Hamilton takes 90th win in crazy, red-flagged Tuscan GP

Race winner Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes looks on in parc ferme during the F1 Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello Circuit in Scarperia, Italy, September 13, 2020. /VCG

Lewis Hamilton celebrated his 90th Formula One win, one short of Ferrari great Michael Schumacher's all-time record, after a crazy Tuscan Grand Prix on Sunday that twice had to be stopped and re-started.

The six-times world champion's Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas completed the Mercedes one-two in a crash-strewn race at the Ferrari-owned Mugello circuit north of Florence in central Italy.

The race was stopped eight laps in following a collision among backmarkers who sped up too early when the safety car had peeled off with Bottas leading and controlling the pace.

The race was red-flagged again with 13 laps remaining when Canadian Lance Stroll crashed his Racing Point at the second Arrabbiata turn after a puncture, leaving the car a wreck.

Red Bull's British-born Thai driver Alexander Albon, whose Dutch team mate Max Verstappen retired in the gravel after a second corner collision, took third place for his first career F1 podium.

Hamilton's sixth win in nine races this season sent him 55 points clear of Bottas, with eight rounds remaining, and the Briton also took an extra point for fastest lap at a circuit making its F1 debut.

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes leads the field following the restart during the F1 Tuscan Grand Prix at Mugello Circuit in Scarperia, Italy, September 13, 2020. /VCG

"It was all a bit of a daze. It was like three races in one day," gasped Hamilton, who finished 4.880 seconds clear of Bottas for a record 222nd points finish in a race with three standing starts.

"All those restarts, the focus that's needed during that time, it's really, really hard," said the Briton, who started on pole but lost out to Bottas initially.

He turned the tables at the first standing restart and retained the lead at the second.

The race was Ferrari's 1,000th championship grand prix but the best the sport's most successful team could manage was eighth for Charles Leclerc while team mate Sebastian Vettel finished 10th.

The race, the first of the COVID-ravaged season to have a limited crowd, was the second in a row to be red-flagged and the first since Brazil 2016 to have two such stoppages.

Only 12 drivers finished, with AlphaTauri's Daniil Kvyat seventh and Raikkonen ninth after a five second time penalty.

(With input from agencies)