Lewis Hamilton has won the Turkish Grand Prix at the Intercity Istanbul Park circuit to wrap up his seventh Driver’s Championship title, equalling Michael Schumacher’s record.
After an undeniably difficult qualifying, this weekend that saw every car on track struggle for grip, Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas started from very unfamiliar positions on the grid, in P6 and P9 respectively.
Straight off the line, Hamilton managed to jump three positions into the podium places, however, on a dramatic opening lap, the British driver ended up falling back into sixth after he locked up into Turn Nine, ran wide, and was quickly passed by Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen, and Alex Albon.
Bottas ran a disappointing race, finishing in fourteenth after ending up in P16 following a first-lap incident, chasing McLaren’s Lando Norris.
The Finnish driver didn’t manage to gain any significant places during the race and ended up being lapped by his teammate, who was leading in the final laps.
Joining Hamilton on his history-making podium appearance was Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, who put on a supreme performance in the extremely wet conditions, on a newly laid track.
His Canadian teammate, Lance Stroll, led the race after setting off from a career-first pole, but ultimately dropped off after pitting from the lead on lap 37 for new intermediate tyres – finishing out the race just inside the points, in ninth.
Sebastian Vettel landed his first podium of the season coming in third and was named Driver of the day after a spectacular race in the under-performing SF1000.
Vettel managed to clinch third place from his teammate, Charles Leclerc, on the final sector of the last lap.
The 23-year-old driver from Monaco was making a move to overtake Perez for the second step on the podium but ran wide, allowing Vettel to slip through to land third place.
Hamilton crossed the line 28s ahead of Perez in second and further proved his level of skill and determination in the face of adversity at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Speaking after the race to SkyF1, an emotional Lewis Hamilton said; “I’m definitely a bit lost for words.
“I have to start by saying a huge thank you to all our guys here, and back at both our factories.
“I wouldn’t be able to be here if I didn’t join this team and the journey we’ve been on has been monumental. I’m so proud.
“And I’ve got to say thank you to my family. We dreamed of this when we were young, watching the Grand Prix, and this is way, way beyond our dreams.
“It’s so important for kids – dream the impossible.
“You’ve got to work for it, chase it, and never give up or doubt yourself.”
“I know I often say it’s beyond my wildest dreams… but I think my whole life I have secretly dreamt as high as this. It felt so far-fetched.
“I remember watching Michael winning the championships, and just to get one, or two, or three – it’s so hard to get. Seven is just unimaginable.
“I feel like I’m only getting started. I feel physically in great shape.
“This year has been a challenge that I didn’t know how to get through, but with the help of people around me, I managed to just keep my head above water and stay focused.
“I’m really hopeful for a better year next year and I would love to stay. I feel like we’ve got a lot of work to do here, we’ve only just started our work to make ourselves accountable.
“I want to help Formula 1, I want to help Mercedes in that journey.”
“It was a real honour and privilege to be able to put in a performance like that today.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of kids out there who see all these different industries and not seeing anyone who looks like them… but you can be a trailblazer.”
Lewis concluded by saying; “You can create your own path for others to follow.
“Dream as big as you possibly can and don’t let anyone tell you that you can or you can’t.”
There are just three destinations left on the 2020 calendar, coming up next is the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday, November 29, 2020, at 3:10 pm Irish time.
