00:00Oh, there's the Ferrari!
00:02There's the Ferrari at Aqua Minerale of Charles Leclerc.
00:07That's on the intermediate tyres.
00:09So he hasn't really lost too many places there, has he?
00:13Ooh, all clear then for Charles Leclerc.
00:17It's lights out and away we go.
00:19Verstappen gets an excellent reaction.
00:21Hamilton though is ahead of Perez, but not for long,
00:23as Max Verstappen now on the inside joins Hamilton in battle.
00:27It is Hamilton and Verstappen, Verstappen and Hamilton wheel-to-wheel
00:31going into the field of the tambourillo chicane.
00:34Hamilton is force-wide and he's lost a little bit of body work as well.
00:37Sergio Perez is in third place at the moment, looking to make it into second.
00:42The rest covered in a blanket of spray.
00:45Verstappen leads the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix from Lewis Hamilton.
00:49The two championship protagonists came together at the first breaking point.
00:53Lewis tried to brave it out around the outside
00:56and ran out of road in these conditions.
00:58The Ferrari's really struggling to fire the tyres up, aren't they?
01:02Gaz it up.
01:03Oh, and that is Nicolas Latifi in the Williams and he is out.
01:07Going off where Leclerc went off on the formation lap.
01:11Rejoins.
01:14Right, that's not Mazepin's fault.
01:17That's the car recovering back onto the track.
01:20Oh, and that is Mick Schumacher at the exit of the pit lane.
01:26I say he was warming his tyres up.
01:28Oh, dear.
01:29And lost it.
01:31We're racing again here at Imola and it's a decent start for Max Verstappen.
01:36But Hamilton is right on his tail and I wonder, is Hamilton going to have a little go if he
01:40can?
01:40Into the chicane.
01:41They came together on the opening lap.
01:43This time around, Hamilton is just a little too far back to make the move on Verstappen.
01:47He slots there into second place.
01:51As Norris gets ahead of Stroll and behind, well, no speed there for the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz.
01:58He's trying to get past Pierre Gasly.
02:00That's not going to happen.
02:01Getting in on the act is the McLaren of Lando Norris.
02:03Gasly first into the chicane ahead of Norris.
02:06Then comes Carlos Sainz.
02:08Then comes the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll.
02:10And then comes Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes.
02:14Norris and Gasly really going for it here.
02:16Norris is up to sixth place.
02:17Gasly will try and fight that back.
02:19But I don't think he's going to manage it in the braking zone.
02:22No, he's not.
02:24Look at the lead Verstappen has now.
02:275.3 seconds and flying along very nicely.
02:31As is Lance Stroll.
02:33Those wet tyres on the Alfa Tauri of Pierre Gasly.
02:37Not helping him as Stroll takes the long way round and over the kerbs at the chicane.
02:41And it was a move that was on.
02:43But very, very difficult to slow the car down enough to keep on the tarmac.
02:4910 second time penalty is being applied to Sergio Perez for overtaking while the safety car is deployed.
02:57He misses.
02:58Two cars overtake him.
03:00Gasly goes through as well.
03:02And then he just whistles straight back past them.
03:05Yeah, can't do that.
03:05You can't do that.
03:07They sit impassively in the Mercedes garage looking at their monitors.
03:12There was never any doubt that they were going to keep Lewis Hamilton out.
03:16Verstappen first to blink.
03:19This one needs to be perfect, Mercedes, but they know that he's very slow into the box, very steady, a
03:24little slow on the front.
03:25Oh, he's got to wait for the Alfa Romeo to pass.
03:28Giovinazzi passes.
03:29It's a scrub set of medium tyres.
03:31I'm not sure that was a bit slower than it should have been.
03:33It was four seconds, Martin.
03:35Yeah, the right front seemed to be a while going on, and that's released Verstappen.
03:39It was quicker in the middle sector anyway.
03:41Well, everyone has been lapped so far by the race leader down to Valtteri Bottas.
03:46Oh, and sliding off the road goes the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
03:52Oh, Lewis.
03:52And I think he might be, unless he can find reverse, and he's kept the engine running, this is absolute
03:58disaster for Lewis Hamilton.
04:01So whilst Verstappen carries out on in front, extending his advantage, Hamilton is sat trying to escape from the gravel
04:10trap.
04:10He realises, I mean, it's effectively a front-wheel drive car right now, isn't it, as he reverses out.
04:15Smart thinking.
04:16He put so few revs on.
04:17And he knows that as soon as you spin the wheels, you start digging yourself into the gravel.
04:22And we're going to get a safety car now, because that's Valtteri Bottas and George Russell, who are out of
04:29this race.
04:29And they look like they've had a big coming together as well.
04:34On board with George Russell, who hits Bottas.
04:36Yes, because he gets onto the grass.
04:40What the f*** was he doing?
04:42Honestly, is he a f*** at once?
04:46The race has now been red flagged.
04:50Oh, Max Verstappen, what's happened there?
04:53Just trying to light up his tyres somewhat on the entry into Rivazza, and a trip to the grass that
04:58wasn't part of the playbook.
05:00After the red flag, we can go racing again, and Lando Norris is wasting no time whatsoever.
05:05Getting stuck into some racing, he's got past Charles Leclerc, and up into second place.
05:09Verstappen leads from Norris.
05:11Then comes Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, and Ricciardo.
05:13And going off in the back, it's Yuki Tsunoda.
05:16Tsunoda, who's made up ten places in this race, is now going to see all that good work come to
05:20an end
05:21in the space of 600 metres down to the first corner at the restart.
05:27Somebody else has been off.
05:30Ah, he just got a little bit wide.
05:32Left rear tyre dipped on.
05:35No damage.
05:36Yeah, he just got a little bit wide, and the left rear tyre dipped into the damp part of the
05:42track.
05:44Who's got the DRS this time?
05:45And it is not Charles Leclerc, and it is Lewis Hamilton.
05:49And is this what Hamilton needs to blast past that Ferrari?
05:52It very much is what he needed to blast past that Ferrari.
05:56Lewis Hamilton is back up into the podium places.
06:00Is Hamilton close enough?
06:02And he does look to be an awful lot closer.
06:04And once again, Norris makes him go the long way round.
06:06But Hamilton was close enough, under-breaking, to get alongside and ahead.
06:11And he does move himself up into second place.
06:15To a man who's never won in Italy before,
06:18and who wins the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix this afternoon.
06:23Max Verstappen, for the first time in his career, takes victory in Italy.
06:28And it was a victory by a long, long margin.
06:31Big smiles down at McLaren as Lando Norris takes another podium in Formula One.
06:38A super drive from him this afternoon.
06:41This is turning into something special, I think.
06:44Certainly for Max Verstappen.
06:46Great recovery drive from Lewis Hamilton.
06:49Wonderful drive from Lando Norris to make amends after his disappointment in qualifying yesterday.
06:54And a victorious drive from Max Verstappen.
06:57Surely not the last we'll see this year.
07:00Hamilton needs the championship by one point.
07:02Let's bring on round three, I can't wait for that.
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