Lewis Hamilton tied Michael Schumacher with 91 Formula 1 wins as he claimed victory at the Eifel Grand Prix.
The Briton narrowly missed out on jumping teammate Valtteri Bottas at the start but capitalised on a mistake by the Finn to move in front.
From there it was plain-sailing as Hamilton pulled away from Max Verstappen and not even a late Safety Car could halt his charge to the win.
An engine issue later forced Bottas into retirement, creating a thrilling duel between Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez for third.
Try as the Mexican might, however, the Aussie wasn’t to be denied as he claimed his first podium since Monaco 2018 and Renault’s first as a works team since Singapore 2009.
Race Review
At the start, Hamilton got the better launch than Bottas and looked to be ahead at Turn 1, Valtteri though fought back through into Turn 2 to keep the lead.
Verstappen retained third ahead of Leclerc, who soon began to drop back from the leading trio with Daniel Ricciardo right behind in fourth.
The slow pace of the Ferrari saw Alex Albon try the undercut from sixth, only for Ricciardo to finally got ahead of Leclerc around the outside at Turn 2.
Leclerc would pit soon after, just as Sebastian Vettel narrowly avoided disaster after being caught out behind Romain Grosjean in the braking zone.
Then the drama would unfold at the front, as a lock-up for Bottas into Turn 1 allowed Hamilton through into the lead.
And it would get worse for the Finn as a Virtual Safety Car to clear George Russell’s stricken Williams allowed Hamilton and Verstappen to pit and resume well in front.
Then came the final blow as a power unit issue forced Bottas into retirement, Mercedes’ first DNF since Brazil last year.
That meant the midfield duel behind became for the final podium place between Ricciardo, Lando Norris and Perez.
The Australian though had the benefit of stopping under the Virtual Safety Car, which meant when the rest had completed their first pit-stop, Ricciardo held a 13-second lead over Leclerc, who had made his way back up to fourth.
Norris’ charge was then compromised by an engine issue of his own, allowing Perez up to fifth.
Despite all the efforts of McLaren to manage it, the Renault engine finally gave up causing a Safety Car to mix up the final 15 laps.
Hamilton had built up a 10-second lead over Verstappen before the intervention, with he and the Dutchman taking the chance to switch to soft tyres with the free pit-stop.
Perez also had been closing in on Ricciardo for third before both pitted again as the pack closed up.
The only exceptions were Leclerc, who had already completed a second stop before the Safety Car and moved back up to sixth, and Grosjean in seventh for Haas.
Hamilton was able to get the jump at the restart as Verstappen struggled for grip and came under strong pressure from Ricciardo.
Max would repel his former teammate though, who has Perez trying to deny the Australian his first Renault podium.
From that point, a series of fastest laps gave Lewis a buffer to take the victory to match Schumacher’s record.
Verstappen kept hold of P2, setting the fastest lap on the final lap, as Ricciardo securing third much to the delight of his team.
Perez had to settle for fourth with Carlos Sainz fifth after a fairly quiet race in the McLaren.
Pierre Gasly passed Leclerc soon after the restart to take sixth for AlphaTauri, as the Safety Car undid the Monegasque’s strategy in seventh.
Super-sub Nico Hulkenberg produced a brilliant drive to come from the back of the grid to eighth in the Racing Point.
Grosjean’s decision to stay out under the Safety Car was also validated as he claimed his first points of the season in ninth, with Antonio Giovinazzi claiming the final point in P10.
Sebastian Vettel just missed out on points at his home race in 11th, as did Kimi Raikkonen in his record-setting 323rd Grand Prix start in 12th.
Kevin Magnussen was 13th ahead of Nicholas Latifi as Daniil Kvyat was the final finisher in 15th.
In addition to Norris and Bottas, who both had engine issues, Alex Albon pulled in with an apparent issue in the Red Bull as did Esteban Ocon in the Renault.
George Russell would be the first retirement after being taken out by Raikkonen at Turn 1.
The day though belonged to Lewis Hamilton, who was presented with one of Michael Schumacher’s helmets by his son Mick to acknowledge his 91st win.
The next goal is matching the German’s seven world championships, and with a 69-point lead with six races left, that appears only a matter of when not if.
Full results from the race can be seen below:
