Lewis Hamilton equalled the all-time record for career Formula 1 victories by winning the Eifel Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver’s win was the 91st of his career and he will surely break Michael Schumacher’s record soon.
Hamilton extended his championship lead over team-mate Valtteri Bottas to 69 points after the Finn retired.
Behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in second, Daniel Ricciardo scored Renault’s first podium since returning to F1 as a constructor in 2016.
The race had been poised for a close fight between Hamilton and Bottas before the second Mercedes hit trouble.
Hamilton, starting second, made a better start than Bottas and dived for the inside at the first corner, pushing him wide, but Bottas held his ground and recovered the lead on the inside of the second corner.
That gave Bottas control of the race, but Hamilton pressured him hard and in the end the leader buckled.
Bottas handed the advantage back to Hamilton on lap 13, locking a wheel into Turn One and running wide, allowing Hamilton to close in and pass for the lead around the outside of Turn Two.
Three laps later, the race fell further into Hamilton’s lap when a virtual safety car allowed him and Verstappen to pit for fresh tyres and retain their positions ahead of Bottas, and two laps after that Bottas retired with a suspected failure of the MGU-H, part of the hybrid system.
Although Verstappen stole the point for fastest lap from Hamilton on the last lap of the race, Hamilton’s lead is close to three clear race victories with only six races remaining. A seventh world title – which would equal another Schumacher record – is beckoning.
| Rank | Driver | Number | Team | Grid | Pits | Fastest Lap | Race Time | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Lewis Hamilton |
44 | Mercedes | 2 | 2 | 1:28.145 | 1:35:49.641 | 25 |
| 2 |  Max Verstappen |
33 | Red Bull | 3 | 2 |
fastest overall lap 1:28.139 |
4.470 behind | 19 |
| 3 |  Daniel Ricciardo |
3 | Renault | 6 | 2 | 1:29.584 | 14.613 behind | 15 |
| 4 |  Sergio Perez |
11 | Racing Point | 9 | 2 | 1:29.700 | 16.070 behind | 12 |
| 5 |  Carlos Sainz Jnr |
55 | McLaren | 10 | 2 | 1:30.129 | 21.905 behind | 10 |
| 6 |  Pierre Gasly |
10 | AlphaTauri | 12 | 2 | 1:30.110 | 22.766 behind | 8 |
| 7 |  Charles Leclerc |
16 | Ferrari | 4 | 2 | 1:30.712 | 30.814 behind | 6 |
| 8 |  Nico Hulkenberg |
27 | Racing Point | 20 | 2 | 1:30.733 | 32.596 behind | 4 |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean |
8 | Haas | 16 | 1 | 1:31.562 | 39.081 behind | 2 |
| 10 |  Antonio Giovinazzi |
99 | Alfa Romeo | 14 | 2 | 1:30.909 | 40.035 behind | 1 |
| 11 | Sebastian Vettel |
5 | Ferrari | 11 | 2 | 1:30.408 | 40.810 behind | 0 |
| 12 |  Kimi Raikkonen |
7 | Alfa Romeo | 19 | 2 | 1:30.512 | 41.476 behind | 0 |
| 13 |  Kevin Magnussen |
20 | Haas | 15 | 2 | 1:30.456 | 49.585 behind | 0 |
| 14 |  Nicholas Latifi |
6 | Williams | 18 | 2 | 1:31.377 | 54.449 behind | 0 |
| 15 |  Daniil Kvyat |
26 | AlphaTauri | 13 | 2 | 1:32.214 | 55.588 behind | 0 |
Source: BBC (Andrew Benson)