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Hamilton's 92nd win, Haas dropping both drivers... Winners and losers from the Portuguese GP

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Lewis Hamilton (Joe Portlock / Getty Images)
Lewis Hamilton (Joe Portlock / Getty Images)
Joe Portlock

• Lewis Hamilton won his 92nd race in Formula 1.

• Charles Leclerc performs above his Ferrari's performances.

• Alex Albon is at serious risk of losing his Red Bull seat in 2021.

For more motoring stories, go to www.Wheels24.co.za

What a truly exciting time to be watching Formula 1!

Apart from the sometimes mundane and predictable racing, F1 can still conjure good stories to write home about when you truly take time to embrace it.

This past Sunday, at the Portuguese Grand Prix, there were several highlights to get excited about, most notably Lewis Hamilton who rewrote the sport's history books.

Here are some of the winners and losers from this past weekend's race.


What's been a standout moment for you from this past weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix? Please Email us.

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Lewis Hamilton (Jose Sena Goulao / Getty Images)

Winners:

Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton is a man on a mission and broke the record for most F1 wins he shared with Michael Schumacher for the last few weeks. At the Eifel GP a fortnight ago, Hamilton equalled Schumacher on 91 victories. This was major news for the sport, given that most thought that the record would never be matched or bettered.

But if there is one thing that F1 has taught us it's that we must never say never. At this past weekend's race, Hamilton went one better on the record he shared with Schumacher by registering his 92nd win in the sport, making him the most successful in terms of race wins.

Hamilton has been racing in F1 since 2007 and has been the most dominant driver in the turbo-hybrid-era that began in 2014. The Mercedes driver is also on course to match Schumacher's record of seven F1 championships.

READ: Get in there, Lewis! Hamilton wins Portuguese GP, rewriting F1's record books

Charles Leclerc

Leclerc put in another strong performance in his underperforming Ferrari, taking an unlikely fourth place. The Ferrari driver qualified in fourth place, lining up next to Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Leclerc had a good start and looked likely to finish on the podium, but Verstappen and Red Bull Racing had the better strategy that saw him get one over the Ferrari man.

Leclerc has been driving his Ferrari race car beyond its actual performance, beating his illustrious and four-times F1 champion team mate, Sebastian Vettel, consistently throughout 2020.

Had it not been for the team's misfortunes in 2020 in terms of the car's performance, Leclerc would have been a regular contender for podium finishes, as well as race wins.

Losers:

Alex Albon

Albon's stock in F1 has plummeted the last few races, so much so that Red Bull Racing gave him an ultimatum: perform over the next few races, or you're out of the team. And during Sunday's race, the fact that Verstappen lapped him did not get his cause off to a great start.

The driver knows that if he loses his Red Bull seat ahead of next season, he is out of F1; seeing that Red Bull's B-team, AlphaTauri, will announce their driver line-up imminently. Albon has shown glimpses of brilliance since joining Red Bull in mid-2019, but could never match Verstappen on performance.

Red Bull has made it known that they will look outside their talent pool for a driver to partner Verstappen next year - if it comes down to it - with F1' super sub' Nico Hulkenberg's name being mentioned.

READ: Patience is a virtue - Nico Hulkenberg 'waiting for a call' from Helmut Marko for a seat


Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean

Magnussen and Grosjean have been racing for the Haas F1 team for the last couple of years, with Grosjean being part of the team since it first joined the sport. But poor performances by both drivers the last few seasons have forced the team to announce that it will not renew either driver's contract for next year.

The announcement was made in Portugal at the start of the race weekend, with the team ready to invest in an all-new driver pairing for 2021 and beyond.

Magnussen finished the Portuguese GP in 16th place, with Grosjean in 17th. Both drivers were lapped by the race leaders, something that's become common practice for the Haas team. It is unlikely that either driver will have a racing seat at any team next year.

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