As Lewis Hamilton marches to history, it is hard not to see the pain of his luckless and...

[ASFN Admin]

As he crossed the line at Imola to claim a record-extending 93rd Grand Prix victory, all eyes were on Lewis Hamilton. It confirmed Mercedes’ record seventh consecutive constructors’ title and put him within touching distance of his own seventh title. But on Formula One’s return to this storied track for the first time in 14 years, there were plenty of stories to follow in a slow burner of a race that twice erupted with unexpected drama. Many of them highlighted the plight of those driving under pressure in the sport’s highest category. For some the pain was drawn out, but others were done in the blink of an eye. The most prolonged pain would have been Valtteri Bottas’s and would have lasted for the entirety of the race’s second half. It is possible to argue that it has lasted nearly the entire season, but another rough Sunday in Italy sums up his year so far. He was again impressive in qualifying, taking his 15th career pole position, once more beating a man who has nearly 100 of them. The race was the kind of luckless and perplexing afternoon Bottas has become accustomed to. He kept his lead at the start, as Hamilton slipped to third behind Max Verstappen and he appeared to be in prime position for victory. But damage to his floor sustained in the opening laps (and a Ferrari front wing end-plate lodged in there, too) was costing him lap time. A first blow was when Mercedes put him on a different and less preferential strategy to Hamilton — who put in some stunning laps in his first stint to make the win a possibility — but the Virtual Safety Car allowing Hamilton a cheap stop was when Bottas lost track position and with it any hope of victory. Even without that slice of bad luck he did not have the pace to win, probably through no fault of his own. Mercedes putting Hamilton on a different strategy might have hurt the most, but with Verstappen lurking it gave them the best chance of a one-two so is understandable. Even so, if the positions were reversed you cannot see Bottas doing what Hamilton did.

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