An indomitable Lewis Hamilton won the 90th Formula 1 race of his career at an eventful Tuscan Grand Prix in Italy this afternoon.
The Mercedes driver held out his teammate Valtteri Bottas, and with the win closes even further towards his seventh world championship title.
That would bring him level with the great Michael Schumacher for drivers' championship wins, but Hamilton was made to work for today's victory at a roasting hot Mugello Circuit.
🏁 END OF RACE (LAP 59/59) 🏁
And breathe...
TOP 10
Hamilton
Bottas
Albon
Ricciardo
Perez
Norris
Kvyat
Leclerc
Raikkonen
Vettel#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/L9g5X1eoLZ— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020
Bottas got off the line quickest from second on the grid to take an early lead, but a yellow flag followed after a number of cars were involved in crashes - with Red Bull's Max Verstappen one of those to not finish as a result.
A red flag followed after a huge pile-up towards the rear of the grid at the re-start, with McLaren's Carlos Sainz visibly shaken after the incident. Only 12 cars would ultimately finish the race of the 20 that started.
Red Bull's Alex Albon claimed the very first podium finish of his F1 career, consolation for Christian Horner's team after Verstappen's exit from the race.
Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo, voted the Driver of the Day, will be disappointed to have only finished fourth after looking strong in the closing stages.
The Australian ultimately finished outside the podium spots, ahead of Racing Point's Sergio Perez who was fifth.
Hamilton used his platform to raise further awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement, and said the entire race had felt like an arduous endurance test.
"It was all a bit of daze. It was like three races in one day. Just incredibly tough today. This track is phenomenal and the heat and keeping Valtteri behind was not easy.
HAMILTON: "It was a bit of a daze. It was like three races in one day. It’s crazy to be here and have 90 Grand Prix wins"#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ht7hxoYNlV
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020
"All those restarts total focus was needed. It was really, really hard. Valtteri appeared out of nowhere when I saw Danny was behind. I didn't want him to have DRS. My heart is racing. It is crazy to be here and to have 90 grand prixs.
"Justice for Breonna Taylor."
Finn Bottas said he only wished he could have held on for the win after such a good start.
"Disappointing. It was a dream start for me. The start was really good and I managed to hold my position at the safety car restart. It seemed like there was never an opportunity once I lost the position at the second start.
"That is how it goes. I will just keep pushing and keep trying to get better. It has to turn out well for me at some point."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
