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After a long break, Lewis Hamilton won the F-1 race at the Imola track. Meanwhile, the Mercedes team, represented by the British, secured the seventh champion title.
Qualifying winner Valtteri Bottas finished second in the race. And Daniel Ricciardo climbed to the last step of the awards podium. This is the second time this year that an Australian has finished in the top three.
V. Bottas started successfully and maintained the leading position, but already on the second lap he obstructed the wreckage of the opponent’s car on the track and damaged the underside of his car.
Meanwhile, Hamilton did not start well and lost his position to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who moved up to second place. The Dutch were the first of the first three to go to the technical service area to change tires. In response to the rivals’ actions, after another lap, Mercedes invited V. Bottas to stop.
L. Hamilton stayed 10 more laps on the track on the first set of tires. Later, when Estebano Ocono’s Renault car stopped on the track, the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) phase began. This was well used by Mr Hamilton, who made his first stop and returned to the track in first place, a few seconds ahead of his teammates V. Botto and M. Verstappen.
If Hamilton successfully distanced himself from rivals, Bott with a damaged car tried to keep Verstappen behind. But 20 laps before the end, the Finns made a mistake in one of the corners. Taking advantage of this, M. Verstappen overtook the opponent and climbed to second place. It is true that the Dutch in second place did not enjoy much. After seven wheels, the rear tire blew out. Off the track, Verstappen finished his race and a safety car appeared on the track. Before the latter managed to get off the track, Williams driver George Russell crashed into the protective wall without causing a fuss.
