Hamilton survives late-race Safety Car to take Imola victory

Lewis Hamilton has taken a 93rd career victory, coming out on top at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

With another one-two result, Mercedes has won a seventh consecutive Constructors’ Championship, becoming the first team in the sport’s history to do so.

Bottas held the lead in the early stages after starting from pole position, with Max Verstappen managing to pip Hamilton for second on the opening lap.

While Verstappen and Bottas pitted on laps 18 and 19 respectively, Hamilton extended his stint and emerged in the lead after pitting under a Virtual Safety Car deployed after a retirement for Esteban Ocon.

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Verstappen managed to pass Bottas on lap 43 after the Finn made a mistake, however Verstappen’s glee was short-lived after a tyre failure eliminated him a handful of laps later, which was cause for a Safety Car.

Both Hamilton and Bottas pitted for fresh Soft tyres for the final handful of laps, with Hamilton holding off Bottas on the restart to take the victory.

Ricciardo takes second podium for Renault

Daniel Ricciardo took his second podium in three races, fending off a challenge from AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat in the final laps to come home in third.

The Australian pitted for Hard tyres on lap 15 while running in fourth place, getting ahead of Pierre Gasly at the start, who would retire with a water pressure issue early on.

However after making his stop, Ricciardo was held up by the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, allowing Racing Point’s Sergio Perez to extent his stint and take fourth place after his pit stop.

Perez then slipped down the order when he pitted for Soft tyres under the Safety Car while Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc and Alexander Albon stayed out.

Kvyat, who had also pitted, got past Perez and Leclerc and attacked Ricciardo, put could pass, leaving the Australian to take a 31st career podium.

Double point finishes for McLaren, Alfa Romeo

Although McLaren was unable to challenge at the front of the midfield pack throughout the two-day weekend, Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris benefitted from retirements and crossed the line in seventh and eighth respectively.

On a weekend in which it confirmed Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi would be staying for 2021, both drivers crossed the line in ninth and tenth, taking the team’s first double points finish since last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

Nicholas Latifi was 11th, finishing less than a second behind Giovinazzi, while his team-mate George Russell was eliminated following a self-inflicted crash under the Safety Car.

Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll, who will be paired together at Aston Martin next year, took the chequered flag in 12th and 13th. Vettel suffered from a slow, 13-second pit stop while Stroll sustained front wing damage on the opening lap.