Waiting For Hamilton And Mercedes New Records In Portugal

The Mercedes team racer underwent a pitstop at the Grand Prix Eifel, Nurburgring Circuit, Germany (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team could make Formula 1 history on Sunday when Portugal returns for the first time in 24 years to a racing calendar disrupted by this year's pandemic.

The six-time world champion has matched Michael Schumacher's 91 Grand Prix wins two weeks ago at the Nurburgring, Germany, and this time he has the opportunity to break that record at the Algarve Circuit, Portimao, which will host their inaugural Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, Mercedes got their first chance to seal the constructors' title for the seventh consecutive year.

In order for this ambition to be achieved, the reigning champions need to pack 40 points more than Red Bull, which means they must finish 1-2 or 1-3, provided the rival team finishes pointless.

The German factory team are currently 180 points clear, with five races remaining after Portugal, who have offered a total of 220 points by the end of the season.

Under the new points system in F1, teams can accumulate a maximum of 44 points in one race by finishing 1-2 and scoring the fastest time.

A more realistic proposition is for Mercedes to claim the constructors' title at Imola one week after that, when it is sufficient to maintain a margin of 176 points.

Red Bull has failed to score points twice from the 11 races it has played this season while Hamilton has taken the top seven podiums with his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, twice and is now 69 points adrift of the riders' standings with six races remaining.

Mercedes has scored 40 points or more in six races, with three 1-2 finishes, but in all of those situations Red Bull was able to steal at least 15 points.

Bottas failed to finish the race at the Nurburgring due to power unit issues, which were a major blow to his chances of winning the title this year.

"We have identified a faulty electronic component in the electronic control as the cause of the problem and evidence shows that the readiness to stop the car prevents mechanical damage to his power unit," Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said as quoted by Antara, Thursday, October 22.

Hamilton has been pretty good at getting to know the new circuits on the calendar in the past and has won twice this year on tracks that would not have hosted a Grand Prix if it weren't for the pandemic, such as Mugello in Italy and the Nurburgring in Germany.

Although the Portuguese track is new to the season calendar, a number of riders have raced and tested there.

Hamilton tested with McLaren at the Algarve in 2009 while Bottas beat the track in Formula 3, as did Charles Leclerc of the Ferrari team.

"This circuit is probably new to most of them with few of them having experience there at the junior level," said McLaren driver Lando Norris, who underwent tests at Portimao in 2017 and 2011.

"Not sure if it will benefit me a bit from the riders who are new to the track, but we have to wait and see," said the Briton.

The local Portuguese government has allowed as many as 27,500 to watch the race live every day in Portimao by implementing strict health protocols to prevent the spread of the corona virus.

Racing Point team racer Lance Stroll is the second rider this season to have contracted COVID-19 after teammate Sergio Perez missed two races at Silverstone in August.

The Canadian racer on Monday tested negative for COVID-19 after isolating himself and preparing to return to race in Portugal after being replaced by Nico Hulkenberg at the Nurburgring two weeks ago.