Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing has won the chaotic and incident prone Emilia Grand Prix, giving him the 11th win of his career. Before this race, Verstappen has never finished a race in podium places in Italy. Lewis Hamilton took the second place, and Lando Norris completed the podium steps by securing the third spot on Sunday evening.
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The second round for the 2021 Formula One season witnessed conditions that were very tricky and looked challenging for the drivers. The race started in wet conditions. Hamilton’s excellent lap on Saturdays Qualifying had put him in the pole position, with Sergio Perez in second and his teammate Verstappen in third.
Yuki Tsunoda started his race in the pit lane due to his Saturday’s penalty. Sebastian Vettel also joined him in the pit start as Aston Martin mechanics were unable to put the tyres to the car in the allotted time space. This also was the reason Vettel had to serve a 10 second stop-and-go penalty during the race.
As the race started, Verstappen took the lead of the race from Hamilton, and Perez dropped down to fourth. In the 31st lap of the race, Hamilton spun, and got in himself in the gravel, damaging his front wing. Followed by this incident, George Russell and Valtteri Bottas came together into the barriers causing a red flag in the same lap.
After the race restart, Hamilton found himself down to the ninth place. Meanwhile, Perez spun and dropped down to 14th on the grid. From there on, Hamilton charged his way up to finish line to secure his second place. Norris’ brilliant drive helped him to finish third on the podium, followed by both the Ferrari’s of Leclerc and Sainz in the fourth and fifth position.
Hamilton took the fastest lap of the race securing his first position on the Drivers’ Championship with 44 points, while Verstappen maintained his second place on the list with 43 points, just a point behind him. Mercedes is currently leading Constructors Championship with 60 points, followed by Red Bull Racing Honda and McLaren Mercedes.
The third round of the 2021 Formula One will be held at Portugal, at the Algarve International Circuit, on May 2. Fans will be waiting to see that among Mercedes and Red Bull, who will come out on top to take the lead of the Drivers’ Championship.
