Verstappen won over 20 seconds ahead of a recovering Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) recovering from a costly off-track moment from which he had to come back from the gravel. His race was saved by a red flag and he was able to return to second place after the restart.
Verstappen had an excellent start from third on the grid to the lead in the first corner where he touched Hamilton who was forced far and damaged his front wing.
Shortly after a sequence of pit stops to switch to dry tires, Hamilton set off in Tosa while lapping George Russell’s Williams. A lap later, Russell hit the wheels with the second Mercedes Valtteri Bottas as it approached Tamburello, and the race was abandoned to clear any debris from the massive crash that followed.
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The race was restarted behind the safety car, with Verstappen leading despite a half-turn in Rivazza just before the race turned green. McLaren’s Lando Norris jumped past Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in second, but was on the soft tires.
Hamilton stormed from ninth to second after replacing his broken front wing under the red flag. Towards the end he set the fastest lap to keep his championship lead.
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2021 results of the Grand Prix of Emilia Romagna
The rain before the race before the formation lap caused drama when Alpine’s Fernando Alonso hit the Tyrewall in Tosa. He managed to pull his damaged car back to be repaired with a new front wing. Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin started from the pit lane due to damage from a rear brake fire, which also affected team-mate Lance Stroll.
Most cars started with intermediate tires on a track that was damp in some places and soaking wet in others. Leclerc spun on the Acque Minerali warm-up lap but managed to break free from the gravel to take his place on the starting grid.
Verstappen, who started in second gear, started an almost dry starting line and raced alongside Hamilton on the way to Tamburello, where they collided. Hamilton hit the curbs, damaging the base of the front wing faceplate. Perez finished third ahead of Leclerc – the pair swapped positions at Variant Alta after Perez was crossed at the exit.
Williams’ Nicholas Latifi spun at the Acque Minerali when Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz walked the grass in the Alta variant. Latifi went a little further and crashed a few meters later after making contact with Haas’ Nikita Mazepin, who brought out the safety car. Haas’ Mick Schumacher, one of the few drivers who started with full wetness, crashed into the wall while he was weaving to warm his tires at the pit exit under the safety car.
Perez started in Piratella, also warmed his tires and lost two places, but he decided to regain his fourth place after a drive through the gravel. For this, he received a 10-second stop / go penalty at his next pit stop.
The race started again on lap seven when Hamilton tried to get Verstappen to Tamburello but he was soon pressured by Leclerc. Norris, who lost places after an early collision with Stroll, shot through the pack with some spectacular overtaking maneuvers. In the other direction, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly fell, starting with wet conditions and dropping the order from sixth place and finally taking it off on lap 16 for incidents.
Sainz was another fighter. Multiple drives on the gravel meant he lost touch with the struggling McLarens, who switched positions after Ricciardo was instructed to let Norris past. Ten laps later, Sainz overtook Ricciardo in sixth.
After pulling out a 5 second lead, Hamilton closed the gap on Verstappen when the incidents dropped to semi-slicks. Vettel was the first to switch to slicks on lap 22, but for not setting fast sector times for another six laps.
Verstappen pitted for slicks on lap 28, Hamilton went for the overcut and missed a lap, but Lewis suffered a slow 4-second stop and came back even further back.
The lead changed on lap 31 when Hamilton drove off at Tosa and tried to lap Russell. His front wing was further damaged against the Tyrewall before he returned from the gravel trap.
The safety car and then a red flag were needed again when Bottas and Russell – who had been lapped halfway before – collided on the high-speed run to Tamburello. After hitting both wheels, both cars hit the wall, causing so much dirt that the race was abandoned. Both drivers blamed the other, and Russell went to Bottas where they demonstrated to each other.
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The race was restarted behind the safety car, but not before Verstappen had half-turned in Rivazza, before the race turned green. Nonetheless, he led by Leclerc, who was overtaken by Norris (with soft tires unlike most of the media) at Tamburello. Perez was fourth ahead of Sainz and Ricciardo. Hamilton, who changed his damaged front wing in a pit stop in front of the red flag, started over in ninth but regained his lost lap and immediately won a place when Yuki Tsuonda spun in Tamburello.
Perez drove back to fourth place in the Villeneuve variant and returned to 14th place. Hamilton passed a handicapped walk, Ricciardo, Sainz, Leclerc, and Norris.
After a clear sprint, however, Verstappen was out of range and scored his first win of the season in 2021. Hamilton finished second ahead of Norris, Leclerc and Sainz.
