performed at his usual best but has lost his drive and may not be on the grid next season. It was just rewards for the Mexican and if he isn’t on the grid in 2021 at least he has had another time on the F1 podium to remember.
Indeed the podium felt just right yesterday as it seemed apt for all three drivers to be up there. Sergio for what I’ve already mentioned above, Lewis for coming back through from being over a pit stop behind to winning by over thirty seconds in what was a brilliant drive and clinching the title in the best way possible. And Vettel because he has had a miserable year so far and whether you are a fan of the German or not it has not been nice to see him struggle so much, it is never good to see a four time champ toiling around at the bottom of the top ten.
His third place happened because team mate Leclerc looked up off line whiling battling Perez on the final lap and went wide but none the less Vettel deserved something from this year and it was heartening to see him back on the podium for the first time since Singapore last year.
So that was a brilliant race yesterday and there couldn’t have been a better way for Lewis to win the championship in my mind. A great drive in very difficult conditions on a a rare weekend when Mercedes never really looked sure on coming out on top. Actually pre race I didn’t think Lewis would get near to the win and would end up somewhere in the top five. Lewis won that race yesterday not the car and that shows us a lot about the driver he is. But the race wasn’t just great because of Lewis’s drive, it was great because we saw the best drivers in the world stretched to the limit and some of the very best get it all wrong. We have had some great races this year but I think this one tops the lot.
Moving onto what Lewis has achieved then and to say that it is incredible seems like an understatement really. When Schumacher moved the title record on to seven it seemed an uphill task for anyone in the near future to even get close but to see Hamilton equal that now is amazing. To keep Coming back year on year with the same desire to win is something that is really impressive.
The question and talk now is of course whether or not he is the greatest of all time. I am not going to give him that title just as I wouldn’t give it to anyone else as comparing driver’s from different era’s is pointless and I don’t believe any one person deserves the tile of being the greatest of all. But Lewis is without any doubt in that very select group of truly exceptional drivers who are the very best of the best and his place in history is cemented. He is not universally liked and has his detractors but no one should deny that what he has achieved is brilliant.
I for one am a Lewis fan and celebrate his talent and success with enthusiasm, even more so as he is a Brit. We should count ourselves lucky I believe that we are here to witness his career. Other greats will come along and others may even push push Lewis ‘s records but he is leaving a great mark on the sport and lets be proud of him. Lewis I salute you as a great champion!!!!
A brilliant race in Turkey then and I for one was very happy to see a Grand Prix on tis track once again, tricky track surface or not. Thanks Turkey for a great event.
Now we head to Bahrain and there is only three more races to go before the year will be over. I am sure though that there will lots more excitement to come. Both championships might be over but there is still a very exciting midfield battle to settle and drivers will want to end the season on a high.
Can’t wait for Bahrain……
My F1 talk 