Lewis Hamilton wins a chaotic and electrifying Russian GP in Sochi and crosses the finish line of Quota 100 victories in Formula 1. Behind him Max Verstappen, who limits the damage to the maximum in the weekend when he started last on the grid. Third and on the podium Carlos Sainz in a Ferrari, while the other red one of Charles Leclerc was a victim of the rain that fell in the last few laps and of the choice to stay on track with dry tires. A choice that especially punished Lando Norris, who was leading the race up to 5 laps from the end and then slipped to 8th place. Excellent 7th for Kimi Raikkonen on Alfa Romeo.
Lewis Hamilton celebrates victory no.100 on the Sochi track, Formula 1, GP Sochi, Getty Images
Credit Foto Getty Images
Decisive choices
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Hamilton: “Victory n ° 100? I thought it wasn’t coming anymore …”
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37 MINUTES AGO
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The very last stages were decisive with the arrival of rain on the track overlooking the Black Sea. Up to that moment Norris had led with authority, while Hamilton had struggled a bit in the first part behind Ricciardo, and Verstappen had built his own comeback – together with Leclerc – up to 7th place. The water of the last 5/6 laps has upset everything. Those who tried to resist counting on the short distance, like Norris and Leclerc, sank. On the other hand, those who anticipated the choice to put the intermediates were right. Thus Hamilton was able to win, Vertasppen transforming a 7th place into a 2nd, Sainz recovering the podium he had lost. A sort of counterpart to what happened on Saturday in Q3.
Order of arrival
| Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 |
| Max Verstappen | Red Bull | +52.850 |
| Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | +8.224 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | McLaren | +3.893 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | +3.066 |
| Fernando Alonso | Alpine | +12.010 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo | +5.635 |
| Lando Norris | McLaren | +0.453 |
| Sergiuo Perez | Red Bull | +2.468 |
| George Russell | Williams | +6.571 |
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The 7 key moments of the Russian GP
Departure – Sainz takes advantage of Norris’ wake to take the lead with a powerful braking in turn 1, Hamilton is instead hampered under braking and slips to 7th place. After all, Leclerc finds an impressive braking inside and immediately climbs back to 14th position, while Verstappen is more cautious.
The starting block that allows Sainz to overtake Norris at the start of the game
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Round 8 – Mercedes’ intent to slow Verstappen with Bottas immediately wrecked, and the gearbox was replaced to make him start 17th. The Dutchman slipped it off at turn 13 without apparent signs of defense from the Finn.
Round 10 – Verstappen climbs up to take and overtake Charles Leclerc for 11th position. The Ferrari driver then takes advantage of the Dutchman’s tow and follows him like a shadow for the rest of the race, until the last chaotic laps.
Round 13 – Norris has more pace than Sainz and overtakes him with momentum. The Ferrari driver stops shortly after mounting hard tires, while the Englishman continues with an excellent pace.
Round 28 – At the end of the pit stop roulette, Lando Norris is again first but Lewis Hamilton, with hard tires, is very fast and has a free track after passing Ricciardo and Perez with the strategy.
Round 46 – As expected, the rain arrives on Sochi, disrupting a race that was crystallizing with Hamilton behind Norris. The McLaren driver does not want to give up the leadership and is betting on the fact that he can resist for 5 laps on dry tires, a choice that unites him with Ferrari driver Leclerc. Hamilton instead goes to mount intermediate tires as well as Sainz and Verstappen before him.
Lap 51 – With a wet track Norris no longer holds the car and must surrender to the evidence, returning on the penultimate lap. Hamilton goes on to win but Max Verstappen, very quick to change even before him, transforms 7th place into a very precious 2nd. Sainz finds the podium again, Leclerc slips out of the points.
I top
Lewis Hamilton – Until halfway through the race it seemed a difficult race, behind Ricciardo and without flickers on the clock. Then with hard rubber he found his rhythm, quickly plunging into Norris’ exhausts. Lando’s gamble allowed him to win, but before the rain came he would have earned much more on Verstappen.
Max Verstappen – Clearly, the prudent choice helped those who had less to risk, like Hamilton and Verstappen. But before going into pain on medium tires he had built a good comeback up to 7th place, and in the end he transformed a complicated weekend into an almost full basket. Second final place and fourth power unit successfully unmarked.
Max Verstappen’s great comeback in Sochi
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Lando Norris – Clearly the choice to stay on track was a mistake, perhaps he trusted too much in the few laps left on the wave of enthusiasm. But there is also that a rider not in the running for the World Championship, who sees victory so close, can take a chance. It remains a great weekend.
Kimi Raikkonen – Excellent 7th and not so much because of the final chaos, but because of a perfect management of the whole race, right from the early stages. Heavy and unexpected points for the Alfa Romeo team.
I flop
Valtteri Bottas – He closes a good 4th, but only because the team had desperately mounted intermediate tires before anyone else. Impalpable in the defense on Verstappen, he sinks in mid-table without showing signs of life until the final roulette.
Sergio Perez – in the excited final he follows the instructions of the team, but not even his race has registered rings, except for a feeble pressure on Hamilton in the first part.
The statistics
With his second personal podium of the season, Carlos Sainz signed podium number 777 in the history of Ferrari. After a starting grid on Saturday with McLaren, Ferrari and Williams in the top three places, a distant memory of 1994.
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