Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes W11, the car he drove to his record-equalling 91st win at the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix, shown in pre-season testing at Barcelona in February 2020. Photo: Alberto-g-rovi / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
On October 11, 2020, Lewis Hamilton won the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. It was the 91st Formula 1 victory of his career, equal to Michael Schumacher’s all-time record. He did it at the track where Schumacher won five times, and after the race Schumacher’s son Mick handed him one of his father’s race-worn helmets.
The win was no surprise in a season Mercedes controlled. What made it memorable was the weekend around it. Fog wiped out Friday running, a driver was called in from a café on Saturday morning, Daniel Ricciardo took Renault’s first podium since its return as a works team, and Kimi Räikkönen set a new record for race starts. Hamilton broke Schumacher’s record two weeks later, but October 11 is the day he caught him.
A Pandemic Calendar Brings F1 Back to the Eifel
The Eifel Grand Prix existed only because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Formula 1 rebuilt its 2020 calendar around circuits in Europe that could host races at short notice, and the Nürburgring returned as round 11 under a name taken from the surrounding Eifel mountains. Teams had not raced there since 2013, so nobody had current data for the circuit. Formula 1 called it a return after a seven-year hiatus.
That lack of data got worse on Friday. Thick fog meant the medical helicopter could not fly to the designated hospital 54 kilometres away, and the hospital could not be reached by road within the 20 minutes the FIA requires. Both practice sessions were cancelled. Mick Schumacher was due to make his first Grand Prix weekend appearance in FP1 for Alfa Romeo, and Callum Ilott was due to drive for Haas. Neither got on track. The teams went into qualifying with one hour of practice.
Hülkenberg’s Coffee Break and a Mercedes Front Row
On Saturday morning Lance Stroll felt unwell and Racing Point needed a replacement. Nico Hülkenberg, who had already stood in twice for the team that summer, was having a coffee in Cologne when the call came. He reached the circuit with around 20 minutes to prepare before qualifying and started last on the grid.
Valtteri Bottas took pole position with Hamilton alongside him. Going into the race, Hamilton led Bottas in the championship and needed one more win to match Schumacher.
How the 2020 Eifel Grand Prix Was Won
Bottas kept the lead at the start and held Hamilton off for the first 12 laps. On lap 13 he locked his front tyres heading into Turn 1 and ran wide, and Hamilton went through into the lead. Bottas pitted for new tyres, then reported a loss of power and retired. It was an MGU-H failure and Mercedes’ first retirement of the 2020 season.
From there, Hamilton was untroubled at the front. A late safety car, called when Lando Norris stopped his McLaren on lap 44, closed the field up, and the race restarted at the start of lap 50. Hamilton pulled away again and won by 4.470 seconds from Max Verstappen, who took the extra point for fastest lap on the final lap. Ricciardo finished third, 14.613 seconds behind.
Further back, Sergio Pérez finished fourth for Racing Point, ahead of Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc. Hülkenberg drove from 20th to eighth. Romain Grosjean scored his first points of the season in ninth, and Antonio Giovinazzi took the final point for Alfa Romeo.
A Helmet, a Tattoo and a Record Number of Starts
The most widely shared image from the day came after the race. Mick Schumacher, spending the weekend with Alfa Romeo, presented Hamilton with one of Michael Schumacher’s race-worn helmets during his post-race interview. Hamilton had matched Schumacher’s win total at a circuit where Schumacher won once for Benetton and four times for Ferrari.
Ricciardo’s podium settled a bet. At Silverstone in 2019, Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul had agreed to get his first tattoo if Ricciardo put the car on the podium. Ricciardo would choose the design, and Abiteboul would choose the size and placement. Third place at the Nürburgring was Renault’s first podium since it returned to Formula 1 as a works team in 2016, and Ricciardo’s first since he won at Monaco for Red Bull in 2018. Abiteboul eventually honoured the bet.
Räikkönen made his 323rd Grand Prix start, the most in Formula 1 history at that point. His race went badly. He hit George Russell’s Williams at Turn 1 on the opening lap, which put Russell out of the race, and he received a 10-second penalty.
Why October 11, 2020 Still Matters
Schumacher’s 91 wins had seemed unbeatable when he retired. Equalling the record at the Nürburgring, with Schumacher’s son in the paddock, linked the two eras. The win was Hamilton’s seventh of 2020 and stretched his championship lead over Bottas to 69 points.
Hamilton went ahead two weeks later. He took his 92nd win at the Portuguese Grand Prix on October 25, 2020, and on November 15 he clinched his seventh world title in Turkey, equalling Schumacher’s championship record as well. His 100th victory came at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. He has since moved to Ferrari, Schumacher’s old team — see our coverage of Hamilton and Fred Vasseur at Ferrari.
For anyone interested in how Schumacher built his total, our previous Today in Motorsport History pieces cover his first Ferrari title at Suzuka in 2000 and Ferrari’s 0.011-second finish at Indianapolis in 2002. Mercedes’ racing history goes back much further than the hybrid era, as our look at the 1955 Tourist Trophy at Dundrod shows. Today the team is again in a title fight between George Russell and Kimi Antonelli.
The race also changed other careers. Hülkenberg’s late call-up confirmed his reputation as the driver teams turn to in an emergency, and he later returned to Formula 1 as a full-time driver. Ricciardo left for McLaren at the end of 2020, having given Renault the podium it had waited four years for. The Nürburgring has not been on the Formula 1 calendar since, although it remains a major endurance circuit; Max Verstappen has his own plans there.
Sources
- Formula 1: Hamilton takes record-equalling 91st victory at Eifel GP
- Formula 1: The key questions answered after the Eifel GP Friday practice cancellations
- Formula 1: Abiteboul prepares to honour tattoo bet
- GrandPrix.com: Eifel GP 2020 race notes
- Goodwood Road & Racing: Five talking points from an unforgettable Eifel GP
- Formula 1: Hamilton seals historic 7th title in Turkey
- Formula 1: Hamilton takes 100th F1 victory at Sochi
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