Emilia Romagna GP: Race disappointment for Williams Racing

The Williams Racing Team drivers would start from 13th and 19th grid positions for the sixty three lap 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. George Russell would lead team-mate Nicholas Latifi with both drivers starting the race on the medium tyre. On pole was Bottas followed by Hamilton with both starting on the medium tyre. Verstappen was third followed by Gasly, Ricciardo, Albon, Leclerc, Kvyat, Norris and Sainz in tenth. Of these only all were on the soft tyre except Verstappen who was on the medium. Outside the top ten those on the medium, including the Williams drivers, were all the other drivers except Giovinazzi who was starting from last.

The grid would form for the start and it would be Bottas leading from Verstappen and Hamilton. Magnussen would spin after making contact with Vettel running last. Stroll would pit having to get his front wing replaced after having gone off after making contact with Ocon's right rear wheel. Ricciardo was in fourth followed by Gasly, Leclerc, Albon, and Kvyat eighth. The Williams drivers wree running in 13th and 18th with George 1.3s behind Ocon. Sainz would get past Norris using his DRS to be ninth and Norris tenth. George was losing time to 12th placed Ocon with seven laps completed. Lap eight and Bottas continued to lead Verstappen by 1.5s with Hamilton a similar distance back in third.

Gasly was told to pit and retire his car with a terminal issue. This would see George now in 12th and Nicholas 17th. Grosjean would pit taking on teh hard tyre and now in 18th. This would see Nicholas now 16th. Giovinazzi would pit from 13th dropping to 17th now on the medium tyre. This would see George and Nicholas 12th and 15th. George would pit on lap thirteen taking on the hard tyre and returning in 16th. More drivers would start to pit including Leclerc, Norris and Ocon. This would see Nicholas in 11th as Ricciardo, Albon, Kvyat, pitting with the tyre degradation higher than expected. Nicholas was now in 8th but yet to pit. George was now in 15th and behind Norris by 1.4s. the top three were still Bottas, Verstappen, Hamilton. Sainz was now in fourth followed by Perez, Vettel, Raikkonen, Nicholas, Magnussen and Ricciardo.

Lap nineteen and Sainz would pit returning in 13th, now on the medium tyre. Verstappen would pit from third on lap twenty taking on the hard tyre returning still in third. Nicholas was now seventh as Bottas pitted on lap twenty one taking on the hard and returning in second. George was till running in 15th while Nicholas was seventh. Hamilton was now leading Bottas and Verstappen. Perez was fourth followed by Vettel, Raikkonen, Nicholas, and Magnussen in eighth. Ricciardo and Leclerc would both get past Magnussen seeing the Haas now tenth. Perez would pit on lpa twenty nine joined by Magnussen. Perez would return in seventh on the hard tyre seeing Nicholas now sixth. George had moved into 14th. Ocon would retire with a clutch problem.

But a Virtual Safety Car would be deployed as Hamilton pitted as a result of Ocon stopping out on the track. This would see Hamilton able to retain his lead over Bottas now leading by 3.6s. Verstappen was now third followed by Vettel, Raikkonen, Nicholas, Perez, Ricciardo, Leclerc, and Albon tenth. George was now in 14th with thirty two laps completed. The Safety Car would end with thirty laps remaining. Nicholas would pit on lap thirty seven and would take on teh hard tyre and would return in 15th. George was now in 13th as it was reported that Bottas had damaged his floor earlier on in the race having gone over parts from another car seeing him lose pace as a result. Verstappen was now right behind Bottas looking tio secure second.

Vettel would pit on lap forty one seeing him return in 14th after a slow pit stop, now on the hard tyre. George was now in 12th and Nicholas 15th. Verstappen would pass Bottas using his DRS seeing the Red Bull now second. George and Nicholas continued to run in 12th and 15th with forty six laps completed. Raikkonen continued to lap on his set of medium tyre shaving yet to pit. But Raikkonen would pit on lap fifty one returning behind George. The Williams was now in 11th but the Alfa Romeo was on the soft tyres behind him and it would be hard to keep him behind. Magnussen has retired in his pit on lap fifty one. But Verstappen would retire with a failure with his car. His car would stop in the gravel and this would see the Safety car come out..

Bottas would pit joined by Perez from third. More drivers would come in including Kvyat, and Sainz. The top ten would now be Hamilton followed by Bottas, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Albon, and Norris. Hamilton would also pit taking on the soft tyre the same as Bottas. With all the stops the order would be Hamilton, Bottas, Ricciardo, Leclerc, Albon, Norris, Perez, Kvyat, Sainz, and George. But it would all go wrong for George when he would lose control of his car while running behind the Safety Car. He was out of the race and would ay to his engineer "What can I say". Nicholas was now in 12th as teh cars ran behind the Safety Car.

The Safety Car would come in on lap fifty nine and with teh chaos Albon would spin seeing Nicholas now 11th. Grosjean would try to pas Nicholas but Nicholas would keep him behind. Hamilton was leading from BOttas, Ricciardo, Kvyat, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Norris, Raikkonen and Giovinazzi in tenth. Nicholas was running in 11th as with two laps remaining. The race would end with Hamilton winning and taking the quickest lap. Mercedes would take their seventh Constructors Championship. Bottas was second followed by Ricciardo. Kvyat, Leclerc, Perez, Sainz, Norris, Raikkonen, and Giovinazzi tenth. For Williams Nicholas would finish in 11th just the barest of margins outside the points. But it was no meant to be for the team but despite the disappointment coming from George's accident the performance of the team has seen massive steps forward this year.