Hamilton times it right with win on Schumacher’s turf
LEWIS HAMILTON probably feels thankful he did not win the Russian Grand Prix a fortnight ago, because it allowed him to take his recordequalling 91st victory on Michael Schumacher’s home tarmac at the Nurburgring, upon which the German claimed five memorable triumphs.
It was genuinely emotional for Lewis and everybody watching when the winner of the Eifel Grand Prix received one of Michael’s race-worn red helmets from his lookalike son, Mick.
The memento will take pride of place in Hamilton’s apartment in Monaco alongside Ayrton Senna’s helmet, which he received after matching the Brazilian’s 65 poles in 2017.
‘It’s definitely not just another win. It’s really hard to suddenly be rewriting history,’ said Hamilton, looking almost dazed. ‘It’s really hard to compute that. What I can say is I’m not done yet.’
Mick, 21, was due to take part in his first official F1 practice session on Friday, in an Alfa Romeo, but all track activities were rained off. The F2 championship leader and Ferrari academy driver is hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps, perhaps as soon as next year, by lining up on the F1 grid.
Alfa would be the starting point, probably alongside Kimi Raikkonen, who also broke a record on Sunday by making his 323rd GP start. ‘We don’t know what the future holds,’ said Schumacher Jr, ‘but hopefully I’ll get to drive a few laps again.’
Living up to the Schumacher name is not easy. It wasn’t for his uncle Ralf, even though he won six races. But the main challenge is not Mick’s father’s enormous legacy, or even Raikkonen, it is Charles Leclerc. If he wishes to race for the Scuderia someday, and that is undoubtedly the destiny Ferrari are charting for him, he will need to get on terms with the Monegasque wunderkind. Leclerc once again flattered the faltering Ferrari in Germany by qualifying fourth, then finishing seventh. Sebastian Vettel, though, had another embarrassing foray. He qualified 11th, had an unprompted spin and finished where he started.
And it was a really tough day for Valtteri Bottas, who secured a brilliant pole but made a mistake in the drizzle, lost out to Hamilton and then retired with an MGU-H power unit problem.
Though still second in the standings, the Finn admits winning the championship ‘would need a miracle’. His team-mate leads him by 69 points.
It was a happier day for Daniel Ricciardo, who scored his first podium for Renault. Even though this was the team’s best result since Belgium 2015, one imagines Cyril Abiteboul has mixed feelings. He had agreed a bet with Ricciardo that if he scored a top-three finish this year the team principal would get a tattoo for posterity. ‘It’s not really my style,’ Abiteboul complains. ‘[The bet] was after a few beers, and I’m a man of my word. He gets to choose a design but I get to choose the location and the size, because size matters!’
Sergio Perez’s fourth place matched his brilliant result in Russia, confirming Racing Point are ditching the wrong driver. The team, which will be branded Aston Martin from next season, have signed Vettel to partner Lance Stroll, the son of team owner Lawrence. Lance did not compete due to illness and was replaced by Nico Hulkenberg, who did an incredible job to race from the back of the grid to finish eighth.