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Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton kept his cool amid the mayhem caused by an unpredictable circuit, winning a crash-marred Tuscan Grand Prix on Sunday for the 90th win of his incredible career to move one behind Michael Schumacher’s record.
But Hamilton’s focus was elsewhere as he stood on the podium wearing a T-shirt featuring the words “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.” The blunt message was in capital letters on the front of his black shirt.
Taylor was a Black emergency medical worker fatally shot by police serving a narcotics search warrant in her home on March 13. The shooting has sparked months of protests in Louisville, Kentucky with calls for the officers to be charged in her death.
“Justice for Breonna Taylor,” Hamilton said during his interview after winning.
The first F1 race on a Mugello track with super-fast corners usually used by MotoGP riders was incident-packed. Two crashes on the first seven laps saw six drivers go out, and a red flag suspended the race for the first time after the second one.
A second red flag late on following Lance Stroll’s heavy crash meant another grid restart — on Lap 46 of 59 — and gave Valtteri Bottas another chance to beat race leader Hamilton if he made a strong start from second.
“With all those restarts, total focus was needed,” Hamilton said. “It was really, really hard.”
Hamilton held firm and Bottas is now 55 points behind Hamilton, who is odds on to equal Schumacher’s record of seven F1 titles.
“It was all a bit of daze. It was like three races in one day. Just incredibly tough today,” a relieved Hamilton said. “This track is phenomenal and keeping Valtteri behind was not easy.”
Bottas pushed hard and got to within 1.1 seconds of Hamilton on the penultimate lap but the British driver clocked a fastest lap on the last one to take a bonus point.
“That is how it goes. I will just keep trying to get better,” Bottas said. “It has to turn out well for me at some point.”
Red Bull driver Alexander Albon drove well to finish third and clinch a first career podium that will boost his chances of keeping his seat alongside team star Max Verstappen next year.
“It was brutal, especially the high speed. It is more adrenaline going in my body than anything else,” Albon said.
Hamilton can equal Schumacher’s record at the Russian GP in two weeks.
The race was far from easy for Hamilton, however, and he looked out of breath sitting in his car moments after crossing the line.
He had started from pole position for a record-extending 95th time but was overtaken by Bottas’ brilliant move off the line.
“It was a dream start for me,” said Bottas, who could not profit from it because of the imminent crashes.
Verstappen started third for Red Bull but he and Pierre Gasly crashed moments in, bringing the safety car out on Lap 1.
Verstappen got clipped by Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo after falling back because of engine problems. …read more
Source:: Houston Sports
