That's all for this live page as Max Verstappen is the one celebrating after another epic race.

Thanks for joining us and for all your comments.

See you in two weeks' time for more of the same in Portugal. Bye for now.

Andrew Benson
BBC Sport’s chief F1 writer

Image source, Reuters

Red Bull's Max Verstappen took his first win of the year in a chaotic, incident-strewn Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton fought back to second after a rare error.

Rain at the start led to one of the most topsy-turvy races in memory as the treacherous conditions caught out the vast majority of drivers at one time or another.

There was an early safety car and later a red flag, after a massive crash involving Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas and Williams's George Russell, rivals for a seat at the world champions in 2022.

Even Verstappen almost lost his win, when he half-spun at the restart following the red flag, but he managed to collect the car and streak off into the distance as Hamilton fought to regain lost ground.

It appeared as if Hamilton had gifted his main rival a huge advantage in what promises to be a tight championship fight when he lost control trying to lap Russell and slid into the barriers at half-distance.

But the crash between Russell and Bottas a lap later gave him a second opportunity and he made the most of it, fighting back from eighth at the restart to finish second.

After a race in which he could have scored no points, Hamilton limited the damage and actually retained the championship lead by a point earned for taking fastest lap, despite Verstappen's best efforts to take it away from him.

And Lando Norris took a superb third place after a strong weekend in the McLaren.

What a start to the season and it's a return to Portimao in Portugal in a fortnight's time.

This is the scheduled calendar for 2021, although the seventh race in Canada is very much under threat because of coronavirus restrictions.

Image source, F1

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, speaking to Sky Sports about the moment Bottas and Russell crashed and Hamilton spun off: "Not my most happiest moment. When we thought the race was completely lost Lewis' unbelievable driving saved all of us today."

On Bottas v Russell: "It was a bad shunt. There wasn't lot of friendly exchanges. We need to look again. It takes two to tango. Maybe not a 50-50 but 60-40. I wouldn't know in which direction."

On the championship: "We are leading the championship with the fastest lap. What gives it the silver lining is we seem to have a really quick race car. Today we had clearly the quickest car. We need to sort our qualifying performance."

Valtteri Bottas speaking to Sky Sports about his crash with George Russell: "It was quite a big one. It could have been a lot worse. I am OK.

"I was still struggling with the tyres. George got close he went for overtake in a place where there is only one dry line. I have seen the replay. There was definitely space for two cars. It was completely his fault."

George Russell, speaking to Sky Sports about his crash with Valtteri Bottas: "Valtteri jolted very, very slightly right. It is a tactical defence drivers used to do. There is a gentlemen's agreement that is not what you do because it is incredibly dangerous. In dry conditions it is fine but it put me onto a wet patch. You need to respect the speed and the conditions.

"I asked him if he was trying to kill us. We were both going incredibly fast. In his eyes he is not really fighting for anything. I am going for move. The move would have been easy. There was no reason to jolt like that.

"We have always said it will cause a massive collision one day and here we are.

"We are both grown men. We will have a conversation and talk about it. I am sure he is as upset with me as I am with him. The faintest of movements at 200mph is quite a massive thing. Perhaps if it was another driver he would not have done that."

One of the big talking points from today was the big smash between Valtteri Bottas and George Russell, who were team-mates for one race for Mercedes at the back end of last season.

They had a verbal altercation off track when both cars were in pieces, and Russell has since said he said to Bottas that "he was was trying to kill us".

As you'd expect, both men have very, very different views of the incident, so let's hear them now...

Mercedes started the day with a 13-point lead over Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship and Max Verstappen's win trims that to seven.

Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull started second, but finished 12th, while Valtteri Bottas failed to finish as his race ended in that collision with George Russell.

Image source, .

After two races we have just one point in it with Lewis Hamilton on 44 points and Max Verstappen on 43.

This could be a season for the ages.

Image source, .

This is the first time two British drivers have been on the podium since the Chinese Grand Prix in 2012.

Back then, Lewis Hamilton was racing for McLaren and finished third behind team-mate and second-placed Jenson Button and race winner - and future stable mate - Mercedes' Nico Rosberg.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, speaking to Sky Sports: "We should have taken more points out of Mercedes today. There is still a long way to go. Max got a mega start. Thereafter he controlled the race brilliantly.

"It is always tough to lose a race like we did in Bahrain. To come here and get that victory, there is only one point between the two drivers. It is by far the best start we have had. We want to build that momentum.

"We have a good car. We can see Mercedes are still very, very quick. Their deg is better than ours. Lewis got the fastest lap by a decent margin. We will have to go some to keep them under pressure."

Lando Norris has been voted Driver of the Day by the fans for his heroics at Imola this afternoon.

His response to the news?

"They did? I didn't think I had any fans, but thank you."

Image source, Reuters

Paul: Lance Stroll deserves a shout too, good drive!

Andrew Priestley: A measured recovery drive from Lewis Hamilton in the second half of that GP after an uncharacteristic error. Very few drivers would have been able to carve back through the field like that and secure a fastest lap bonus to retain the championship lead.

loekiprivat: Great to see Kimi taking points.

Lando Norris who took third for McLaren: "I am happy. A nice recovery after yesterday.

"It was a long race - a tough one. I didn't start so well. I tried hanging onto second but Lewis was a bit too quick.

"It is nice to be fighting these guys. Nice to be here on merit. Hopefully we can be again in the future.

"I am happy with third. I am not disappointed."

Lewis Hamilton, who finished second in the Mercedes: "First off, congrats to Max, he did a great job. Solid work from him. And also to Lando. What an awesome job and so good to see McLaren back up there.

"One my side, it wasn't the greatest of days. First time I've made a mistake in a long time, but I'm grateful I could bring he car home.

On his error: "There was only one dry line and I guess I was in too much of a hurry to get by everyone. Came onto the inside and I could see it was wet but it just wouldn't stop and sent me off. But fortunate we got to get going again and get some points for the team.

"I was just trying to get over the gutting feeling when you make a mistake and moving on from it and learning from it - then get back into racing spirit and we still had some really fun battles with the guys."

Race winner Max Verstappen: "It was very challenging out there especially in the beginning. It was very hard to stay on track. With tyres degrading in the wet to choose the right moment to go to slicks is never easy. I had a little moment with my restart but everything else went well today."

On his start: "I surprised myself. We worked really hard to make that better. In these tricky conditions we did a great job."

On Hamilton keeping top position in the driver's standings: "Long season. Stay calm."

Fancy hearing from the top three? Of course you do...

Tom McQuillin: It’s an impressive comeback from Lewis but he has got unbelievably lucky with the timing of the red flag today after he binned it into the gravel trap. Sometimes luck is more important than skill.

Reece Young: Amazing race. F1 in 2021 has started in spectacular fashion. Bring on Portugal.

Jolyon Palmer
Former Renault driver on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Verstappen will be gutted to see Hamilton along side him. He would have known Hamilton hit the wall. Hamilton was very fortunate the red flag came at the time it did. There is one thing being lucky and another making the most of it.