Max Verstappen won an action-packed Emilia Romagna Grand Prix with the red flag to strike back in his 2021 Formula 1 title bout against Lewis Hamilton, who was recovering from a rare mistake.
A dramatic wet and dry second round of the season was interrupted at the middle distance after a heavy fall between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell, but Verstappen was in a league of his own after overtaking Hamilton early in the season when he celebrated his first win of the season.
Hamilton drove a strong recovery run into second place after riding through the gravel in slippery conditions, while McLaren’s Lando Norris completed the podium in a brilliant third place.
It was a tough day for Ferrari on home soil when Charles Leclerc led team-mate Carlos Sainz in fourth, despite making two trips through the gravel during the entire race.
Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth in his second race for McLaren, while Lance Stroll, Pierre Gasly, Kimi Raikkonen and Esteban Ocon completed the remaining points positions for Aston Martin, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo and Alpine.
A downpour before the start of the race created extremely difficult conditions as half the track was soaked and the other half bone dry and the drivers were forced to start with wet tires.
On the subject of matching items
A brilliant start by Verstappen from third on the grid led him to bring his Red Bull alongside pole sitter Hamilton on the run to the first chicane, where the pair made slight contact as the Dutchman made his way into the lead.
Verstappen had a small advantage throughout the opening stint, despite an attempt to overlap by Mercedes, when conditions were so dry that the field could switch to slicks before Hamilton continued his attack.
But Hamilton made a critical mistake chasing Verstappen. The Mercedes driver turned off the track in Tosa when he tried to get past the rear markings.
Hamilton managed to escape the gravel but needed a pit stop to fix a broken front wing just before the race was interrupted by a red flag on lap 34 after a massive incident involving Bottas and Russell.
On the subject of matching items
The pair were battling for position on the way to the Tamburello chicane when Russell lost control of his car while attempting to overtake the Mercedes driver.
Russell collided with Bottas and both cars were thrown into the barriers on the left side of the track before a second major impact ensued as they came to rest in the wall on the right.
Both drivers were unharmed by the massive accident and argued about the accident. Russell ran to Bottas’ car to make his feelings clear.
After correcting a massive slip under the safety car, Verstappen retained his lead on the safety car restart after the race resumed before moving up to victory by 22 seconds.
Hamilton restarted from ninth place and did short work to make his way through the field. He passed Norris’ McLaren with three laps to go to save an important result in the championship race.
Securing the bonus point for recording the fastest lap means that Hamilton will be one point ahead of Verstappen on the third lap of the season in Portugal on May 2 and both drivers have won a victory.
FULL RACE RESULTS FROM THE 2021 F1 EMILIA ROMAGNA GRAND PRIX.
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