Defending champion Lewis Hamilton has revealed that he pushed the brakes to the limit – quite literally. Winning the 90th race of his career, the British driver was at ease in Mugello. In a race that involved crashes and standing restarts, Hamilton can consider himself fortunate on two occasions.

One, because Bottas could not replicate his runaway start at the first restart. And two, because he feared the brakes on his Mercedes W11 were forced so hard that they started ‘smoking’. But as it is often said, fortune favors the brave. Lewis Hamilton, is certainly among the bravest there is.

Lewis Hamilton was worried about the smoke from the brakes

In an interview with the official F1 website, he stated, “I got to the grid and there was a lot of smoke coming and I was definitely worried. I think I saw a flame at one stage, which is not good. Because that burns all the interior of what’s in the upright. Fortunately, the start got under way relatively quickly, and I didn’t have a problem from there on. But it was definitely on the limit.”

Hamilton remained commanding once he had the lead

Any one who witnessed the race live, was also able to see the problem. As he accelerated in the buildup, there were streaks of smoke appearing incessantly from the left front and upright. When the lights went out for the second time, however, Lewis Hamilton caught a handy tow behind Bottas on the straight. After that, he almost quickly sped past Bottas round the outside line. And once Bottas had nearly covered Turn 1, Hamilton continued to speed up and overtook him. Once the move was done, it was all about maintaining the gap over his teammate and managing his tires. That is exactly what followed until the end of the race, with Lewis Hamilton clinching the victory. The gap between himself and Bottas was around 4.88 seconds, which speaks volumes about the way Lewis dominated the race.

Hamilton is currently on track for a record-tying 7th title, with the racing juggernaut moving to Sochi next. It was a successful weekend for him in 2019. But he was not expecting to win that race, with Leclerc securing pole position then. But should his good form carry on, then it is set to be another race win and record for Hamilton.