25/10/2020
NEWS STORY
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton is now the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time, having taken his 92nd career win with a one-stop medium-hard strategy: predicted as the fastest tactic, despite a relative lack of pre-race running.
All three Pirelli compounds performed well despite the big challenges of the weather and the track, with a particularly impressive performance from the P Zero Yellow medium. Renault's Esteban Ocon racked up 53 laps on it while Hamilton completed 45 laps (40 in race plus 5 in Q2) on this compound, with excellent consistency.
His team mate Valtteri Bottas, who finished second, ran an identical strategy, stopping one lap later.
Behind them, there was plenty of variation in strategy: with four different strategies in the top 10.
Most drivers stopped once but there were five two-stoppers - three of them using all three compounds - including Racing Point's Sergio Perez, who finished seventh despite having to stop on lap one following some contact.
The weather remained quite cool for most of the day, with track temperatures in the region of 25 degrees centigrade and a few drops of rain just after the race start, as well as towards the end of the grand prix.
Mario Isola: "We're very happy with the performance of all three compounds on a demanding circuit that the teams didn't know well; also having had reduced running in free practice. Despite this, all three compounds showed both speed and durability, with a wide range of different strategies. Conditions today were tricky with reasonably cool track temperatures and even a bit of rain, but that didn't prevent us seeing some impressively long stints, particularly on the medium tyre - which was clearly the one to have, as it also set pole. Congratulations to Lewis Hamilton for his incredible record: we're privileged to witness history being made."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Portimao, here.