The eleventh race of the 2020 Formula One season took place at the Nurburgring in Germany. The race is covered here by our F1 correspondent Nick van der Meulen in his report F1 Review Eifel GP 2020.

Interestingly, the German Grand Prix was renamed the Eifel Grand Prix for 2020, with the event taking place at the legendary Nürburgring. The circuit’s original (Nordschleife) layout is 20,8 km, known as “Die Grüne Hölle” (the green hell), which F1 utilised until Niki Lauda’s fiery accident in 1976. A revamped, much shorter, version of the circuit returned to the F1 calendar in 1984 and has been used (on and off) ever since. The circuit, along with Hockenheimring, has run into financial woes, which is why the race in 2020 was the first to be run at this circuit since 2013.

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Record-setting

This weekend produced a couple of records. Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) started his 323rd Grand Prix, finishing 12th after being penalised 10 seconds for unceremoniously punting George Russell (Williams-Mercedes) into retirement. The record equalled at this event, however, will be the most spoken of, as Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) equalled Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 Formula 1 victories – a feat pundits believed would never be surpassed. The enormity of this achievement was underlined by the gesture from the Schumacher family. Young Mick presented Hamilton with a Mercedes-era Schumi helmet at the post-race interview.

Hometown

Mercedes would have wanted to dominate proceedings on home turf, but didn’t have things go all their way throughout the weekend. Friday was rained out, leaving limited time to set up their mounts before qualifying. Free Practice 3 saw Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing-Honda) comfortably set the fastest time and looked good in the early qualifying session. When it came to determining grid positions, though, Valtteri Bottas blitzed the field to take pole position ahead of his teammate. Bottas controlled the race from the front until he made a mistake under braking into Turn 1, allowing Hamilton to capitalise and take the lead. Bottas subsequently retired with engine issues, while Hamilton kept Verstappen at bay to take a famous victory.

Honda’s departure

The big story going into this weekend was the fact that Honda are withdrawing as engine suppliers at the end of 2021, leaving Red Bull and Alpha Tauri stranded and looking for engines for 2022. Verstappen kept a positive disposition and pushed hard to topple Mercedes domination. While he pushed hard, he had to, again, be content with a strong second-place finish, but claimed a consolation point for shattering the lap record. Teammate Alexander Albon had a strong qualifying, but struggled to capitalise on it, clumsily falling over the front wing of Daniil Kyvat (Alpha Tauri-Honda) and receiving a 5-second penalty, before being wheeled into the pit garage to retire.

Podium finish

Renault performed strongly on race day, but only one machine finished. Esteban Ocon pulled into the pits before half distance with brake trouble, but Daniel Ricciardo gave the team something to cheer about, as he finished a fine third – the first podium for the team since returning under the moniker in 2016. This will result in a painful commemoration thereof for team manager Cyril Abiteboul, as he agreed to have a tattoo of the Honey Badger’s making should he finish on the podium.

Failing to deliver

Lando Norris (McLaren-Renault) featured prominently in the Grand Prix, running strongly in third position before he began reporting a power issue. While his team on the wall tried to advise him (even telling the Englishman to enforce a given setting after every corner), the frustrated Norris was forced to retire with 16 laps to go when the engine cut out. His parked mount resulted in the only Safety Car period of the day. Teammate Carlos Sainz had a far more low-profile outing, which resulted in a fine fifth position.

Hulken-back

Racing Point turned a potentially problematic weekend into a satisfying result. Lance Stroll, apparently, was not feeling well since Sochi and did not feel strong enough to venture out for Free Practice 3. The team decided to give their “super sub” a call after the session and Nico Hulkenberg climbed into the car for the first time in the qualifying session! The German knuckled down in the race, made a later pit stop than his rivals and crossed the finish line in a phenomenal eighth place (after starting stone last). His efforts earning a “Driver of the Day” accolade from fans. Team leader Sergio Perez also had a strong weekend, harrying Ricciardo for the final podium position but having to settle for fourth place.

Also-rans

Honourable mentions for the weekend: Sebastian Vettel’s Schumi tribute helmet; Pierre Gasly’s (Alpha Tauri-Honda) anonymous sixth place; Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) finished seventh after qualifying a fine fourth; Romain Grosjean (Haas-Ferrari) scored his first points of the season by finishing ninth, while Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) scored the final point on offer.

The 12th round of the F1 world championship will take place from 23 to 25 October at Portimao, Portugal. This will be a first for the F1 circus, as the circuit has been known to host international motorcycle racing events. It has a very long main straight, which will probably play into the hands of the Mercedes-powered machines…