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Mercedes clinched their second successive Formula One constructors’ championship on Sunday and Lewis Hamilton took a huge stride towards his third drivers’ title with victory in Russia.
Congratulated on the podium by President Vladimir Putin, Hamilton took his ninth win of the season and 42nd of his career after a throttle problem forced the early retirement of German team mate Nico Rosberg.
The Briton now has a lead of 66 points over Ferrari’s second-placed Sebastian Vettel and, if results go his way, can secure his own second successive crown in Austin, Texas, in two weeks’ time.
Mercedes team bosses had left the circuit long before the constructors’ title was confirmed, however, with the outcome depending on a stewards’ enquiry that eventually demoted Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen from fifth to eighth.
“It just feels special to be a part of it and to have contributed to a team success,” Hamilton told reporters some two hours after the race had ended. “It is a great, great, great feeling.”
With four races remaining, and a maximum 100 points to be won, Hamilton has 302 points to Vettel’s 236 and Rosberg’s 229.
Mexican Sergio Perez finished third for Force India, in a race with two safety car interludes following crashes, after Raikkonen rammed the rear of fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas’s Williams while battling for the final podium place.
