Breaking news
Formula 1 Portuguese GP
Hamilton says leg cramp made him lift off several times
Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he had to lift off several times on the start-finish straight in the closing stages of the Portuguese Grand Prix after suffering from leg cramp.
Jonathan Noble
Published: Oct 25, 2020, 3:28 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The world champion delivered a dominant performance at the Algarve circuit to grab a record-breaking 92nd Formula 1 career win – beating the record previously held by Michael Schumacher.
But it was not all plain sailing for the Briton, who said that he faced a battle with his right calf muscle towards the end of the race.
"You know it's an incredibly physical sport but I had a cramp in my right calf," he said after his victory.
"So I was lifting quite often down the straight because it was about to pull. [It was] pretty painful, but I had to somehow get through it because it is what it is. You can't lift the whole lap."
Hamilton's victory came despite a tricky first lap where he fell down the order on the opening lap as he struggled to get his medium tyres up to temperature on the slightly damp track.
"They said it was going to rain straight after the race but we got some spitting just at the start," he said.
"I had a good start but then going into turn seven I had a huge oversteer moment. And, you know, I didn't know what was next.
"So I really backed off massively and arguably I should have probably tried to defend from Valtteri, but I was like, 'No, I'll come back later on'. And fortunately, that's what I was able to do so."
Asked what it meant to take the record-breaking 92nd career win, Hamilton said: "It's going to take some time for it to fully sink in, but you know I was still pushing flat out coming across the line. I'm still very much in race mode mentally. But yeah, I can't find the words at the moment."
Hamilton's victory meant he further extended his lead at the head of the world championship over teammate Valtteri Bottas to 77 points, with five races to go.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Portuguese GP: Hamilton scores record-breaking 92nd win
Next article Sainz: Overtaking Mercedes drivers was "pretty easy"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Jonathan Noble
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Formula 1
Formula 1 Dec 31, 2024
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Dec 28, 2024
Verstappen issues Red Bull title warning in push for RB21 progress
More from
Lewis Hamilton
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Formula 1
Formula 1 18 h
F1 driver contracts: How long is each driver tied down for?
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
1 d
Max Verstappen on Ferrari clashes: "I would never sign two number-one drivers"
Latest news
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026
General
Misc General
Carson Hocevar and Cleetus McFarland win LeMullets 2026
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
6 h
TV ratings released for NASCAR Cup season finale
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Homestead
7 h
Chase Elliott's car chief leaves Hendrick for NASCAR Truck crew chief role
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe