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Advertising Imola (Italy) (AFP)
Briton Lewis Hamilton continued his dominance of the Formula One World Championship by winning first place in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the thirteenth stage, on Sunday at the Imola circuit against his colleague Valteri Bottas to lead his team Mercedes to the seventh consecutive title.
It is Hamilton’s fourth consecutive victory and the ninth this season after Styria in Austria-Hungary, Great Britain, Spain, Belgium, Tuscany, Italy, Eiffel, Germany and Portugal, and the 93rd in his professional career.
The Mercedes team achieved its eleventh victory in 13 races so far this season and the 113 of its history, as it secured the constructors’ title for the seventh time in a row, a record, it only needed 11 points to achieve it, but it was confirmed with his fifth double this season after Styria, Belgium, Toshkana and Portugal.
The Mercedes duo took advantage of Red Bull driver Max Verstappen’s exit from lap 51 when his car’s right rear tire exploded while running second behind Hamilton and ahead of Bottas.
Australian Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo finished third in the first race held at Imola since 2006, having hosted 27 consecutive races since 1980.
Hamilton, who entered the race in ecstasy by breaking the record for the number of victories in Formula One, which he shared with German legend Michael Schumacher last Sunday, reinforced his leadership in the general classification by raising his score to 288 points and break another “Shumi” record for the number of world titles (7) It’s only a matter of time.
Hamilton is 85 points ahead of Bottas, four races before the end of the season, while Verstappen stayed 162 points in third place.
Hamilton imposed his strategy on his team when he preferred not to enter the garage early, preferring to take advantage of the entry of his competitors and advance as many laps as possible provided his tires were good, especially since his colleague Bottas, who was the first pole, entered garage on turn 20.
Hamilton also got his strategy and service right with race conditions when the virtual safety car entered on lap 31 after the car of French Renault driver Esteban Ocon left the track, so the Briton took advantage of the situation and entered in the garage where she was near him and emerged in the lead in front of Bottas and Verstappen.
The competition between Bottas and Verstappen intensified for second place and the latter managed to wonderfully snatch the runner-up on lap 43 but took a painful blow when his car’s right rear tire exploded on lap 51 to get out of the ring and he was forced to withdraw.
© 2020 AFP
