By David Awopetu
Lewis Hamilton won the Eifel Grand Prix and in doing so has matched Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Formula One wins.
The world champion had started from second on the grid at the Nürburgring but took the lead early in the race and remained untouchable out front.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen claimed second but was unable to really challenge.
Having started the day in pole position, Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Valtteri Bottas, retired with a power failure, while Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo was third.
Sergio Pérez was fourth for Racing Point and Carlos Sainz fifth for McLaren.
Hamilton, second on the grid, made a better start than Bottas and dived for the inside at the first corner, pushing him wide, but Bottas held his ground and recovered the lead on the inside of the second corner.
That gave Bottas control of the race, but Hamilton pressured him hard and in the end the leader buckled.
Bottas handed the advantage back to Hamilton on lap 13, locking a wheel into Turn One and running wide, allowing Hamilton to close in and pass for the lead around the outside of Turn Two.
Three laps later, the race fell further into Hamilton’s lap when a virtual safety car allowed him and Verstappen to pit for fresh tyres and retain their positions ahead of Bottas, and two laps after that Bottas retired with a suspected failure of the MGU-H, part of the hybrid system.
Although Verstappen stole the point for fastest lap from Hamilton on the last lap of the race, Hamilton’s lead is close to three clear race victories with only six races remaining.
A seventh world title – which would equal another Schumacher record – is beckoning.
