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Drenching rain which had infuriated Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at the Belgian Grand Prix proved to be a blessing for him in Sochi. The late downpour not only caused him to win the Russian Grand Prix, but also resulted in his 100th F1 career victory, writes Mai Al Khatib-Camille.
Originally, it seemed as though McLaren’s Lando Norris was going to win his first-ever Grand Prix, but rain and the team’s pit strategy sealed his fate.
Hamilton had pitted for intermediates as it began to drizzle, while Norris stayed out on slicks which proved to be a catastrophic error of judgement.
Hamilton eased past Norris to win the race, ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who drove from the back of the grid to second place, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz completing the podium having led early on.
This marked Hamilton’s 79th victory with the Mercedes works team, extending its 100 per cent win record in Russia which began with victories for Mercedes in 1913 and 1914.
And in claiming 25 points on Sunday, Hamilton surpassed 4,000 points in Formula One, making him the first driver to reach that milestone.
“Wow… 100!” said a delighted Hamilton. “It’s taken a long time and I wasn’t even sure the 100th would come! The race was tough. I lost a lot of ground at the start, just trying to stay out of trouble. I was patient and at the end, when the rain came, I didn’t want to let Lando go by boxing. Of course, I didn’t know what the rain was doing, it was just my feeling but I’m incredibly grateful to the strategy team for the job they did.”
Hamilton’s 246.5 points leads the Drivers’ Championship, with Verstappen in second with 244.5 and Mercedes Valtteri Bottas in third position with 151 points.
The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team has a total of 397.5 points to lead the Constructors’ Championship.
“Getting anywhere near 100 victories wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the men and women here and back at the factory, I’m so grateful to them - it just feels so special,” added the British driver.
Hamilton also applauded Norris on his incredible pace and efforts, saying that he did an ‘amazing’ job.
“It was bittersweet to see my old team ahead,” added Hamilton. “They’re doing so well, powered by Mercedes and it’s good to see them united again. Max did a good job to come up from second to last, the battle continues and we know we need to be on top form over the remaining races.”
Meanwhile, Norris, who finished seventh, was pretty miffed with the outcome.
“It wasn’t the race or the result we wanted in the end,” said the British-Belgian racing driver.
“I made a good start and we had a good first stint. Right at the end when the rain started, we made the call not to box and that cost us everything.
“We made the decision that was right at the time for the conditions at the time. It was my call, along with the information from the team, and together we need to review what we could’ve done better.
“It’s incredibly disappointing of course, because we’ve been strong all weekend and I felt comfortable with the pace and the car. The result is not a reflection of our weekend, but there are a lot of positives we can take, and now we need to analyse, reset and bounce back in Turkey.”
The Turkish Grand Prix will be held on October 10.
