Russian Grand Prix – Race: Hamilton for the 100th!

Lando Norris secured his first pole position in F1, ahead of Carlos Sainz and a surprising 3rd place for George Russell! Lewis Hamilton, in 4th place, was tasked with starting well and staying ahead of his title rival, Max Verstappen, who starts last due to an engine penalty.

The hot start!

An extremely hot start that saw Carlos Sainz take the lead of the Grand Prix after a nice battle with poleman Norris and George Russell, who made an excellent start. Lewis Hamilton had a tough break, dropping to seventh place behind Fernando Alonso before moving back up to sixth.

Behind, Charles Leclerc made a meteoric start, climbing to 12th place! Max Verstappen, starting last, was forced to go straight at the first corner, but took 17th place at the start of the second lap.

Sainz and Norris started to pull away while George Russell acted as a cork in third place. A Russell-Stroll-Ricciardo-Hamilton train formed, while Verstappen was already running into Valtteri Bottas. The Mercedes strategy was starting to bear some fruit.

But Bottas eventually cracked against Verstappen at the end of the second DRS zone. The Dutchman’s comeback was definitely launched!

This Russian Grand Prix has taken a very interesting turn, with several packs of many drivers! Strategies were going to be more crucial than ever.

In front, the two friends and former teammates at McLaren started their duel: Lando Norris caught up with Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. The orange car is now half a second behind on the 10th lap.

Max Verstappen finally found the solution to Charles Leclerc on that same tenth lap.

The battle for the lead has not weakened: second attack from the poleman on #55, but the battle ended quickly. Sainz gained some breathing space on the twelfth lap.

George Russell remained absolutely surgical with his Williams! The future Mercedes driver valiantly held onto his third place.

First stops.

Lance Stroll pulls out first on the 13th lap: the Canadian from Aston Martin has switched from medium tires to hard tires.

Ahead, Lando Norris finally took the lead of the race! The Briton went on the outside of Sainz in turn 13.

George Russell lost his third virtual place during a relatively slow pit stop: Lance Stroll succeeded in his gamble!

It’s Carlos Sainz’s turn to come into the pits on the 15th lap, but the stop doesn’t go well: a small setback on the rear left: the Spaniard is back on track just in front of Lance Stroll.

The two McLaren drivers have now taken the lead in the Russian Grand Prix, ahead of a Lewis Hamilton still stuck behind a clearly in-form Daniel Ricciardo. Max Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race at the start of the 17th lap, closing in on Lewis Hamilton, and repeated the feat on the 18th lap!

The race retained an exceptional intensity while Norris firmly established himself in the lead of the race, taking a first step towards his first Grand Prix victory: 12 seconds ahead of his teammate and the rest of the leading pack!

Daniel Ricciardo made his pit stop on the 23rd lap, but the stop went very wrong. The Mercedes team bluffed by bringing out their mechanics (which is normally forbidden). Hamilton is now off to chase Lando Norris!

Lewis Hamilton finally stopped on the 27th lap, followed closely by Max Verstappen, who switched to medium tires! The battle at more or less distance continued!

Lando Norris had the opportunity to attack before heading into the pits at the beginning of the 29th lap! The pit stop went rather well, and Sergio Pérez took the temporary lead. Valtteri Bottas also made a stop to switch to medium tires.

Behind, Lance Stroll cracked against Lewis Hamilton, who made short work of Carlos Sainz, the former leader of the Grand Prix, and then Pierre Gasly.

The poster for the duel for victory was therefore Norris-Hamilton, with a clear pace advantage for the Mercedes.

First Grand Prix retirement for Mick Schumacher, his team called him back to the pits to give up on the 33rd lap.

In front, Sergio Perez still leads the Grand Prix on worn tires ahead of Fernando Alonso. Lando Norris has caught up to the Alpine which has finally pitted, just like Sergio Perez. Norris regains the first place, but not for long with the plane Hamilton chasing him.

Sergio Perez emerged just ahead of Max Verstappen, who was starting to struggle with his medium tires. This was evidenced by Fernando Alonso overtaking him for sixth place. The idea was to limit the damage as much as possible.

The ten final laps: British duel

A little over a second separates Lando Norris from Lewis Hamilton. After an infernal comeback, the Mercedes #44 tries to stay in touch with his young compatriot.

The rain threatened the Sochi circuit for the final laps, adding even more tension to the end of the race! Spectators put on their umbrellas.

Lando Norris got a little scare because of the raindrops in the second lap! The rain has incredibly intensified and the first drivers have stopped!

Neither Norris nor Hamilton stopped at the start of the last 5 laps!

Last acts of madness!

The drivers not playing for the win have stopped, as well as Lewis Hamilton who switched to intermediates. Lando Norris lost the victory by not stopping…

Lewis Hamilton therefore had a clear field to achieve his 100th victory in Formula 1, far, very far ahead of Max Verstappen, who made an incredible comeback, and Carlos Sainz on the podium! The Briton regains the lead in the championship by just two points over Verstappen.

On the French side, Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon finished 13th and 14th.

The ranking of the race