[Sport] Mercedes seals record Constructors' title after Lewis Hamilton wins the Emilia Romagna GP

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Mercedes has won the Constructors' Championship for a record seventh consecutive time after yet more success at the Emilia Romagna GP on Sunday.

Drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished first and second at Imola to clinch the historic victory for their team.
Mercedes had previously shared the record with Italian team Ferrari, which had won six straight titles between 1998 and 2004 when Michael Schumacher was at his dominant best. Mercedes' strong showing has been led by Hamilton, who is now on the brink of personally securing his own seventh world title. The Briton, who won his 93rd race of his career, can finish the job at the Turkish Grand Prix on November 15.
"What an incredible achievement for all of you. I'm so proud of everybody," Hamilton said over the team radio after crossing the finish line, before embracing team principle, Toto Wolff, in the winner's paddock.

 

Sunday's race was the third Grand Prix held in Italy this season after the calendar was amended amid the pandemic.
The track last hosted a Formula One race in 2006 but has a dark history with the sport. It was the track where Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger died after crashes in 1994.There were no such incidents this weekend but there were plenty of flashpoints with a number of drivers suffering some bad fortune. Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who had started third on the grid, had looked a real threat to the Mercedes duo after overtaking Hamilton at the start.

 

But the 23-year-old suffered a tire failure when closing down Bottas and ended up facing the wrong way on the track.
Bottas, who had started in pole position, also suffered damage to his car early on after running over some debris on the track which saw him grant the lead to his teammate. With Verstappen and Bottas out of the picture, Hamilton was in the clear and cruised to yet another victory after recovering from a sluggish start. Renault's Daniel Ricciardo finished third. Mercedes' Wolff was keen to recognize another phenomenal achievement for the entire team, which celebrated its seventh title in style.
"This is something to be proud of. We have a group that is just amazing together, we have stayed together and pushed the benchmark to new levels," he said; "As long as we stay motivated and energized, I think we can push it further forward."

 

 

Lewis Hamilton won the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Mercedes wrapped up a record seventh consecutive constructors' title with another one-two after Max Verstappen spun out.

Hamilton dropped from second to third behind Max Verstappen before the first corner, but the combination of a strategy call and the deployment of the virtual safety car put the runaway championship leader in command of the race.

Bottas, who started on pole, pitted on lap 20 of 63 at Imola just after Verstappen, who was in second place at the time, for a switch from medium to hard tires.

Hamilton stayed out for a much longer stint on mediums and built up a big lead before a timely, brief deployment of a virtual safety car when Esteban Ocon retired on lap 31 played right into his hands.

The six-time Formula One world champion pitted and went on to seal victory, with Bottas second after Verstappen's race was ended by a puncture on lap 52 in a dramatic twist.

Verstappen had capitalized on a mistake from Bottas, who suffered floor damage, to move into second on lap 43 but ended up in the gravel and George Russell crashed out behind the safety car soon after.

Hamilton and Bottas pitted for soft tires and the Brit, who broke Michael Schumacher's record of 91 F1 race victories last weekend, saw out another win following a restart with just six laps to complete.

Daniel Ricciardo took third place behind Bottas as Mercedes celebrated yet another title, with Hamlton closing on being crowned champion for a record-equalling seventh time with four races to go.

Daniil Kvyat took fourth spot in a frantic finale, with Charles Leclerc completing the top five in a chaotic first F1 race at the iconic Italian track since 2006.