Another new track and another win for Lewis Hamilton at the inaugral Tuscan Grand Prix

A very hectic race saw three standing starts and another win at a new track for Lewis Hamilton as Valtteri Bottas finished second and Alex Albon made it third time lucky as he finished third.

Daniel Ricciardo narrowly missed on a podium after a good race which saw him finish fourth. Sergio Perez and Lando Norris scrapped away for fifth but Perez was able to finish in that spot as Norris took a sixth-place finish.

Daniil Kvyat finished seventh, Charles Leclerc in eighth, Kimi Raikkonen in ninth and Sebastian Vettel rounded off the top ten for Ferrari’s 1000th race weekend.

George Russell missed out on a points finish by two seconds as the third standing start dropped the Williams driver all the way to the back of the remaining pack. He was able to overtake the last driver to finish, Romain Grosjean, but was unable to pass Vettel in the end.

Starting Grid

Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole position for a 95th time, with Bottas in second.

The Red Bull pair of Max Verstappen and Albon qualified on the second row, Charles Leclerc qualified an impressive fifth for Ferrari’s 1000th Grand Prix.

Lance Stroll qualified sixth with Sergio Perez in seventh after a one-place grid penalty. Ricciardo was in eighth, Carlos Sainz in ninth and Esteban Ocon rounded off the top ten.

Lando Norris finished outside the top ten for the first time in 15 races as the McLaren driver qualified in P11 alongside Daniil Kvyat in P12.

Kimi Raikkonen in P13, Sebastian Vettel in P14 and Romain Grosejan in P15. Italian Grand Prix winner Pierre Gasly was only able to get his car in P16 with Antonio Giovinazzi qualifying in P17. The Williams pair of George Russell and Nicholas Latifi qualified in P18 and P19 respectively and Kevin Magnussen qualified at the back of the grid.

It’s Lights Out And Away We Go!

Bottas stormed into the lead after a dreadful start from Championship leader Hamilton. The McLaren of Carlos Sainz spun off with more melee behind the Spaniard. Verstappen off into the gravel alongside Romain Grosjean and Gasly also off into the gravel.

Verstappen and Gasly triggered the Safety Car as the two drivers had to retire from the race, unable to continue the race.

Raikkonen and Vettel pitted after they all damaged their cars at the start of the race.

After six laps of the Safety Car, Bottas lead the pack away past the start/finish straight with a big crash at the back of the grid.

Antonio Giovinazzi, Carlos Sainz, Kevin Magnussen and Nicholas Latifi all tangled together further at the back of the grid. Bottas weaved around the grid and it’s suspected that the cars behind wanted to get the race started whereas the front didn’t.

The race was red-flagged for a second week in a row. We’ve not raced for more than three corners and we’re left with 14 drivers in the Tuscan Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon also retired from the race after his car went into his garage spot and left 13 drivers in this hectic Tuscan Grand Prix.

Hamilton moved up into the lead of the race after the second standing start as Bottas dropped to second ahead of Charles Leclerc in third.

The two Racing Point’s moved past Alex Albon as the Red Bull driver dropped to seventh from fourth place.

George Russell moved back past Raikkonen and into tenth place as the Williams driver looked to score the first points for the team.

Daniel Ricciardo moved up into fifth place and passed the first Racing Point of Sergio Perez as the Aussie hunted the duo of Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll.

Vettel moved past his ex-Ferrari teammate Raikonnen around the outside at Turn One as the four-time champion looked to hunt the points as George Russell looked to escape the Ferrari driver.

Lance Stroll moved up into the podium places as he breezed around the outside of Leclerc and meanwhile Racing Point gained a position they also lost one with Perez as he was overtaken by Albon.

Ricciardo moved ahead of Leclerc as the Ferrari driver was unable to keep the Renault at bay and dropped back to fifth and then further back to sixth as Albon moved past the Ferrari.

Ferrari’s Grand Prix weekend turned even worse as Perez moved ahead of Leclerc and up into sixth place. Leclerc dived into the pits as the hard tyre went onto the Ferrari car as he was dropped to the back of the grid.

Leclerc moved past Grosjean as the Ferrari driver looked to retrieve the lost positions after his pit-stop.

Ricciardo pitted and dropped down to eighth as Lando Norris threatened to do the undercut on Perez but decided it was better to move past the Racing Point and up into fifth.

At the halfway point of the race, Hamilton led the race with Bottas in second and Albon in third. Ricciardo in fourth, Stroll in fifth, Perez in sixth, Leclerc in seventh, Norris in eighth, Kvyat in ninth and Russell in tenth.

The two Mercedes pitted as Bottas was the first and tried the undercut but it didn’t pay off as Hamilton jumped out of the pits into the lead of the race.

Leclerc pitted for the second time in the Grand Prix as the Ferrari driver re-emerged back out behind his Ferrari teammate and into P11.

The battle for third place continued as Ricciardo, Stroll and Albon battled for the last podium place. All of the drivers were separated by about two seconds.

As the two Ferrari’s looked to have a duel, Stroll binned it into the gravel trap and out of the race. Only twelve drivers remained in the race.

Most of the drivers decided to pit for new tyres as the Safety Car appeared from the pit-lane after Stroll’s shunt.

A second-flag for this race as the tyre barrier and the conveyor belt out of Arrabiata Two needed repairing as Stroll took it out completely.

The third standing start saw Hamilton have a flier of a start as Ricciardo moved past Bottas and into second place but Bottas found a way past Ricciardo a lap later.

Leclerc moved ahead of Grosjean and into ninth place with only ten laps to go in the race.

A lovely move from Albon and up past Ricciardo into the podium places as the Red Bull driver looked to score his first podium.

Russell is one of the drivers that has not scored a World Championship point moved past Grosjean and into 11th as the Williams looked to hunt the Ferrari of Vettel.

A five-second time penalty was awarded to Raikkonen after he crossed the pit entry line as Russell looked to get a Championship point.

Final Grid Standings

P1- Lewis Hamilton

P2- Valtteri Bottas

P3- Alex Albon

P4- Daniel Ricciardo

P5- Sergio Perez

P6- Lando Norris

P7- Daniil Kvyat

P8- Charles Leclerc

P9- Kimi Raikkonen

P10- Sebastian Vettel

P11- George Russell

P12- Romain Grosjean

Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz, Antonio Giovinazzi, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll retired from the Tuscan Grand Prix.

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