Hamilton winner of a crazy race at Imola, Ricciardo on the podium

It doesn't matter whether he starts from pole position or not. It doesn't matter if he loses ground at the start. It doesn't matter that he has to wait a full lap before stopping under Safety Car unlike his direct opponents. Lewis Hamilton is unplayable in 2020. And he also has the kind of baraka that smiles on great champions.

2nd on the grid behind his teammate pole sitter Valtteri Bottas, the Briton slipped behind Max Verstappen at the start after having caused his tires to spin too much.

The leading trio, wearing medium tires that were more resistant than the soft ones, wasted no time in jumping up the rankings.

Behind them, Pierre Gasly had made a promising start before being crushed on the outside of the first braking by Hamilton, which allowed Daniel Ricciardo to infiltrate.

The Frenchman was putting pressure on the Australian to recover his 4th place when he was ordered to retire due to a serious warning on his Honda engine.

In the lead, Bottas, Verstappen, and Hamilton were grouped within 3 seconds. The pilot Red Bull was first, stopping on the 19th of the 63 laps of the race to fit hard tires.

Mercedes reacted immediately to cover the Dutchman's undercut attempt and stopped Bottas, who was stringing the fastest laps in the race, on the next pass. The Finn also took a set of Hards and managed to maintain control of the race.

Hamilton immediately asked to stay on track longer to try an offbeat strategy. Permission granted to those who are denied almost nothing.

The world championship leader then clocked the fastest laps in the race to build a lead of more than 27 seconds, the time it takes to pit-stop at Imola. Hamilton initially wanted to stay 10 more laps on the track but when the race was neutralized by a period of Virtual Safety Car following a retirement for Esteban Ocon (Renault), Mercedes did not hesitate.

Hamilton rushed into the pit lane; he swapped his Mediums for Hards and came out quietly in the lead.

Bottas, for his part, suffered an aerodynamic problem due to a collision with a large piece of debris falling from a rival car at the start of the race. The Finn could not keep up with his teammate and had all the difficulty in the world to contain the attacks of an offensive Verstappen. The Dutchman managed to find the opening on the first braking following an error by the Mercedes driver.

The positions then seemed frozen when Verstappen suffered a spectacular tire problem at the right rear. The Safety Car was sent onto the track and several drivers took the opportunity to put on Soft tires in the hope of finishing with a bang.

Hamilton was called immediately but the leader had already passed the pit lane when he received the order to stop. His teammate Bottas, on the other hand, was able to put on Tendres at the right time. Was luck finally going to smile on him?

Not completely since Hamilton had time to complete an additional lap then go to the pits to take new tires and come out under Bottas' nose. One more time.

This race became even crazier when George Russell (Williams), entered the points, made a mistake on cold tires behind the Safety Car, which further prolonged the neutralization of the race.

With tired drivers on Hard tires and others chasing after them on fresh Soft tires, this promised a thrilling end to the race. She was. Not necessarily in front, where Hamilton controlled the situation perfectly to win ahead of Bottas.

Behind, however, Daniel Ricciardo had to resist the return of an excited Daniil Kvyat until the end. The Russian, on red tires, erased Alexander albon (Red Bull) then Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and their hard envelopes upon relaunch.

The pilot Alpha Tauri then set off in pursuit of Ricciardo, who had not stopped under the Safety Car regime. The Australian finally took his 2nd personal podium this season, also the 2nd for Renault in an already successful season in the French clan.

Kvyat had to settle for 4th place, ahead of Leclerc, who held off Sergio Pérez (Racing Point) until the end.

Followed the McLaren de Carlos Sainz et Lando Norris, wheras'Alfa Romeo did well by placing his two cars in the Top 10. Kimi Räikkönen made a strategy work with an interminable first stint to finish 9th, one place ahead of Antonio Giovinazzi, who started last.

The Mercedes double gives the German manufacturer its 7th world title in a row, while only Hamilton and Bottas can now be crowned among the Drivers. After a 93rd career victory this Sunday for the Briton, there is, however, little doubt about the identity of the 2020 champion.

Find the summary of the 2020 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents, in issue 2285 of AUTOhebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands.