Sochi (Russia): A euphoric Lewis Hamilton extended his world championship lead to 73 points Sunday when he rode his luck to claim a strategic victory for Mercedes in a roller-coaster Russian Grand Prix.
The defending five-time champion came home 3.829 seconds ahead of team mate and nearest championship rival Valtteri Bottas as Mercedes took advantage of Ferrari’s reliability and tactical problems by delivering a Silver Arrows one-two.
Having grabbed the lead from pole man Charles Leclerc on the opening lap, Sebastian Vettel ignored team orders to let him pass before he suffered a mechanical failure and stopped on lap 28.
The resultant Safety Car period gifted Mercedes, who started on medium tyres while their rivals all used softs, a chance to extend their Sochi supremacy to six consecutive wins.
Leclerc came home a frustrated and disgruntled third, claiming he expected Vettel to repay him for his slip-stream in a race punctuated by two Safety Car interventions and one use of the Virtual Safety Car.
Hamilton’s win was his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix August 4, his ninth in 16 outings this year and the 82nd of his career, lifting him 73 points clear at the top of the drivers’ title race. He scored an additional point for fastest lap.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished fourth, having started ninth, ahead of team mate Alex Albon, who had started from the pit lane.
Carlos Sainz was sixth for McLaren ahead of Sergio Perez of Racing Point, Kevin Magnussen of Haas, Lando Norris in the second McLaren and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.
“That’s exactly what we needed,” exclaimed a delighted Hamilton on the team radio following a flawless strategic performance by Mercedes.
“It was an incredible job by all the team — not giving up. Keeping up with Ferrari was a hard task, but we kept pushing.”
Vettel made light of claims that he ignored Ferrari team orders Sunday after an engine failure ended his hopes of winning the Russian Grand Prix.
The four-time world champion, who made a blistering start and led for 27 laps, smiled when he was told he had been voted ‘driver of the day’ in a fan vote.
But, he said, he was disappointed Ferrari had failed to land a one-two triumph. “I don’t know exactly what happened,” said Vettel, when asked about a pre-race agreement he had with team-mate Charles Leclerc, who gave him a first lap slipstream to take the lead from third on the grid.
“I think we had an agreement. I spoke with Charles especially before the race. It was quite clear. Maybe I missed something?”
“I’m sure we’ll talk about it,” he added with an enigmatic smile.
“It’s bitter for us today because we wanted to have a one-two and it’s not the result we wanted. I don’t want to share (details about our agreement) and I don’t want to put the team in a bad light.
“We talked about a strategy to get past Lewis and I had a good start. I was in third and Charles was first — we raced and I think that’s what we did until the pit stop when obviously I lost the lead and then the car broke down.”
Vettel, whose victory in Singapore a week earlier was his first for 13 months, admitted: “It’s bitter for me because this year has been tough. I unlocked the car — yesterday Charles was quickest and I can’t be happy with that — and I was on the rhythm today and fastest to the stop.
“The positive thing for me is that the car is faster now. In raw pace, Mercedes have an edge, but this should give them a headache.”
