F1 Lewis Hamilton 90th victory moves one from tying Michael Schumacher

MUGELLO, Italy — Six-time series champion Lewis Hamilton won a hectic Tuscan Grand Prix for his 90th F1 victory Sunday and move one behind Michael Schumacher’s all-time record in Formula One.

The first F1 race on a Mugello track with super-fast corners usually used by MotoGP riders was packed with incidents.

Two crashes on the first seven laps saw six drivers go out, and a red flag suspended the race for the first time after the second one.

HAMILTON: "It was a bit of a daze. It was like three races in one day. It’s crazy to be here and have 90 Grand Prix wins"#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/ht7hxoYNlV

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020

A second red flag late on following Lance Stroll’s heavy crash meant another grid restart – on Lap 46 of 59 – and gave Valtteri Bottas another chance to beat race leader Hamilton if he made a strong start from second.

Hamilton held firm, and Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo overtook Bottas, who passed him back to finish second but lose more ground to Hamilton in the title race. Hamilton could tie Schumacher with his seventh title this year.

A 90th F1 win for @LewisHamilton – moving him one behind the all-time record of the great Michael Schumacher 🏆#TuscanGP 🇮🇹 #F1 pic.twitter.com/mMccVvhhaZ

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 13, 2020

Bottas pushed hard and got to within 1.1 seconds of Hamilton on the penultimate lap, but the British driver clocked a fastest lap on the last one to take a bonus point.

Red Bull driver Alexander Albon drove well to finish third and clinch a first career podium that will boost his chances of keeping his seat next year alongside teammate Max Verstappen, who was eliminated on a first-lap crash.

Hamilton can equal Schumacher’s record for wins at the Russian GP in two weeks and take a step closer to matching Schumacher’s record of seven world titles.

Goosebumps. ❤️@SchumacherMick and the iconic Ferrari F2004 of his father Michael.#TuscanGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/IKmxKRpUa8

— Mugello Circuit (@MugelloCircuit) September 13, 2020

In a fitting tribute, Schumacher’s son, Mick, drove his father’s 2004 title-winning car around the Mugello circuit Sunday morning before the F1 race.

*Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton celebrates in parc ferme after winning the F1 Grand Prix of Tuscany at Mugello (Bryn Lennon/Getty Images).*

Chase Sexton announced on Instagram he will sit out this weekend’s Pro Motocross race at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California after a practice crash on Tuesday left him with a concussion.

Sexton’s crash on Tuesday happened during a test session at Fox Raceway.

“Bummed to make this post but I’ll be sitting out this weekend,” Sexton said. “As you guys saw I had a big one during qualifying at Pala, then another one on Tuesday this week that banged me up pretty good. Nothing broken just need a few days to get back to 100%.”

Despite his crash in the first qualification session in Pala, California, Sexton mounted up for both motos and finished second in each race behind his teammate Jett Lawrence, who was making his Motocross debut and won with a pair of first-place finishes. Sexton padded his SuperMotocross points’ lead over the injured Eli Tomac, who is still second in the combined Supercross and Motocross standings despite missing the SX finale at Salt Lake City and the outdoor opener with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

Sexton has an advantage of 78 points over Cooper Webb and cannot give up his SMX lead by missing this round.

At stake, however, is the risk of losing ground to Lawrence in the Pro Motocross championship. Sexton currently trails his teammate by six points and is liable to lose significant ground this weekend.

In addition to his concussion, Sexton has also been diagnosed with mononucleosis and the combination of the two conditions caused the team to make the difficult decision to keep him out of the lineup at Hangtown.

“I’m super-bummed to miss this weekend’s race,” Sexton said in a press release. “I feel like I rode well at Pala, and I was really looking forward to Hangtown because it’s a good track for me. Unfortunately, I was already pretty banged up from my qualifying crash on Saturday, and now with mono and Tuesday’s concussion on top of it, I want to do the right thing and hopefully be back on the track soon.”

A return date for Sexton has not yet been announced.