Verstappen Beats Mistake-Prone Hamilton In 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen beat mistake-prone seven-time defending Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton to win the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed the third and final podium position.
With water on the track from an earlier rainstorm, Hamilton began the race on the pole position but immediately made his first mistake at the race start, moving over to cover Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate, Sergio Perez, who started alongside Hamilton in the first row. That maneuver opened a wide pathway to Verstappen, starting in third behind Hamilton, and allowed Verstappen to easily pass Hamilton into the first corner.
The early wet conditions curtailed passing on an already pass-deprived track and allowed Verstappen to maintain his lead until Lap 28 when he briefly relinquished to Hamilton during a pit crossover but Hamilton’s Mercedes pit crew was unable to take advantage and Verstappen regained the lead a lap later. A mere two laps later, Hamilton made his second mistake of the race, driving off the track and into the gravel while trying to pass cars to catch up to Verstappen. That mistake put Hamilton a lap down on Verstappen just before the race was red-flagged when Williams’ George Russell hit Hamilton’s Mercedes’ teammate, Valtteri Bottas, and took both of them out of the race.
The race was suspended for 30 minutes while the crash debris was cleaned up and when it resumed, Hamilton was allowed to un-lap himself [along with other lapped cars] and began the race re-start in a distant ninth place. From there, Hamilton gradually worked his way back up to second place by the 60th lap.
Verstappen’s victory pulls him to within a single point of Hamilton in the overall Formula 1 driver’s championship with Hamilton sitting on 44 points and Verstappen in second with 43 points.
Top 10 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix Finishers
1] Max Verstappen Red Bull
2] Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
3] Lando Norris McLaren
4] Charles Leclerc Ferrari
5] Carlos Sainz, Jr. Ferrari
6] Daniel Ricciardo McLaren
7] Lance Stroll Aston Martin
8] Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri
9] Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo
10] Esteban Ocon Alpine