Race Report: @LewisHamilton claims victory in chaotic #TuscanGP. #F1

Lewis Hamilton clinched his 90^th-career victory in a hectic Tuscan GP, which was interrupted by two red flags and three safety cars.

The Briton finished ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon who claimed his maiden podium in a race that saw only 12 cars finish.

Despite losing the lead at the start of the Grand Prix, Hamilton managed to grab the place back from Bottas following the first red flag and kept calm to take his sixth victory of the season.

Hamilton extended his World Driver’s Championship lead to 55 points with eight races remaining, after pinching the fastest lap bonus point in the closing stages.

When the 59 lap Tuscan GP began, Bottas made a better run than pole-sitter Hamilton to take the lead into San Donato, as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc jumped up to third as Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen fell back down the field, with the Dutchman reporting a lack of power.

Verstappen’s race ended early a corner later when he was hit from behind by Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen, sending the Honda-powered RB16 into the gravel and out of the Grand Prix. Last weekend’s Italian GP winner Pierre Gasly also retired at Luco (turn two) following a clash with Raikkonen’s Alfa C39 prior to the Finn’s contact with Verstappen, resulting in the first safety car deployment. Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel were also caught up in the tangle but were able to continue.

Once the cars were removed, the safety car was brought in on the sixth lap, only to be deployed again moments later following a multi-car crash on the main-straight.

After Bottas opted to slow the field for the restart, several drivers in the field misjudged on when to hit the accelerator, which resulted in Alfa Romeo Racing’s Antonio Giovinazzi running into the back of Haas F1 Team’s Kevin Magnussen.

The cars also collected McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and Williams’ Nicholas Latifi, putting all four drivers out of the Tuscan GP and leaving debris scattered across the main-straight, which forced the race to be red-flagged.

The 25-minute delay followed before the race restarted on the tenth lap in a standing start on the grid, with 13 cars as Renault’s Esteban Ocon was forced to retire due to a brake problem.

Despite his brakes smoking on the grid, Hamilton was able to sweep around the outside of team-mate Bottas into San Donato to reclaim the lead of the race, with the two F1 W11 EQ Power+ racers pulling clear on the C2 yellow side-walled mediums.

Ferrari’s Leclerc was able to hold onto third place on the restart, but soon faced intense pressure from his rivals behind as he struggled with straight-line speed. Racing Point’s Lance Stroll was able to grab the final podium place on the 18^th tour with an overtake on Leclerc, who then lost places in succession to Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull’s Albon and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, falling down to seventh before pitting for a set of C1 white-branded harder compounds.

Hamilton was at first able to keep a comfortable gap of two seconds to Bottas following the race resumption but saw his lead grow as the latter struggled with wear on his front tyres.

Bottas reported to his team to request the opposite tyres to team-mate Hamilton at the next pit-stop window in an attempt to cut the gap, which grew to more than seven seconds by the time he pitted on the 31^st lap for a set of hard rubber.

Mercedes told Hamilton it was pitting the Finn for safety reasons before stopping the Briton a lap later. Hamilton also put on the hards to match Bottas’ strategy and returned to the track over six seconds ahead.

In a battle for the final podium place, Renault performed the undercut on Stroll by pitting Ricciardo on the end of 27^th tour for a fresh set of C2 mediums. Racing Point reacted three laps after, but it was too late to keep the Canadian in-front as Ricciardo jumped ahead. Moving back up to third as Red Bull’s Albon stopped and fell back to fifth.

Anxiously wanting to protect their advantage and look after both cars, Mercedes told both Hamilton and Bottas with 20 laps left that they should stay off the kerbs and look after their tyres. Bottas said “a safety car would be nice right now”, having seen Hamilton’s gap stable at six seconds.

The Finn’s wish was granted five tours later when the safety car was deployed following a crash for BWT Racing Point’s Stroll at Arrabbiata 2, going off at high-speed into the barrier after his RP20 racer snapped onto the kerb. Although his Racing Point entry sustained heavy damage, Stroll was able to get out of the car unscathed and walked away from the incident, reporting a puncture.

Most of the drivers quickly opted to pit after the safety car was deployed by pitting for fresher rubber, with Hamilton keeping his advantage over Bottas despite stopping a lap later.

But the race was once again red-flagged for the second time on the 45^th lap so the barriers could be repaired at Arrabbiata 2, setting up a 13-lap dash to the finish with 12 cars still running, all who put on a set of C3 red-marked softs for the restart.

The third grid-standing start saw Bottas struggle once more, falling behind Ricciardo’s Renault on the run-down to San Donato as Hamilton moved clear in the lead. Bottas was able to take second place back a tour later, sweeping around the outside of Ricciardo’s R.S.20 racer, while Albon passed Perez for fourth as he pushed for his maiden podium in Formula 1.

Albon was able to close-in on Ricciardo two laps later, going side-by-side of the Australian around the outside at San Donato before sweeping by into third place. The Thai-Briton was given the push-hard to chase down Bottas, who was forced to pick up his pace in the Mercedes to react.

But Hamilton was able to match team-mate Bottas’ pace throughout the closing stages of the Grand Prix, eventually claiming the Tuscan GP victory by 4.880 seconds clear, claiming the fastest lap bonus point in the process.

Bottas came home second and in-front of Albon, who recorded his maiden Formula 1 podium.

Ricciardo equalled his best result since joining Renault taking fourth, falling short of his first podium since the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix and winning a podium bet with Team Principal Cyril Abiteboul.

Racing Point’s Perez completed the top five after a race-long fight with McLaren’s Lando Norris, which saw the Mexican pull clear after the final restart, leaving the Briton in sixth place at the line.

Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Daniil Kvyat scored his best result of the 2020 campaign, taking seventh, while Ferrari managed to gain a double-points finish in it’s 1000^th Grand Prix. Leclerc made three pit-stops as the Monegasque-youngster struggled with tyre wear but gained eighth place after Alfa Romeo Racing’s Raikkonen was handed a five-second timed penalty for crossing the pit-entry line, relegating the Finn to ninth.

Ferrari’s Vettel rounded out the top-ten, marking his first points finish since the Spanish Grand Prix after moving by Williams Racing’s George Russell at the final race restart.

Russell was on course for his maiden points finish in Formula 1 through most of the race, only to fall back in the closing stages and ended the Grand Prix in 11^th, equalling his best result in the sport.

Haas F1 Team’s Grosjean was the final finished taking 12^th and 10 seconds behind Russell.

The Top Three

Tuscan GP Winner – Lewis Hamilton, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W11 EQ Power+: “It’s all a bit of a daze man, that was three races in one day. This track is phenomenal, keeping Valtteri behind was not easy. All those restarts. the focus needed – it was really really hard!”

2^nd – Valtteri Bottas, #44, Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport, F1 W11 EQ Power+: “It’s disappointing. I’ll just keep pushing and try to get better, it has to, the luck has to turn for me at some point.”

3^rd – Alexander Albon, #23, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing-Honda, RB16: “I’m really happy, I can breathe. It feels great to be here. It’s brutal, the high speed in Sector Two, you feel it!”

Formula 1 Pirelli Gran Premio Della Toscana Ferrari 1000 2020 Race Results Classification (59 Laps)

* Provisional results. Note – Hamilton scored an additional point for setting the fastest lap of the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1053/italy.html

Click here for the full 2020 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructors Championship Standings

Round ten of the 2020 FIA Formula 1 World Championship returns to the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia for the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020 from Friday September 25-Sunday September 27.

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