There was a big Question mark hanging over the F1 races as the season opened.
The first race of the season, the Australian
F1 was cancelled on Practice Day!
Then the Chinese F1 was cancelled. No
surprise. China was being held responsible for the Covid-19 outbreak.
2020 was the 70th Anniversary of Formula
1. The first event was held at Silverstone in the UK in 1950.
In place of celebrations there were cancellation.
Seven of the scheduled 22 races were cancelled at the outset.
The Monaco Grand Prix did not run for the
first time since 1954. The claim to fame for this event was that it ran on the
narrow streets of Monaco, through tunnels and along the sea face. Azerbaijan, Singapore, Japan were also
cancelled.
The first race of F1 2020 was in July in
Austria. It was run behind closed doors. No fans, no cheering, no clapping!
All this did not dampen the spirit of F1.
Lewis Hamilton was expected to pull a large rabbit out of the hat! Winner of
Six World Championships, he was close on Michael Schumacher’s record of seven
wins.
The first race of the season in Austria,
Valtteri Bottas won, Hamilton was fifth! The surprise was Lando Norris, a
twenty year old Britain, the youngest driver and driving for McLaren. He stood
on the Podium. He also set the fastest lap!
The first rabbit that Hamilton pulled out of
his hat at Silverstone. It was his eighty seventh win and he did it on 3
wheels! One tyre was flat.
By this time Black Lives Matter had gained
momentum globally. George Floyd, a Black Man was killed by a white policeman.
Mercedes traditionally paint their cars
silver and are known as the Silver Arrows. To be a part of the BLM movement,
Mercedes painted their cars black.
There were two races at Silverstone. The
Grand Prix and a Commemorative race for the 70th Anniversary. For
this event, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was first and Hamilton came second.
Hamilton took the Belgium Grand Prix. He led
from Pole to Finish. Hamilton was two victories short of Schumacher’s 91 wins.
One sad moment. William’s Racing, a family
affair decided to quit F1. Their contribution to F1 has been awesome. 740 races
,114 victories, 128 pole positions and 16 World Championship titles.
Frank Williams and his daughter Claire,
handed over to Dorilton Capital, an American Company. Williams was the last
British Team in F1.
The Tuscon GP was action packed and exciting.
Debris litered the track, chaos reigned. The Red Flag came out twice. Two
crashes in the first 7 laps saw 6 drivers retire from the race. The race had 3
standing starts.
Hamilton won. It was his 90th win.
One short of Schumacher’s 91 wins. Hamilton won by 4.880 seconds over his
teammate Valterri Bottas! For Ferrari it was their 1000th Grand Prix
Championship Race.
For the next event in Sochi Russia, the F1
fraternity was holding their breath.
Hamilton had 90 wins to his credit. One more
and he would be in the same legue as Michael Schumacher.
Alas and alack! It was not to be. Even before
the race had started, Hamilton had collected
two 5 second penalties from the stewards. “They are trying to stop me!
Aren’t they? Not one but two 5 second
penalties for something so ridiculous!
“Everything we have on our car is being
checked and triple checked!” it was the second time that had cost the British
driver a top spot in setting a new record in F1 and that too a Black Man. I
guess Black Men matter!
Happily for his fans and fortunately for
Hamilton the F1 season was not over.
At the Eifel Grand Prix in Nurburgring,
Hamilton took the Chequered Flag. It was his 91st win. He had
equalled Schumacher’s count.
It was bound to happen, so it happened at the
Portuguese F1. In terms of race wins, it was Hamilton’s 92nd. He was
ahead of Schumacher’s F1 record.
At this stage Hamilton had only 6 World
Championships, Schumi had 7. One more to go for Hamilton.
However, Hamilton had become the most successful
driver of all times in Race Victories.
And the aficionados are still asking, is he
better than the best? Simple question! Simple Answer! Yes! He is.
F1 Greats Alain Prost had 51 wins. Ayerton Senna had 41 wins.
These equal 92 wins. One driver has put these two figures together. 92 wins! Lewis
Hamilton.
When Hamilton won the Bahrain F1 GP it was
his 95th win for the now 7 times World Champion. Now he equals
Schumacher.
He had won the last 5 races and 11 of the 15
races this season. One more and he is ahead of Schumi, the all time Great.
That was not to be. Nothing to do with the Stewards!
Divine intervention!
Hamilton came down with Covid-19! Inspite of
that, the fact remains that Hamilton has won at 29 Circuits in 24 countries. The
most for any driver!
Thanks to him, Mercedes became the first Team
to win 7 consecutive successive F1 Constructors Championships.
The icing on this very large and delicious
cake. This Black Driver, the grandson of immigrants from the West Indies, was
conferred a Knighthood by the Queen in the New Years Honour’s List!
Hamilton’s contract with Mercedes expired on
1st January, 2021. It has not been renewed as I post this.
Sir Lewis Hamilton, the Greatest Formula1
Driver of all time is unemployed!