Max Verstappen pounced when the lights turned green and calmly claimed his first race win at a chaotic Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday as seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton recovered after spinning out earlier in a rare mistake.
Red Bull driver Verstappen had a fantastic start and overtook both pole sitter Hamilton and his teammate Sergio Perez on the first corner at Imola to set up his impressive first win of the season, and also his first race win in Italy.
This is Verstappen's eleventh race win of his career, and sees him even with Hamilton.
MAX: "It was very hard to stay on track to be honest!
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 18, 2021
"I had a little moment with my restart! But everything else went really well today"#ImolaGP ???? #F1 pic.twitter.com/VtATiwadCW
McLaren's Lando Norris had a stellar drive and took a well-deserved third place ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Aston Martin's Sebastian Vettel had some brake wire issues and was forced to start the race from the pitlane.
The race was red-flagged on Lap 34 when Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Williams' George Russell collided at over 300km/h sending a large amount of debris onto the track. Both drivers were visibly shaken, but thankfully not hurt.
Hamilton has just spun out and almost saw himself out of the race, but managed to get the car back on track and into the pits. He managed to get back into P8 just before the safety car had been deployed and then worked his way back through the pack to finish in second place.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff said after the race: "Hamilton's incredible driving really saved us today."
Read the full race report on Wheels24 HERE.
LEWIS: "Congratulations to Max - he did a fantastic job today. Also to Lando - what an awesome job.
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 18, 2021
"On my side it was not the greatest of days - first time I made a mistake in a long time, but I’m grateful to have been able to bring the car home today"#ImolaGP ???? #F1 pic.twitter.com/jbHvZ9vKsW