F1 flashback: Lewis Hamilton ascends to seventh heaven with 2020 Turkish GP win

The Turkish Grand Prix made a return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2020 due to revisions in the calendar. Few would know it at the time, but it would be a historic race in F1’s history. The Turkish GP 2020 was the site of Lewis Hamilton making history, winning his seventh world championship and equalling Michael Schumacher’s record. However, the race itself was memorable for reasons beyond Hamilton’s win. Indeed, it was a chaotic event that saw a first-time pole sitter and a changed podium due to last minute overtaking. To top things off, it was a race made even madder due to rain.

With the 2021 Turkish GP coming up, let us look back at last year’s epic.

The background

The world championship was secured for Mercedes coming into the race – it was just a matter of which driver clinched the title. Hamilton led the charts, with teammate Valtteri Bottas in second.

Hamilton was 85 points ahead of Bottas at that point, and if he finished second with Bottas not winning and getting the fastest lap, he would be crowned champion.

Bottas was all but out of the race at that point, but there was still a distinct possibility he could dethrone his teammate. Obviously Mercedes had also taken the constructor’s championship.

The race weekend, however, was thrown into chaos due to incessant rain. As such, this became the first race to not feature either Bottas or Hamilton on pole. And the person who claimed pole managed to shock everyone.

Lance Stroll, driving for Racing Point, took a surprise maiden pole position. In extremely wet conditions, Stroll drove with composure to put the car dubbed the ‘pink Mercedes’ up front. Teammate Sergio Perez also qualified in third.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was down in sixth. If he was to claim the title here, he’d need to drive a race for the ages. And so it proved.

The start of the race saw both Honda powered teams – Red Bull and AlphaTauri – lose track positions. This is because they chose to start the race on first gear itself. The other teams started on second and made an easier start in the wet.

Hamilton makes history at Turkish GP 2020

Two notable incidents took place on the first lap, both involving Esteban Ocon, and both of which would eventually work in Hamilton’s favour. First, Ocon and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo made contact, causing the former to spin.

The ensuing melee saw Hamilton pass both Renault’s to move into third place. But the more key incident came in the later part of the first lap.

Ocon and Bottas were involved this time, with the Frenchman coming away with a punctured tyre. Bottas, however, had a damaged steering that impeded him from making a run at the win.

However, Hamilton looked like he would have to wait for his coronation. Sebastian Vettel overtook him when he spun off and he would rejoin in sixth, the same position he started the race.

To make matters worse, the Racing Point’s and Red Bull’s seemed the fastest cars on the track. A Max Verstappen spin helped even things out, but Hamilton was caught by Alex Albon as the Red Bull had better grip due to his tyres coming up to temperature better. Hamilton, also on new tyres by this point, was struggling for grip.

Meanwhile Stroll would lead for the first 30 or so laps, but lost it on lap 36 when struggling for grip on new tyres. At that point, Racing Point opted against bringing in Perez for new tyres. Stroll would eventually finish ninth.

Hamilton would take the lead from Perez then, opting against changing tyres himself, would go on to cross the chequered flag in first place – and sealing the title.

The aftermath

The drama wasn’t done there, however. Charles Leclerc looked set for a third-place finish. However, he would attempt an overtaking move on Perez to try and get second – and it cost him a podium too.

The move didn’t come off, but it gave Vettel enough space to overtake him. Leclerc was livid on team radio afterwards, screaming he did a “s**t job” when congratulated for a good job to secure fourth place.

It was Hamilton’s team radio message, however, that made the news. After crying tears of happiness, he dedicated his title win to kids around the world with a dream. “For anyone out there with a dream, you can do it; I believe in you,” said the now seven-time world champion.

Hamilton was now the statistical GOAT. Most wins. Most poles. Joint-most world championships.