Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix 2021 – Max Verstappen wins, Lewis Hamilton recovers from spin for second

Max Verstappen claimed his first race victory of the season as Lewis Hamilton salvaged a second-place finish in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

The Dutchman took the lead into Turn One from the start, but the key moment in the race came at the halfway point when Hamilton ended up in the wall after losing grip, putting the world champion down to ninth.

Moments later, the session was stopped under red flags due to a high-speed crash between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell with the two Mercedes-contracted drivers blaming each other for the incident.

Hamilton made his way up through the pack following the restart, but was unable to make up lost ground on Verstappen, ultimately finishing second as Lando Norris clinched a place on the podium in third.

Hamilton’s salvage job from P9 to finish second might have caught the eye, but the drive Norris produced deserved recognition. The McLaren driver was disappointed that he only qualified in seventh having shown good pace all weekend, but he made amends with his performance on race day, even doing a good job of keeping Hamilton behind him for so long over the final few laps. Norris’ second podium finish of his career hints at his potential.

1/63 - LIGHTS OUT! Verstappen leads! Brilliant driving from the Dutchman! The Red Bulls got off quickly from the line, they flanked Hamilton on either side and Verstappen passes! There was contact between Verstappen and Hamilton as the world champion bumped over the kerb!

29/63 - Verstappen keeps the lead! It's a slower pit stop than Hamilton would have hoped for and the overcut hasn't worked for the defending world champion! Hamilton now on the medium tyres.

32/63 - HAMILTON IN THE WALL! Disaster for Hamilton! The world champion has gone wide and has got stuck in the gravel trap! Hamilton manages to get back on the track, but he has lost a lot of time and has sustained some damage.

33/63 - Bottas and Russell out of the race! Russell has smashed into the side of Bottas and the two drivers are out! Russell has blamed Russell and Russell has blamed Bottas! Looked like Russell's fault to me!

34/63 - RED FLAG! Session has been stopped! There is so much debris around Bottas and Russell's cars that they have stopped the race to clear it all up. No way for the rest of the pack to make it through the wreckage.

56/63 - Hamilton into P2! The world champion finally gets the job done on Leclerc and he's back up into the podium places! This has been a fantastic salvage job from Hamilton after ending up in the wall midway through the race.

59/63 - Hamilton up into second place! That had been coming. Hamilton was much closer to Norris down the pit straight and he uses DRS well to pass the McLaren and the salvage job looks like being a good one for the world champion.

Hamilton was a man on a mission after his mistake midway through the race and the rolling restart, making his way through the pack from P9. His best overtake was on Lance Stroll, using DRS to dive down the inside of the Aston Martin and move up into sixth place.

“I have a lot more pace in me, I can't use it at the moment, I need clean air,” said Norris as he hinted to the McLaren pit wall that he should be switched with teammate Daniel Ricciardo. Moments later, the call was made in what was a symbolic moment for the 21-year-old. Is he still a second driver?