Lewis Hamilton has won the inaugural Tuscan Grand Prix after an exciting race that had eight retirements and two red flags.
The victory takes the Briton to within one race victory of Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 – a landmark he could equal at the Russian Grand Prix, a week next Sunday.
The most dramatic scenes came during the first re-start, just after the safety car pulled in having been deployed for a smash on the second corner of the race. Valtteri Bottas, the then leader, waited until the last permitted moment to put his foot down. But behind him, some of the pack were overeager and effectively restarted the race before those in front had done so.
The race began with Valterri Bottas starting impressively to overtake his Mercedes teammate and move into first.
“It was like three races in one day,” says Hamilton. “it’s incredibly tough. All those restarts, total focus was needed. My heart is definitely racing. It’s crazy to be here and have 90 grand prix wins.”
Alex Albon ended in 3rd to grab his first podium finish. “It was tough out there and I had to work for it,” he said. “I can breathe and it’s good to be here. It’s brutal here but there was more adrenaline going through my body than. anything. It’s fun to drive.”
First podium for @alex_albon 💪👏🙌#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/dZRefL5DeN
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020
The safety car almost immediately came out, after just two corners, when Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly, last week’s surprise winner at the Italian Grand Prix, ended up in the gravel.
The red flag was waved again with 44 of the 59 laps done.
Lance Stroll walked along the pits to his garage, his car catching fire, while everyone else geared up for the third act of the play, this time after a 23-minute hiatus.
Hamilton held on to his lead easily, finishing nearly five seconds ahead of Bottas with Red Bull’s Alex Albon third – the London-born Thai’s first podium. Hamilton’s championship lead stands at 54 points with nine of 17 rounds complete.
This was meant to be a celebration of Ferrari’s 1,000th race but it was far from that. Charles Leclerc finished eighth and Sebastian Vettel 10th out of 12.
Where do we start?! 🤯#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/Cf3eSjnrdh
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020
Mclaren’s Lando Norris finished sixth for McLaren and his countryman George Russell finished 11th for Williams.
The Russian GP will be held in Sochi on Sunday with Hamilton looking to edge closer to his record equalling 7th World Championship.
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