Mercedes: Rewriting HIS7ORY Since 2014.
Lewis Hamilton took what had at one point seemed an unlikely victory at the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, as his Mercedes team wrapped up a record-breaking seventh consecutive World Constructors’ Championship.
The World Champion was beaten to pole by teammate Valtteri Bottas on Saturday, later describing his lap as “piss poor”, and was then passed by Max Verstappen on the run to the first corner. The narrow Imola circuit proved very difficult to pass on, with the two-metre-wide behemoths of modern Formula 1, and the front three appeared to have formed an orderly queue that may well last the entire race.
However, it would transpire that Bottas had collected some Ferrari shrapnel on the second lap which was significantly affecting his aero performance. Red Bull pitted Verstappen on lap 19 and Mercedes immediately responded with a pit stop for Bottas to cover off the Dutchman. This released Hamilton who suddenly started producing a succession of fastest laps. His medium tyres seemed to be holding up well and Mercedes decided to extend his first stint with the potential to fit the soft tyre at the end.
As it became apparent just how much time Bottas was losing, Hamilton defied his aging tyres and increased his lead to almost the exact length of a pit stop. It would all become academic, however, as a Virtual Safety Car on lap 29, brought about by yet another mechanical retirement for Esteban Ocon, handed the lead to Hamilton on a plate. He re-emerged five seconds ahead of his teammate and Bottas was now forced to switch his attention to keeping Verstappen behind him.
After a couple of close calls, a lock-up into Rivazza allowed Verstappen to pull right up to the gearbox of the Mercedes and he snatched second on the run down to Tamburello. Once again, it appeared as if the order had settled in for the remainder of the race, but there was one more twist in the tail. On lap 51, Verstappen’s right-rear tyre suddenly let go and left him stranded in the gravel trap.
That brought out a full safety car. Both Mercedes drivers pitted without incident – the team able to remove the piece of Ferrari from Bottas’s bargeboards – and, surpisingly, so did Sergio Pérez, who was due to inherit that provisional podium position after having made excellent progress from 11th on the grid. Those behind him did not, though, and the Racing Point driver found himself behind Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon.
It was an unusually chaotic safety car period, featuring an embarrassing crash from George Russell – ruining his best chance yet at a points finish – and Lance Stroll wiping out his front jack man during his pit stop; the mechanic thankfully walked away unscathed.
The safety car period ended, leaving a six-lap sprint to the finish and the chaos was predictably far from over. Daniil Kvyat made an opportunistic double-overtake at the restart to jump up to fifth, before passing Leclerc later in the lap. Behind him, Pérez did successfully recover one place, passing Alexander Albon around the outside; the under-pressure Anglo-Thai then span immediately and surely put another nail in his Red Bull coffin.
This was the second of two crucial weekends for Albon and he once again failed to produce. It is looking more and more likely that he will not be retained for 2021 and, with F2 driver Yuki Tsunoda being strongly linked to the second seat at AlphaTauri, Albon is now fighting desperately for his F1 career – let alone the Red Bull seat.
Out front, Hamilton comfortably extended his gap to Bottas and sealed the extra point for fastest lap on the final tour. Ricciardo just about held off Kvyat for his second podium in three races and, behind them, Pérez was unable to pass Leclerc for fifth. The final points positions went to the McLarens and the Alfa Romeos, with Kimi Räikkönen frustrated that he had finally taken his only pit stop one lap before the safety car was called.
After having forgotten at the Nürburgring, Ricciardo this time remembered to do his trademark ‘shoey’ and was even joined by Hamilton, a man who had previously said he would never be convinced to partake in that particular celebratory swig. Whilst he looked like he instantly regretted his decision to take a sip from the sweaty, yellow boot, it is unlikely to have dampened his mood a great deal. Hamilton now has one hand (and at least a few fingers of the other) on that Drivers’ Championship trophy – Bottas must outscore him by at least eight points in Turkey to keep the title alive.
HIS7ORY MAKERS
Mercedes wrapping up the constructors’ title with a few races to go has become the norm for many years now and, with many fans thoroughly bored of the dominance, it is possible to forget what an incredible achievement it is that we are witnessing.
With a seventh consecutive Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes have surpassed the record set by the dominant Ferrari team of the Schumacher-Brawn-Todt era. This is now arguably the greatest team in the history of the sport. As we all know, they nailed the hybrid engine regulations in 2014 and gave themselves a massive head start for those first three years. Dominating one set of regulations is not rare – Red Bull, Williams, McLaren and Ferrari have all done it in the past – but 2017 brought about another major change in the cars and Mercedes simply aced that too.
Smaller changes since then – even the ones introduced specifically to target them, such as this year’s ban on ‘qualifying modes’ – have done little harm to the Silver Arrows’ supremacy either. Would anybody honestly be surprised if they do the best job on the 2022 regulations too?
Their biggest threat appears to come from the two most respected members of the team – Hamilton and Team Principal Toto Wolff – seemingly considering their positions, as both have been openly pondering how much longer they will continue. Time will tell on that front, but Hamilton himself is usually the first to point out that he is just the last link in a very long, particularly well-oiled chain.
Admittedly, as ‘last links’ go, Hamilton is maybe the greatest of all time – the same could be said for Wolff – but there will be more drivers and more team principals in the years to come and, assuming Mercedes stick to their relentlessly efficient principles, they will be at the forefront of the sport for a long, long time.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in 60 Seconds
Answering the Burning Questions
How will a condensed two-day weekend affect the teams? There certainly seemed less prepared, particularly in terms of the behaviour of the tyres.
Can Mercedes wrap up a record seventh consecutive title? Of course they can.
How will Alexander Albon fare on a crucial weekend for his F1 future? Not well, sadly.
Which of the teams battling for third in the Constructors’ Championship will have the best weekend? Renault had marginally the best weekend and are now a single point ahead of their two rivals.
Will Kimi Räikkönen gain an advantage as the only driver to have previously raced at Imola? The veteran Finn had an excellent race and, with a safety car appearing one lap earlier, could have grabbed a large haul of points.
