It was a cold, dark and stormy night. The Formula One qualifying had been completed – eventually. Lewis Hamilton, going for title number 7, was down in 6th place. His only rival for the championship, team mate Valtteri Bottas was even further behind in 9th. It had been cold and wet qualifying session and the natural order of things had been shaken up. Lance Stroll, who had been recovering from Covid 19, had taken an excellent pole position in his Racing Point, the first of his Formula One career. His team mate, Sergio Perez, would start behind him on the grid in third. The two Red Bulls were second (Verstappen) and fourth (Albon). It wasn’t very bad news for Hamilton. Bottas had to finish at least 6th to keep the championship alive.
The day of the race dawned cold and wet. This is November after all!
The starting grid was as follows:
Stroll (Racing Point), Verstappen (Red Bull), Perez (Racing Point), Albon (Red Bull), Ricciardo (Renault), Hamilton (Mercedes), Ocon (Renault), Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo), Bottas (Mercedes) and Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) were the top ten. Then Vettel (Ferrari), Leclerc (Ferrari), Norris (McLaren), Magnussen (Haas), Sainz (McLaren), Kvyat (Alpha Tauri), Russell (Williams), Grosjean (Haas), Latifi (Williams and Gasly (Alpha Tauri). Norris, Sainz and Gasly all had grid penalties, moving back from their qualifying positions. Giovinazzi and Russell both managed to crash on their way to the grid but still made it to the start.
Russell and Latifi decided to start from the pit lane in the hope that having warmer intermediate tyres would make up for the increased distance and bring them some forward momentum.
The track was wet and had recently been resurfaced. As a result of the virus situation not allowing any track days and with no support races, there had been very little opportunity to rubber in the track. The track was incredibly slippery without the rain. This had caused problems in practice and qualifying sessions. There were even reports of hire cars being driven around the track after dark to try and improve the grip. All the cars started the grand prix on wet weather tyres, except for the Williams pair.
The lights went out and the cars tentatively made their way to the first corner. Stroll started well but Ricciardo and Ocon connected and Ocon spun out at the first corner, taking Bottas with him. Verstappen seemed to get away well but suddenly dropped back through the field. Magnussen made a good start, moving into the top 10. The star of the show, however, was Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel, who made a terrific start, moving up from 11th to 3rd. Hamilton struggled for grip and spun but hung on to 6th. His teammate and championship rival, Bottas, was down to 18th by the end of the first lap. He and Ocon actually spun together again at turn 9,
Ocon pitted on lap 2 after suffering a puncture during his altercation on the previous lap. Max Verstappen went off trying to close in on Vettel but managed to stay ahead of his teammate, Albon, in 5th.
Lap 4 and Stroll has opened up a 6 second lead on Perez and is reporting a drying track. Verstappen has caught back up to Vettel but is unable to get past. Vettel is a past master in the rain and all his skill and experience was on display.
On the next lap Sainz got past Raikkonen for 8th, as Kimi went wide. Meanwhile Sainz’s teammate Norris was in 15th place, holding off Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.
Lap 7 and Ferrari call in Charles Leclerc to pit for Intermediate tyres.
Bottas pits on the next lap, unable to get past Norris on the track. He comes out in front of Latifi.
Lap 9 and Ferrari liked the performance that Leclerc was getting from the intermediates, and call in Vettel for a pit stop. Hamilton, Raikkonen, Magnussen and Grosjean also take pit stops.
Stroll came in from the race lead for his pit stop on the next lap. He swaps his wets for intermediates and re-joins the race in 4th place. Lap times are tumbling as the track dries and the intermediate tyres do their job. Perez pits on lap 11 from the lead but his stop is slow at over 4 seconds. Ricciardo and Sainz follow suit and pit for intermediates. Verstappen is asking to stay out on his wet tyres, but those on intermediates are now going much faster and he is called in to pit.
Lap 12 and Verstappen finally pits and gets out in 4th place in front of Vettel and Hamilton. Albon is now in the lead but is still on wet tyres.
Lap 13: Vettel locks up but Hamilton can’t take advantage and stays behind the Ferrari. Albon has pitted and re-joins in 6th place. Stroll is back in the lead, with a 10 second advantage. Giovinazzi is out. His car is well parked, but a virtual safety car is called by race control so that it can be removed from the track.
Lap 15 and we go green again. Hamilton attacks Vettel again, but Hamilton can’t get past the Ferrari driver. He tries again on lap 16 but goes wide and Albon snatches 5th place from Hamilton. Hamilton is back in 6th, but with Bottas not in the points, he still on course to take the championship.
Albon gets past the Ferrari and Hamilton renews his duel with Vettel. Bottas has another spin and falls back to 15th place.
On lap 18 Verstappen loses patience and tries to go round Perez, who defends well. Verstappen spins and falls back down to 6th, behind Hamilton. He pits to replace his flat spotted tyres and re-joins the track in 8th.
Alex Albon is setting fastest lap after fastest lap in third place. He’s closes in on Serio Perez. Lance Stroll is driving a great race in the lead.
Lap 22 and Bottas spins again. Any hope he may have had of taking the championship to the next race is receding fast.
On the next lap, Verstappen goes off the track again. It’s too wet for slick tyres, but a dry line is forming which is starting to cause the intermediates to overheat. Drivers are looking for wet patches to cool down the tyres but risk going off the track when they do.
Lap 25 and the leader, Stroll, is reporting understeer. Perez is closing in on him every lap. Latifi is lapped by Perez and Albon and is now 2 laps down when the race is not even half distance.
Norris robustly takes Russell for 11th place. Hamilton’s car is starting to work for him and he is closing in on 5th place. Norris continues to make progress, getting up into the points for 10th on lap 28.
Lap 29 is half distance and at the end of the lap the places are as follows: Stroll, Perez, Albon, Vettel, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Sainz, Leclerc and Norris are the top ten. Then Magnussen, Russell, Raikkonen, Gasly, Ocon, Kvyat, Bottas, Grosjean and Latifi. Giovinazzi remains the only retirement so far. Only George Russell has yet to take a pit stop.
Race Control enable DRS for the first time in the race.
Lap 31: Charles Leclerc pits for another pair of new intermediates followed by Raikkonen.
Lap 32: Sainz takes advantage of the Renault’s lack of grip and gets past Ricciardo for 6th place. Renault immediately pit Ricciardo.
Lap 33 and Russell finally takes his pit stop.
Lap 34 and Vettel takes a pit stop for new intermediates. Once again he is delayed in the pits by a team error. Alex Albon spins and loses 3rd place to Hamilton. He’s lucky to only lose one place. He pits next lap for new intermediates.
The top three, Stroll, Perez and Hamilton have only taken 1 pit stop.
Lap 36: Kevin Magnussen in the Haas stops at the end of the pitlane. He is wheeled back to his pit box. Stroll is called into the pits.
Lap 37: Lewis Hamilton takes the lead of the grand prix from Sergio Perez. He clearly wants to win the championship in style. There are still 20 laps to go.
Lap 40: Vettel catches up with Stroll and takes 4th; Stroll tried to take the place back but couldn’t make it stick. Leclerc passes Stroll to take the Ferraris to 4th and 5th. Rain is forecast and a large black cloud looms over the circuit.
Lap 41: Leclerc overtakes Vettel for 4th place. Bottas spins again. He is in danger of being lapped by Hamilton.
Latifi tangles with Grosjean; they both spin and Latifi comes into the pits and retires.
Stroll seems to be going backwards. Sainz takes 7th, relegating the Racing Point driver to 8th.
Lap 43: Bottas is shown blue flags, indicating that Hamilton is about to lap him.
Lap 44: Leclerc gets past Verstappen for 3rd place; Verstappen heads for the pits for new tyres. Russell makes his second stop of the race.
Lap 45: Carlos Sainz, who is flying in the McLaren, takes Alex Albon for 5th. He backs this up with the fastest lap. Bottas is still being shown blue flags and finally let Hamilton past.
Lap 48 and Bottas pits for new intermediates and re-joins the race in 15th place.
Lap 49: Ricciardo spins breaking late and loses a place to Lando Norris. Spots of rain are reported on the track.
Hamilton and Perez are out in front and still haven’t taken a second pit stop. They have managed to keep their tyres alive. Raikkonen and Verstappen both spin. Hamilton is talking to his pit crew on lap 52 to verify he can stay out on his tyres to the end of the race. Grosjean returns to the pits to retire.
With five laps to go Hamilton has a 22 second lead over Perez. Leclerc is in third with his Ferrari teammate in 4th. Sainz is keeping up with Vettel in 5th. The Red Bulls of Verstappen and Albon are in 6th and 7th, with the early leader Stroll now down to 8th. Norris and Ricciardo round out the top ten.
Two laps to go and rain forecast. The Mercedes team bring out a new set of tyres for Hamilton. Hamilton decides to stay out, thinking the danger of the slippery pitlane is a bigger risk than theoretical rain.
Hamilton takes the win and the Championship. Leclerc overtook Perez for 2nd but Perez gets back, forcing Leclerc wide. Vettel gets past Leclerc for the third place spot on the podium.
The final places are: Hamilton, Perez, Vettel, Leclerc, Sainz, Verstappen, Albon, Norris, Stroll and Ricciardo taking the final point.
It was a masterclass from Hamilton, taking his record equalling 7th Championship in style.
Perez drove a great race and showed his class. Vettel reminded everyone of why he is a multiple world champion and thoroughly deserved his podium. Leclerc drove well but also showed a certain immaturity in his response to losing the podium on the last lap. His teammate for next year, Carlos Sainz, showed why Ferrari were so keen to hire him with a well judged race, getting the maximum out of his car. The Red Bulls faded in the closing stages. It was a disappointing end to a brilliant weekend for Lance Stroll. He showed that he is much more than just a pay driver and it later emerged that he had sustained significant damage to his car, causing him to fall back down the field. With better luck, there is surely the potential for a grand prix win in his career.
Bottas ultimately spun 6 times during the race. He has already been signed by Mercedes for next season but it has to be a questionable decision. Whatever merits he has a racing driver – and he is a very accomplished driver – he seems to lack that inner steel that champions have. He doesn’t seem to want to go that extra mile to take the competition to Hamilton. It may be that’s exactly why Mercedes keep hi. It is clear that Hamilton likes to be the undisputed number 1 driver in the team. I think, however, that the staff at Mercedes, Formula One and the fans deserve better; Toto Wolff should bring in a driver to give Hamilton a real fight.
The next race is in Bahrain.
By Clare Topic
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