Hamilton matches Schumi, Ricciardo does a Shoey: F1 Eifel GP Winners and Losers

Lewis Hamilton made history yesterday after equalling Michael Schumacher’s 91-win record at the Nurburgring.

There were many twists and turns throughout an entertaining race in Germany that had dramatic repercussions on the championship picture.

Here are our winners & losers from the Eifel Grand Prix:

Winner: Lewis Hamilton

Our first winner of the day needs no introduction.

Lewis Hamilton kept his foot on the throttle after capitalising on Valtteri Bottas’ early mistake in the race, and didn’t look back.

Hamilton expertly looked after his tyres for the duration of the race and continued to manage the gap to a speedy Max Verstappen, keeping a cool head during the safety car restart and bringing his Mercedes machine safely back home.

The Briton now holds a 69 point lead over teammate Valtteri Bottas, with his seventh world title looming even closer.

Loser: Valtteri Bottas

It was an unfortunate end to what looked like a good weekend for Valtteri Bottas, who was forced to retire from the race after losing power.

The Finn made an uncharacteristically strong move on Lewis Hamilton to shut down a start overtake attempt by the Brit, being brave around the outside.

Bottas would lead the way until a lock-up at Turn 1 on Lap 14 opened the door for Hamilton to take full advantage and sweep into the lead.

Having fallen to seventh place, Mercedes ultimately called Bottas into the pits to retire with a suspected ERS-related problem, marking a huge blow to his title hopes.

Winner: Daniel Ricciardo and Renault

The shoey returned, albeit not on the podium! Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo stormed to his first podium finish since Monaco 2018 after a brilliant race.

The Australian had a sublime start off the line, catching Alex Albon in the run to the first turn and easily dispatching the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in the early laps of the race.

After Valtteri Bottas’ retirement, the Australian looked like he was under threat from Sergio Perez, who stopped much later for medium tyres but Ricciardo benefitted from a Safety Car period which allowed him to switch to softs, meaning tyre wear wasn't a concern in the latter stages.

We’re looking forward to seeing what tattoo design Danny Ric chooses for team boss Cyril Abiteboul!

Loser: Alex Albon

A bad day for Alex Albon, with his happy memories from his podium at the Tuscan Grand Prix feeling like a distant memory.

An unfortunate lock-up at the start of the race forced Albon into an early pit-stop.

He would then return to the track and have a bizarre on-track incident with Daniil Kvyat, knocking off the latter’s front wing and subsequently earning himself a 5-second penalty.

After continuing to race for a few laps and a strange complaint about being raced too hard, Albon returned to the pits to retire the car.

Red Bull have since confirmed his car was retired due to an issue with the engine that will be investigated further.

Still, it is evident from the Anglo-Thai driver’s post-interview body language that the tough season is taking a toll.

Winner: Nico Hulkenberg

From drinking coffee at 11am on Saturday to jumping in the car just hours later, Nico Hulkenberg has to be commended for his super-sub efforts in replacing the unwell Lance Stroll.

The Hulk drove a superb race at the Nurburgring, impressively recovering from the very back of the grid to take a brilliant eighth place.

The German jumped three places on the opening lap alone, and then used a long first stint to promote him to P8, a mere two seconds behind Charles Leclerc.

Hulkenberg said he was delighted with the strong finish, and so he should be.

Loser: 2020 F1 Title Fight

Sadly it seems that the 2020 title fight is over, with Lewis Hamilton extending his lead even further over closest rivals Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen.

Perhaps the onus fell on us, who believed Vallteri Bottas’ strong start in Austria marked the beginning of a epic title duel, only to find Lewis Hamilton would soon reign supreme.

There is no doubt that Hamilton’s seventh world championship is incredibly well deserved, but it is a shame that his fellow competitors around him have struggled to reach the same heights.

Three exciting track additions await us in the coming weeks on the calendar, and we can only cross our fingers for more 2020 excitement to be delivered in Portugal, Imola & Turkey.

Winner: Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean was rewarded for turning in a heroic and battling performance at the Nurburgring with his first points of the season in ninth place, ending a drought stretching back to last year’s German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The Frenchman looked on course for a difficult race when a terrible start saw him slip from 16th to the very back of the grid, a situation made even more tricky when he feared he had broken a finger when Kimi Raikkonen’s wayward Alfa Romeo kicked up gravel into his path.

Escaping with just bruising to his knuckles, Grosjean soldiered on and pulled off an ambitious one-stop strategy to score what marked just Haas’ second top-10 appearance of the campaign.

Loser: George Russell

George Russell headed into a cold weekend at the Nurburgring hoping to capitalise on what promised to be an unpredictable and unique event.

But the Briton and his Williams team once again left a race empty handed in 2020 after failing to take the chances that fell their way.

Russell felt points were on the cards had he not been punted off track by Kimi Raikkonen (also a loser in our books) which ultimately resulted in a premature end to his afternoon with the damage sustained to his FW35.

Who was your biggest winner & loser from the Eifel GP? Is the title fight truly over? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to like and subscribe to Crash F1.