Lewis's win marked his 92nd victory in Formula One - his eighth win of the 2020 season and his first at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Valtteri finished in second position, claiming his ninth podium finish of the season, and 54th podium finish in Formula One.
Today's result marked the 57th 1-2 finish for Mercedes in Formula One.
Lewis (256 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 77 points from Valtteri (179 points). The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (435 points) leads Red Bull Racing (226 points) by 209 points in the Constructors' Championship with 220 points still to be scored this season.
Peter Bonnington, Senior Race Engineer, accepted the Constructors' trophy for the team.
Toto Wolff: 92 race wins, who would have thought that when we embarked on the project in 2013? It's almost a surreal number of wins. It is absolute passion, energy, and everything that Lewis puts into the sport. The talent and the ability just stand out. I think what I've seen this year for the first time with Lewis is that he ramps up his weekends. There is a lot of reflection, a lot of learning, understanding the tyres for the race, and he was just sitting comfortably at the beginning during opening laps, then he just ramped it up and then had unbelievable pace. I think he did it a couple of times now that he was applying pressure, and he was putting Valtteri in a worse position in relation to the tyres. He's just very good at that strategically. The opening laps were very enjoyable. It was amazing to see the McLarens when they were heating their tyres very well when they were on the Softs. You could hear the public screaming when Sainz got into the lead, so I think this is what the sport needs; I was happy for us that we were able to catch up, but I like the situation. It's been a very good day. I'm not sure how I'm going to celebrate because we are living like hermits at the moment, but I am flying to see my wife and my son today, and I'm sure we will have a dinner with maybe a few drinks.
Andrew Shovlin: An absolute masterclass from Lewis today, he managed the race brilliantly and had incredible pace. It's amazing to think that now he sits at the very top of the list of winners in the sport and the whole team is very proud of him and what he has achieved. It's also great to be able to add another one-two finish to our season. The start was tricky for both, the medium tyre is difficult to get to work but it seemed like some others had much better warm-up that we did. Valtteri did really well to take the position back off Verstappen after losing it off the line, it was a nice move into turn 3 and once he'd got some temperature in the tyres he was able to pass the McLaren and drove a well-managed first stint. He started to drop a bit of temperature in his tyres around ten laps into the stint which was making the car inconsistent. Lewis at that point had a bit of pace in hand and was able to make the pass. We were surprised how well the medium tyres were hanging on during that first stint and they went further than we had anticipated but when Valtteri picked up a bit of vibration we decided to stop both cars to take hard to the finish. The warm-up on that compound wasn't easy but it had good pace once it was going although we were glad there wasn't any significant rain as it would have been a real handful. We're looking forward to Imola next week, we've not been there for a long time but it's a good track and the two-day format should make it interesting.
For the third time this season, following Austria and the Tuscan GP at Mugello, Scuderia Ferrari has scored points with both its SF1000s. Charles Leclerc finished the Portuguese Grand Prix in fourth place, the same position in which he started the race, while Sebastian Vettel managed to climb from 15th on the grid to 10th at the chequered flag.
The getaway was chaotic, because when the lights went out at the Autòdromo Internacional do Algarve light rain started to fall. This made life particularly difficult for the drivers who were on Medium tyres. Charles therefore lost four places, slipping back to eighth place, while Sebastian reached the end of the first lap in 16th. As soon as Leclerc managed to get temperature into his tyres he nevertheless started to lap at an excellent pace - allowing him to pass the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo, the Alfa Romeo of Kimi Raikkonen and the McLarens of Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz to make his way back up to fourth place. Sebastian similarly made ground, taking himself up to the fringes of the points.
Both the Scuderia drivers went for the same tactics: just one pit stop, in which they switched from the Medium compound to the Hard. This choice was spot on both for Charles, who was able to manage the gap to his chasers without problems, and for Sebastian, who managed to pass Raikkonen for tenth place near the end before challenging Ricciardo for ninth. Progress, then, for the Scuderia, which will return to the track for the 13th race of the season next Sunday at Imola for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Mattia Binotto, Team Principal: "Overall this was quite a positive race. We scored points with both drivers, with Charles finishing in his start position, while Sebastian managed to take the last available point.
"Charles had an excellent race, very mature. We knew that the first lap would be treacherous and so it proved, not least due to the drops of rain that fell right at that moment. Once his tyres were up to temperature, he was able to make up places and get himself into the position we had been hoping for before the race, consolidating fourth place and running at a strong pace.
"Sebastian also found himself in difficulty at the start, losing some positions and in the end he didn't manage to get any higher than tenth.
"Now we must confirm the progress seen in recent races as we go into the last part of this championship. We are still a long way back in the Constructors' Championship but it's possible to make up ground: this must be our target and we must do everything to achieve it."
Christian Horner: "Once again Max got everything he possibly could out of today's race with another well-deserved third place, claiming his 40th Formula 1 podium. After a tricky start he got pretty close to Lewis through the first couple of corners but we really struggled to get the soft tyre working, with McLaren switching them on instantly and passing everyone. Max was then lucky not to sustain damage in the racing incident with Sergio and from there he was able to keep in touch with the leaders before switching onto to the medium tyre, which turned out to be the better tyre in the allocation today. It was a difficult race for Alex who lost quite a few positions at the start, coming around the first lap in P11 and like Max struggling to get the soft tyre switched on. Once he did get going he was stuck in a DRS train and wearing through the tyres pretty quickly so we pitted him early for the medium. He then had decent pace but got stuck behind Kimi and with high tyre wear we pitted him for a second time. Finishing twelfth was unfortunate for Alex and it's disappointing for him to be outside the points. Congratulations to Lewis for breaking the record for F1 victories and also to our pit crew who look to have broken the world record once again, also completing all three pit stops in under 1.9 seconds. Quite an achievement."
Andreas Seidl, Team Principal: "It's obviously a positive that we outscored both Racing Point and Renault today in our Constructors' Championship battle, thanks to a great drive from Carlos that resulted in P6 and eight very important points. It was a shame losing Lando on lap 18, after Lance collided with him, destroying his chances of also having a good result.
"Compliments to the team here at the track and back home at the factory who put a competitive car on track, and to the drivers who delivered all weekend. We confirmed we have a car that can keep alive the battle for P3 in the Constructors' Championship.
"Congratulations also, to Lewis on his record. A truly incredible achievement."
Renault DP World F1 Team scored six points from the Heineken Portuguese Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon eighth and Daniel Ricciardo ninth at the first race in Portugal for 24 years.
The double points finish means the team moves onto 120 points to remain fifth in the Constructors' Championship and six points from third place.
An action-packed race start saw Daniel move up to eighth after an early battle with the Red Bull of Alexander Albon, whilst Esteban was caught in a melee for the final points scoring position. As predicted, light rain was ever present during the race, but it was never heavy enough to alter proceedings. With grip levels consistently low, Daniel was the first to box with his Soft tyres wearing down rapidly forcing him to pit on lap 14 for fresh Mediums.
With Daniel dropping towards the rear of the field having pitted early, Esteban - on the alternate strategy - completed 53 laps on his Medium tyres and was the last to make a first stop. By the time of his stop, Daniel, had scythed his way through the field with others stopping and was safely inside the top ten and in a battle for eighth with Sebastian Vettel.
A slightly slow stop for Esteban meant he re-joined just ahead of his teammate, and despite having strong pace on the Softs for the final fifteen laps he was unable to make any major inroads on the cars ahead. Esteban crossed the finish line in eighth position, with Daniel just behind in ninth making it a double-points finish for the team.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "We came away from Germany with a great buzz after Daniel's podium, it is therefore very disappointing to see that the car has struggled massively for grip all the way through the weekend. The team has managed to improve from a very poor start on Friday and eighth and ninth today is probably the best result we were realistically going to get starting from tenth and eleventh. What is interesting about today's race is that we never managed to make the Softs work, but Esteban's massive stint on the Mediums was extremely competitive. It is a clear demonstration that the weekend was dictated by the tyre performance: as we go towards the end of the season and we could experience similar circumstances in the next two races, we absolutely must understand what has hurt us if we are to finish strongly in the Constructors' Championship. I am glad for Esteban as he made no mistakes in a tricky weekend and contributed to keeping the team in sight of our rivals."
Claudio Balestri (Chief Engineer - Vehicle Performance): "We had a good race today despite some uncertainties we had due to the fact that it was the first time on this track. In the opening lap, the level of grip was low with some drops of rain so Daniil lost some positions. We did our best to recover but in the end, he finished P19. On the other side of the garage, Pierre has shown very good pace on all the different compounds and managed some great overtakes, finishing an amazing P5. As a team we did a good job, we have optimized our car to perform in the best possible way in what was a difficult race as for tyres, fuel and brake management. We now head to Imola, where we hope to continue the momentum and fight for points again."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "First of all, congratulations to the organizers for this fantastic race here in Portimao. It's the first time Formula 1 held a race here and I must say it's a fantastic venue in a really nice area, Portimao is a nice city and I really hope we'll be able to return in the future. It was also great to see many spectators in the grandstands and there was a very good atmosphere. The race start wasn't so successful for us as Pierre ended the first lap in P10, losing a position to Ricciardo, but he then started to recover and was up to fifth position by the middle of the race. During his first stint, the Option tyre worked better than expected, so we extended his stint and pitted him to change tyres from the Option to the Prime on lap 28, meaning we changed his strategy from a two-stop to a one-stop. This was absolutely the right decision because we were able to fit the Prime tyre, and despite the first laps being difficult to get the temperature of the tyres up to working range, he was eventually able to overtake Ricciardo. He then managed to consistently put in fast lap times and caught Perez toward the end of the race, which was a fantastic overtake to finish in P5. He had his race always under control and he overtook many cars, so I think this was one of Pierre's most successful races. The team has now scored points in nine consecutive races which is a good record for us, so I would like to congratulate the whole team! We had a difficult weekend, as they had to completely rebuild a new car from Friday to Saturday, due to Pierre's battery catching fire during FP2. The mechanics worked flawlessly, doing a great job. The strategy today was really good, the pitstops were fast, so this fifth place is very well deserved."
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal: "We had a quick car today and it's unfortunate we didn't score as many points as we deserved. Checo was unlucky to be hit by Verstappen on lap one, which caused a puncture and dropped him to the back of the field. He was fully deserving of the driver of the day accolade as he recovered to seventh place at the flag. It was very nearly fifth place, but we really struggled with the soft tyres in the final few laps. For Lance, his race was looking strong until he got tagged by Lando [Norris] into turn one. I think the resulting penalty was unfair because Lance was ahead going into the apex and it was just a racing incident. There was significant damage to the car - the floor especially - and despite Lance persevering we chose to retire the car as a precaution. Despite a mixed and challenging day, we've scored some valuable points, retaining third in the championship."
Even those Formula One seasoned veterans, who have endured many a campaign, can sometimes get hyped about something happening on track. No matter how much cynicism has crept in over the years, how inured to the ups and down of racing one has become, there are moments that still set hearts racing.
Kimi Raikkonen surging from P16 on the grid to race in sixth at the beginning of lap two provided one of those moments. As the Finn overtook Leclerc and set upon harassing Verstappen, we were left contemplating one of this season's great opening couple of laps - and dreaming of a strong result in the hills of Portimao.
Reality set in as the race progressed. A generous DRS zone made things a bit too easy for pursuing cars, and Kimi had to settle for running in ninth by the time he was called in for his first, and only, pit-stop of the day. Meanwhile, Antonio had produced another of his great starts to climb to P14, where he set off for a longer stint - the two drivers on alternating strategy, with Kimi starting on softs and Antonio on mediums.
The argy-bargy of the opening laps did eventually calm down, a race of attrition not materialising in the end, with just one car failing to make it to the chequered flag. Running solidly in P10 after everyone had stopped at least once, Kimi looked set for a points-scoring finish. Unfortunately, with 12 laps to go, Vettel's Ferrari found a way through at the end of the home straight for a DRS-assisted pass, demoting Kimi to P11 - the cruellest position - as he held off Albon's Red Bull.
Antonio, who was able to stretch his first stint longer and ultimately stopped for hard tyres, was locked in a battle with Russell as the Briton stopped, edging him at first before the Williams driver, on fresher tyres, passed him with a few laps to spare. Antonio eventually crossed the line in 15th.
Today's heroics, therefore, bear no fruit for the team. Despite the disappointment of leaving Portugal empty handed after running in such lofty places in the opening stages, we can look positively at the way we held our own against some highly-regarded rivals. It's a show of improved form - one we need to carry onwards to Imola, where we race next week, and beyond.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "Finishing just outside the points is obviously frustrating, especially after running pretty much all the race in the top ten. We took the decision to split the two cars' strategies to maximise our chances in the race and it nearly paid off. Kimi had an incredible first couple of laps and to see him overtake a Ferrari and fight with the Red Bulls is obviously a sign of the progress we have made since the start of the season. Unfortunately, our best efforts weren't enough to bring a point home but we can be confident about the final races of the season: if we continue on this path, and keep improving and optimising our package, we can consistently be in the fight for top ten finishes."
Haas F1 Team drivers Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean classified 16th and 17th, respectively, at the Portuguese Grand Prix, the 12th round of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.
Magnussen started from 19th and was the only driver to do so on Pirelli's P Zero White hard tires. In spite of limited grip, exacerbated by the recently resurfaced track and a light sprinkling of rain that fell as the lights went out, Magnussen made a customary strong getaway and made up a spot to hold 18th place. Magnussen extended his first stint to rise up to 11th before coming in on lap 31 of 66 for fresh Yellow medium tires, preserving that set through to the checkered flag to take 16th position.
Grosjean took the start from 18th spot and did so on medium tires - making gains as others struggled with the conditions. Grosjean held 15th and made his sole stop on lap 26, bolting on a set of hard tires before battling with Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi through to the flag. Grosjean fell just shy of demoting Giovinazzi and was unfortunately docked five seconds for a track limits violation, dropping him to 17th place.
Haas F1 Team maintains ninth in the Constructors' Championship with three points.
Haas F1 Team will be back in action for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, to be held at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, across October 31 - November 1.
Guenther Steiner: "I think after yesterday's qualifying this result hasn't come unexpectedly. We just tried to do the best we could. The positive is our cars are in good shape, which they need to be as we're going back racing next weekend. We have to try to do something to get something out of that one. It's a new circuit which hopefully has some surprises - positive ones, not negative ones. We look forward to going to Imola."
George Russell finished 14th and Nicholas Latifi 18th in the Portuguese Grand Prix. George started the race 14th, with Nicholas lining up 20th, both on the medium compound tyre.
George ran a one-stop race, pitting on lap 36 for the Hard Pirelli tyre. Nicholas stopped once for the hard compound on lap 24 of the race.
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance: Portimao delivered an interesting race with a range of strategies, some light rain and close racing. Overall our race pace was quite good, and better than in recent races. George was able to complete a good long opening stint on Option tyres and was looking good for a very strong finish. Unfortunately, an issue at the pitstop meant that he faced an unnecessary tussle with GIO and BOT, which cost him a chance of beating Norris and Albon. Nonetheless, he drove well with good pace and sensible aggression.
Nicholas also showed good pace, particularly in the opening stint. He struggled a little more than George to get the Prime working properly in the light rain, but once through that phase he found a good rhythm and enjoyed a tight battle with Magnussen despite the difficult gusty conditions.
Considering there was only one retirement, the fact that we were able to finish 14th - and be frustrated not to finish 12th - on merit is a good result and shows that we are making progress with the car. We have also demonstrated once again that we have a strong team of people who are working very hard and who excel when faced with the uncertainties thrown-up by new race venues and shortened sessions. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in Portugal and are now looking forward to the challenge of a shortened event in Imola.
Max secured another podium and Pierre took a brilliant fifth place as two Honda-powered cars finished in the top five in a thrilling Portuguese Grand Prix.
As he started from outside the top ten, Daniil had a free choice of tyre compounds and started on the mediums while Max, Alex and Pierre were on softs. However, spots of rain on the opening lap mixed up the field as the soft compound proved the better tyre to be on at that point. Max attacked Valtteri Bottas for second place through the opening corners but was forced wide and then was squeezed by Sergio Perez, with contact forcing him to back off and dropping him to fifth place. Alex also lost ground in the opening lap as Pierre held station just inside the top ten.
Making use of the soft tyres, Max then worked his way back into third place as the rain eased and tried to put pressure on the Mercedes pair ahead. Behind him, Pierre was making moves, passing Kimi Raikkonen for eighth place on lap 10, and three laps later he was clearing Lando Norris for sixth place.
Alex was struggling to make progress so Aston Martin Red Bull Racing called him into the pits on lap 19 to switch to medium tyres, committing to a two-stop strategy early on.
One lap later and Pierre was up to fifth as he overtook Carlos Sainz. Max stopped on lap 23 for medium tyres to run to the end, and Pierre did the same on lap 29, while after a tricky first stint Daniil picked up a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits, ruining his hopes of picking up points. Although Pierre lost out to Daniel Ricciardo after his pit stop, he soon worked his way back ahead of the Renault and rose to seventh place, which became sixth when Esteban Ocon stopped. Perez made a second pit stop and emerged ahead of Pierre on soft tyres, but the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver continued his impressive pace and closed in on the Racing Point. After one close attempt, he pulled an excellent move around the outside at Turn 1 on the penultimate lap to take a thrilling fifth.
Without a Safety Car interruption, in the end Alex's two-stop didn't pay off as he was limited to 12th place despite a strong final stint, while Daniil was classified 19th after also stopping twice. Max's podium takes our tally for 2020 up to 11, matching the total from the whole of last season with five rounds still to run.
Toyoharu Tanabe, Technical Director: "Max secured his third consecutive podium finish for Aston Martin Red Bull Racing, while for us at Honda it was our eleventh podium in a row. In the AlphaTauri, Pierre was quick all weekend, including today, when he produced some spectacular overtakes to score valuable points for the team. So a positive result overall.
"Today, tyre management was definitely the key and that's what Max and Pierre built their race on.
"Now we head to Imola, for this season's third race in Italy, a short distance from the AlphaTauri factory, so it will be an important weekend for us. This will be another circuit that we have never visited in the hybrid era, making for an interesting challenge for everyone, especially as F1 trials a 2-day format, with only 90 minutes of free practice to prepare for qualifying and the race."
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."
