Would Hamilton have won at Imola without VSC fortune?
Lewis Hamilton emerged victorious in a surprisingly difficult Emilia Romagna Grand Prix for Mercedes. He enjoyed a slice of luck with the timing of one race interruption, but was his victory inevitable without it? Here's why things aren't so clear cut
The Mercedes W11 may well go down as one of the best Formula 1 cars that has ever been produced. But it is certainly not designed to run with a massive bit of Ferrari bodywork jammed into the aerodynamic structures of its slippery belly.
The chunk of Ferrari front wing endplate was a major factor in Valtteri Bottas's defeat against Lewis Hamilton in last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. But it was not the only factor that cost the Finn at Imola.
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Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.
A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.
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