Lewis and Valtteri claim a 1-2 finish at the 2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, with Lewis setting a new Formula One race win record.

  • 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

2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, Sunday – LAT Images

Lewis Hamilton-
First, I owe these 92 wins to the team here and back and the factory
for their tremendous work. They are continuously innovating and
pushing the barrier, even higher every year. It’s been such a
privilege working with them and I am so grateful for all the
moments. The reliability has been incredible thanks to the Mercedes
team, PETRONAS and all our partners who are continuously pushing. No
one is sitting back on the success, everyone is pushing and pushing
and pushing. That’s the most incredible thing to be surrounded by:
it inspires you, that collaboration, and there’s nothing quite like
it. Today was tough. It was all about tyre temperatures today and
that’s something I was able to, with the set-up, I pre-empted it.
They said it was going to rain only after the race would be
finished, but we got some drops at the start and going into Turn 7
there was a huge oversteer moment and then you didn’t know what was
next. I really backed up massively and I should have probably
defended from Valtteri, but I said to myself that I’d come by later
and fortunately that’s what I was able to do. It’s an incredibly
physical sport but I had a cramp in my right calf and I had to lift
quite often down the straight because it was about to pull. Pretty
painful, but I had to get through it because it is what it is and
you can’t lift the whole lap! I could only ever have dreamed of
being where I am today. I didn’t have a crystal ball when I chose to
come to this team and partner with these great people. What I can
tell you is that I am trying to make the most of it every single
day. Everything that we do together, we are all rowing in the same
direction and that’s why you’re seeing the success that we’re
having. My dad is here which is amazing, my step-mum Linda is here,
Roscoe too. I feel very blessed. It’s going to take some time for it
to sink in. I was still pushing flat out coming across the line and
I am still in race mode mentally. I can’t find the words at the
moment.

2020 Portuguese Grand Prix, – Image Wolfgang Wilhelm

Valtteri Bottas-
The opening lap on the race was really good, there was a bit of
drizzle which made it tricky and some cars with the soft tyre had
the upper hand, but I was pretty pleased to get the lead. To be
honest, after that I just didn’t have the pace today, and I don’t
understand why – no pace whatsoever. Of course, I tried to defend
when Lewis came closer, but there was nothing I could do, like I
said I don’t know where the pace was today. I was pushing hard but I
couldn’t go faster. Later on in the race I was hoping to extend my
first stint a bit and go for the Soft tyre at the end but I don’t
think it would have made a difference to the result today. It was a
tough one for me, and I will be working hard with the team to
understand why, then come back stronger next weekend in Imola

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.