Max Verstappen beats Lewis Hamilton in dramatic Emilia-Romagna GP

Max Verstappen received a dramatic Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday after world champion Lewis Hamilton hit a wall in a race that was additionally quickly suspended following a separate incident involving Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
The 23-year-old Verstappen led for almost all of the race on the moist Imola observe and the Red Bull driver beat Hamilton by 22 seconds for the eleventh win of his profession.
Hamilton, who received the season-opening Bahrain GP final month, confirmed all his expertise to make his method again up the sector after falling way back to ninth following an incident simply earlier than the midway level of the race.
The 36-year-old Hamilton remains to be forward of Verstappen within the standings after he picked up a bonus level for the quickest lap in Imola. Bottas had the quickest lap in Bahrain. Lando Norris was third, 23.702 behind Verstappen.
“Congratulations to Max, he did a fantastic job today. Also to Lando, what an awesome job,” Hamilton mentioned. “On my side it was not the greatest of days, first time I made a mistake in a long time, but I’m grateful to have been able to bring the car home.”
Verstappen began third, behind Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez and pole-sitter Hamilton. The Dutch driver obtained off to an incredible begin and jumped his teammate earlier than touching wheels with Hamilton and forcing his method into the lead.
Hamilton broken his entrance wing in that incident however was working a snug second till he slid off the observe, by means of the gravel and into the wall on lap 31. The British driver managed to return to the observe finally however had dropped to ninth.
A short while later, Bottas and Williams driver George Russell had been concerned in a crash — which shall be investigated after the end — and the race was red-flagged on lap 34 with particles from their automobiles scattered throughout the observe.
Both drivers had been livid within the aftermath with Bottas flicking his center finger at Russell, who responded by swatting the Finnish driver together with his hand.
The security automotive first appeared whereas Nicholas Latifi’s Williams was recovered after a crash on the second lap following contact with Nikita Mazepin.
Perez slid off the observe and was handed a 10-second penalty for overtaking underneath the protection automotive, when he retook the locations he misplaced.
In the opposite Red Bull, Verstappen almost crashed and ruined his race through the restart after the crimson flag however recovered and regularly pulled away from the sector out entrance.
Behind him Hamilton was selecting off his rivals and finally obtained previous Norris to take second place with three laps to go.
Norris completed third, including to his solely podium end for an additional third-place end on the season-opener in Austria final yr.
Charles Leclerc was fourth, simply forward of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.
Next up within the 23-race calendar is the Portuguese GP on May 2.