That was until Bottas and Russell collided in a massive smash, forcing a red flag and effectively erasing the deficit.
It was a wild crash with the pair coming together at one of the fastest points on the track, leaving plenty of debris, while both men were blaming each other for the smash.
"What the f***," Bottas said.
"Are you ok?" the engineer said.
"Yeah."
But Russell was also furious.
"What the f*** was he doing? Is he a **** **** or what?"
The immediate vision looked like Russell hit the grass and slammed into the side of Bottas.
But the commentators also pointed to some slight movement from Bottas as "spooking" Russell as he came to the corner.
After the dust had settled, Russell tweeted his disappointment.
The race was red flagged after the incident with debris all over the place as the men crashed at one of the fastest points of the race.
Luckily both men were alright but there were plenty of hard feelings, with Russell approaching Bottas before the Fin flipped off the Brit, before Russell hit Bottas helmet.
It's sparked debate online as plenty of questions were asked about the smash.
It was the big incident in a race full of incidents with drivers going wide constantly throughout the race.
But when it came down to the racing, it was an absorbing final 10 laps with Hamilton, Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc battling for the two minor podium positions.
Hamilton eventually caught Leclerc, while Norris held his countryman off until the final few laps, but hanging on to third place on the podium.
After the race, Hamilton said "it's the first time I've made a mistake in a long time".
But Norris, who claimed his second F1 podium, was pleased with the result.
"I'm happy, it was a nice recovery after yesterday," Norris said. "It was a long race, a tough one but I didn't start so well and I came back through with good pace. I tried hanging on to second but Lewis was a bit too quick for me today. It's nice to be fighting these guys. It's nice to be there on merit and pure pace and hopefully we can have some more in the future."
Verstappen was happy with his day at the office with his first win in Italy.
"It was very challenging out there, especially in the beginning to stay on track to be honest, it was very slippery," he said. "I think we managed everything well.
"Then there was a little moment in my restart. Luckily we didn't spin. But everything else went really well today so very happy with that."
