To flesh out the 2020 Formula One season, The Powers That Be fleshed out empty weekends with tracks that have either never appeared in F1 before or haven’t been part of the calendar for years. Some have been fun, some have been boring—but whatever else happens, we need to keep Portimao on the calendar. And, to cap things off, Lewis Hamilton rewrote the history books by scoring his 92nd win, breaking the previous record set by Michael Schumacher.

The Portuguese Grand Prix was an exciting one. The first two laps were packed with the kind of chaos that you’d have to see to believe. With rain looming on the horizon and a few sprinkles beginning to fall, the drivers that started on soft tires had an advantage over their harder-compound competition, since the heat came into them far earlier.

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen attempted to push past both Mercedes driver in front of him only for Valtteri Bottas to push him wide. Verstappen then came across the track and nicked Sergio Perez as he rejoined the racing line. Perez shot off into the gravel, and Bottas moved into the lead.

To prove that soft tires gave an advantage on the start, Kimi Raikkonen moved up 10 grid places in the first two laps, going so far as to pass Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s Carlos Sainz Jr. took the lead and had a chance to set a few fast laps.

Once the harder compounds began to warm up, though, the front of the grid began to look more familiar. Bottas and Hamilton both passed Sainz on lap six, and Verstappen quickly moved in behind him—and then in front of him.

The early drama began to fizzle out as the race progressed, with Mercedes in front tailed by Red Bull. On lap 18, Lance Stroll made a risky move on McLaren driver Lando Norris that resulted in the former driver making contact, spinning into the gravel, and losing positions. Stroll was also awarded a five-second time penalty for the maneuver. He later picked up another five-second penalty for repeatedly exceeding track limits.

On lap 20, Hamilton made an easy pass on his teammate, taking the lead. He proved that was where he was meant to be by almost immediately setting a fast lap.

As the race neared the two-thirds mark, Hamilton pitted, and Bottas discussed strategy with the team, asking to go onto soft tires when he pitted a few laps later. The team gave him hards instead. It was difficult for him to warm up the tires and get grip.

Despite the threat of rain, nothing transpired. Stroll became the first retirement, and nearly half the grid had been lapped. But a strong battle took place in the middle of the grid, with drivers duking it out for points-scoring positions and best finishes. Even though the rain never came, it was still one hell of a fun race to watch—and that’s not always something you can say about F1 races.

Lewis Hamilton took his 92nd win. Teammate Bottas and Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen wrapped up the podium. Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly wrapped up the top five.

Hamilton took the win with a gap of 25 seconds over his competition, which makes it the biggest margin of the season. He has eclipsed Michael Schumacher’s record. From here on out, Lewis Hamilton will be the driver that young talent aspires to beat.

“I owe it to these guys here and back in the factory for their tremendous work,” Hamilton said after the race. “They’re constantly innovating and pushing the target even higher every year. The reliability has been absolutely incredible thanks to Mercedes. No one’s sitting back on the success. Everyone is pushing. That’s the most incredible thing to be surrounded by because it inspires you. That collaboration—there’s nothing quite like it.

“Today was tough, but it was all about temperatures. and that’s something I was able to do with the setup today. We got some spitting on the start, but on turn 7, I had a huge oversteer moment. I backed off massively. I probably should have defended against Valtteri, but that’s what I had to do.”

Regarding his win, he had the following to say:

“I could only have every dreamed of being where I am today. I didn’t have a magic ball when I chose to come to this team, but here I am. what I can tell you is that I’m trying to make the most of it every single day. We’re all doing it together. We’re all growing in the same direction.

“It’s going to take some time for it to fully sink in. I was still pushing flat out when I crossed the line. I’m still in race mode, mentally. I can’t find the words at the moment.”

At the moment, Hamilton has not signed a contract for the 2021 season. But it is likely that this is only the beginning for the British driver.

With Honda leaving Formula One to pursue electrification, F1 pundits have been wondering what comes next for the series. If the future of the sport is zero-emission, should the FIA start exploring full electrification as an option? Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul, though, has a different idea. He thinks F1 should opt for hydrogen power.

“I think that what matters most is that we define what is the right technology for the next generation,” Abiteboul said at the Eifel Grand Prix. He continued:

There are many technologies that are emerging. We see that the automotive world is full of doubts. A few years ago we were never talking about hydrogen. It’s a new thing up and coming. Will it be adequate or appropriate for Formula 1? Who knows? I don’t know.

But I think it’s important to pause a bit, wait to make the right decision. But having said that maybe one thing that we could do is do a group that could be a joint group of people, of experts, between all manufacturers, just like we worked on breathing systems for COVID.

It was amazing to see actually this collaboration between teams. That’s something we could do, to do some advanced research, advanced study for the next generation of power unit to make sure that it is right in terms of show, in terms of cost, in terms of competitiveness and in terms or marketing platform, and we should do that sooner rather than later.

Abiteboul is referring to the fact that F1 is looking to develop new engine regulations for 2026. While there is no indication that F1 will opt for anything other than its current hybrid style power unit, it all comes down to what the future looks like so F1 can stay ahead of the curve. Is that future electrified? Is it hydrogen powered? No one is sure yet.

If you’re not sure what those different options would mean for F1, then look no further than Chain Bear’s newest YouTube video that explores this very topic:

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the world, which means that F1 could be using an easily sourced resource to power its cars rather than opt for biofuels that instead filter tons of harmful chemicals into the atmosphere. WEC has considered hydrogen power, and it was one of those big ecologically-friendly trends that popped up and then proceeded to disappear again in the span of a decade. That’s largely due to the fact that hydrogen power isn’t exactly “green” and leaves one hell of a big ecological footprint all of its own.

And it’s possible for hydrogen to power a combustion engine, so you can still have all of that delicious noise that everyone talks so much about. But again—it’s not the answer if F1 is looking for a genuinely ecologically friendly option.

I’ll let Stuart take you through the rest of the facts in the video, but the fact of the matter is, we’re likely to see something hugely different from F1 before the end of the decade.