The cards fell perfectly for Lewis Hamilton as he claimed victory at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Despite falling to third at the start, a decision to stay out after the leaders pitted proved the right one as a Virtual Safety Car provided the window to pit and resume in the lead.
Max Verstappen had been on course for second, after finally getting ahead of Valtteri Bottas in a race-long duel.
However, a tyre failure put the Dutchman into the gravel at Tamburello, causing a Safety Car which neutralised the race.
Most drivers chose to pit for new tyres, but Daniel Ricciardo would not, and in a frantic dash to the finish, the Australian held off Daniil Kvyat to claim his second podium in three races for Renault.
Race Review
At the start, Bottas held the lead into Tamburello as Verstappen snatches second from Hamilton.
Ricciardo moves up to fourth ahead of Pierre Gasly, who would soon retire with a loss of water pressure.
The top three would stretch away as overtaking proved near impossible with drivers struggling to stay close enough through the middle sector.
Realising that, Verstappen attempted the undercut on Bottas, but the Finn would emerge ahead after stopping a lap later than the Red Bull.
Hamilton opts to extend his first stint in the other Mercedes and is able to lap faster as Max can’t get close enough to attack Bottas on the new tyres.
The pivotal moment though came when Esteban Ocon pulled off in the Renault with a mechanical issue, leading to a very brief Virtual Safety Car that allowed Hamilton to pit and resume in the lead.
Verstappen though never gave up on Bottas, and persistence paid off as a third lock-up into Rivazza saw the Finn go wide and allow Max through on the run to Tamburello.
Once in the clear, the Red Bull eased ahead and was even gradually closing on Hamilton before a puncture approaching Turn 1 spun him into the gravel.
That led to a Safety Car and initially gave Bottas hope of jumping Hamilton as the timing allowed him to pit, while Lewis went around again.
The Briton though would emerge just in front after switching to softs and once the race resumed, he had a clear route to the chequered flag and a 93rd F1 win.
Bottas followed in second, meaning Mercedes wrapped up the Constructors’ Championship for a seventh consecutive year.
In the battle to be best of the rest, it had been about those who made the overcut work as Sergio Perez inherited third after Verstappen’s off.
However, as most pitted for softs under the Safety Car, Ricciardo did not and after Kvyat had claimed fourth at the restart, he was able to keep the AlphaTauri behind and take third.
The Russian still enjoyed his best result of the season in fourth ahead of Charles Leclerc in fifth, who was another not to stop late on.
Perez will be frustrated to finish sixth, while a spin for Alex Albon shortly after the restart promoted both McLaren’s to seventh and eight as Carlos Sainz led Lando Norris.
On the week both were re-signed, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi celebrated Alfa Romeo’s 110th anniversary with a double-points finish in ninth and 10th.
Williams agonisingly missed out on points again as George Russell, who was 10th, crashed exiting Piratella behind the Safety Car.
Teammate Nicholas Latifi then finished 11th as a poor pit-stop dropped Sebastian Vettel to 12th after a strong first stint.
Lance Stroll suffered a damaged front wing on the opening lap and couldn’t recover in 13th ahead of Romain Grosjean in 14th for Haas.
Albon would be the last finisher in 15th following his spin.