Sunday saw the running of a special Tuscan Grand Prix serving as race number nine of the revised calendar of the 2020 Formula One World Championship.
The race, which marked Ferrari's 1,000th grand prix, was held at Italy's Mugello circuit, officially the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, and saw Mercedes-AMG's Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas escape early mayhem to finish on top.
Hamilton, who started on pole, was first to cross the finish line, with Bottas crossing approximately 4.8 seconds later. Third to finish was Red Bull Racing's Alexander Albon, some 8.0 seconds after Hamilton.
The 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix will go down in history as a chaotic race with two red flag periods. When the lights turned green, Bottas made a brilliant start and was soon in the lead. But by turn two there was already a collision between McLaren's Carlos Sainz and Racing Point's Lance Stroll further back. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel couldn't avoid the impact and ended up damaging his front wing. All three drivers were able to continue the race, though.
At the same time, Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen, Haas' Romain Grosjean, AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen collided after Gasly tired to squeeze through a gap that was closed early by Raikkonen and Grosjean. Verstappen, sitting just ahead, was taken out by the impact, along with Gasly.
2020 Formula One Tuscan Grand Prix
The safety car was brought out to clear the debris and the race was finally able to resume seven laps later. However, there was barely time for the race to get going before the safety car was out once more after a big collision on the start line. As the safety car made its exit, a traffic jam at the rear of the pack soon resulted in a major collision between Alfa Romeo's Antonio Giovinazzi, Williams' Nicholas Latifi, Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Sainz, requiring the safety car to come out again.
This wasn't the end of the drama, though. Once the safety car exited for the second time, the race got going but was stopped again soon after. Stroll, who was running fourth and chasing down Renault's Daniel Ricciardo in the hunt for the third podium spot, crashed on lap 45 while going around the faster of the Arrabbiata corners.
Upon the restart, it was a 12-lap sprint race to the checkered flag, with Hamilton in the lead and Bottas and Ricciardo close behind. At this point, Albon charged ahead, initially passing Racing Point's Sergio Perez and then eventually Ricciardo. Unfortunately, there weren't enough laps left to see him challenge Bottas.
With his latest win, Hamilton's tally in the 2020 Drivers' Championship extends to 190 points. Bottas is second with 135 points and Verstappen is third with 110 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Mercedes leads with 325 points versus the 173 of Red Bull and 106 of McLaren.
Teams now have a short break before the Russian Grand Prix scheduled for the weekend starting September 26.
2020 Formula One Tuscan Grand Prix
Below are the full results from the 2020 Formula One Tuscan Grand Prix:
1) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG
2) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-AMG +4.880 seconds
3) Alexander Albon, Red Bull Racing +8.064 seconds
4) Daniel Ricciardo, Renault +10.417 seconds
5) Sergio Perez, Racing Point +15.650 seconds
6) Lando Norris, McLaren +18.883 seconds
7) Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri +21.756 seconds
8) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +28.345 seconds
9) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo +29.770 seconds
10) Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari +29.983 seconds
11) George Russell, Williams +32.404 seconds
12) Romain Grosjean, Haas +42.036 seconds
NC) Lance Stroll, Racing Point DNF
NC) Esteban Ocon, Renault DNF
NC) Nicholas Latifi, Williams DNF
NC) Kevin Magnussen, Haas DNF
NC) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo DNF
NC) Carlos Sainz, McLaren DNF
NC) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing DNF
NC) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri DNF
