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The Briton was 19 points away from his seventh world title on Sunday, after winning the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix in Imola (Italy), securing the seventh consecutive constructors’ title for Mercedes.
Hamilton completed 63 laps at Enzo and Dino Ferrari’s circuit in 1: 28.32.430 hours, leaving Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas second at 5.773 seconds. Australian Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) was third, 14,320 seconds behind the winner.
The double earned the German brand the seventh title in a row, one more than what Ferrari achieved in the early 2000s with German Michael Schumacher.
In two weeks, Hamilton could match another German record by finishing in one of the top two positions at the Turkish Grand Prix.
This Sunday’s victory seemed unlikely when, on the first lap, Hamilton allowed himself to be overtaken by the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull) in the Tamburello chicane, in the same place where, in 1994, the Brazilian Ayrton Senna suffered the skirmish that caused his death.
With Bottas running away from the lead and Verstappen second in the first third of the race, it looked like the Brit’s winning record would be broken.
But the pit stop strategy favored Hamilton. Verstappen was the first to stop, to switch from soft to hard tires. Bottas stopped on lap 20 and held the lead, while the world champion held out until lap 30 on the track, taking advantage of the free road to make up ground with fast laps.
The star of the Hamilton champion shone when, on lap 30, the breakdown in the Renault of Frenchman Esteban Ocon led the race management to decree the virtual safety car.
This allowed Hamilton to go to the pits to change tires without wasting much time in the competition, leaving the pits in the lead and four seconds ahead.
Bottas struggled with problems with the flat underside of his car and, after two forays through the gravel, even lost second place to Verstappen.
However, the Dutchman would retire on lap 51 due to a skid caused by a puncture in the right rear tire.
In the end, the title champion assured that “there are no guarantees” that he will continue in Formula 1 next year, at a time when he is negotiating the renewal of his contract with Mercedes.
“I would like to be here next year, but there is no guarantee that this will happen,” said the Briton, who also confessed that there are “many things” that seduce him in life outside of racing, so “only the time will tell. ” what will your future be.
For now, he has 282 points, 85 more than Bottas, who is second.
In Turkey, Hamilton needs to finish in one of the top two positions to equal Schumacher, regardless of what the Finn does.
Among the constructors, Mercedes, with 479 points (253 more than Red Bull), secured the seventh consecutive title.
With this seventh title, the German brand tied with Lotus (it won in 1963, 1965, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1978). McLaren (8) and Williams (9) follow, ahead of Ferrari, which has 16 titles.
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