HAMILTON IS SECOND BEST

Lewis slides off into the gravel and then goes from ninth to runner-up in stunning drive after 200mph Bottas crash sparked red-flag restart

LEWIS HAMILTON went from hunted to hunter, as he stormed to second place in a thrilling Emiliaromagna Grand Prix.

In the season opener in Bahrain, Hamilton had to use all of his experience to hold off a hard-charging Max Verstappen to claim victory.

At Imola, it was Verstappen who occupied the top step of the podium after a nearfaultless drive.

Hamilton could certainly not say the same about his own performance, a rare mistake in the damp conditions appearing to have wrecked his chances of a podium finish.

But somehow he hauled his

Mercedes out of the gravel trap and, when presented with a second chance thanks to a spectacular shunt involving Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas and the Williams of George Russell, Hamilton did not disappoint.

It was outrageous fortune, but Hamilton was nowhere near as lucky as both Bottas and Russell, as they both walked away from their near200mph collision. The blame game was immediate, a furious Russell calling Bottas a “f ***** g p***k” on the radio before marching over to confront the winded Finn.

What appeared to be a middle-finger salute from Bottas was returned with interest, Russell leaning into his Mercedes cockpit and slapping him on the helmet.

The incident saw the race red-flagged for 30 minutes, with Hamilton restarting in ninth place but, crucially, also able to unlap himself due to the stoppage.

And so began a charge through the field which saw Hamilton pass six cars, Lando Norris the last to fall as the Mclaren man was relegated to third place with three laps remaining. If Hamilton’s afternoon was action-packed, Verstappen reserved his best moment for the start of a race affected by a huge deluge an hour before lights out (the two men with Norris on the podium, above).

Executing the perfect getaway from third on the grid, Verstappen breezed past Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez before outmuscling polesitter Hamilton, who lost a piece of his front wing in the melee, to take the lead. The safety car was then deployed when Nicholas Latifi lost control of his Williams in the tricky conditions and smashed into the wall.

Moments later, Mick Schumacher also crashed, this time on the pit straight.

The racing resumed on lap seven, and Verstappen quickly established a five-second lead over Hamilton. But, by the time of the first stops, the Mercedes man had got the gap down to two seconds, although a slow tyre-change ensured Verstappen retained the lead

After that all hell broke loose, Hamilton setting things in motion by sliding off the track.

Then came the heart-in-themouth moment when Russell, attempting to pass Bottas on the run down to the opening chicane, stuck a wheel on the grass as the Finn appeared to edge across the track.

The outcome saw the Williams sideswipe the Mercedes into the wall, both cars firing shards of carbon fibre across the track, before thankfully coming to a halt in the gravel with no damage done to either man.

As the drivers waited in the pits for the track, Hamiton had his head in his hands as he contemplated the consequences of his lapse in concentration.

But come the chequered flag, the seven-time world champion could reflect on a magnificent recovery drive which, thanks to a bonus point achieved for setting the fastest lap, keeps him ahead of Verstappen in the championship by a single point.