Russia – Race: Lewis Hamilton can thank Valtteri Bottas
Dominated in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix thanks to team orders. He extends his lead in the championship to 50 points over Sebastian Vettel, who finished third today.
If the rain made its appearance since the qualifiers, the track was completely dry at the time of the start. It went perfectly: Sebastian Vettel got a better launch than Lewis Hamilton but the Briton was able to slipstream his teammate to maintain his second place.
Behind, Charles Leclerc was able to take advantage of his good position on the grid to get the better of Esteban Ocon, then Kevin Magnussen thanks to a magnificent maneuver on the outside in the fourth corner of the second lap, which allowed him to move up to fifth position. Max Verstappen also made a stunning comeback, starting from 19th. By the 8th lap, he was already able to move up to fifth position.
Unfortunately for Pierre Gasly, the race was very short as he spun due to a brake problem, with a very soft pedal. His teammate, Brendon Hartley, also fell victim to the same issue. A week before their engine supplier Honda’s home race, both Toro Rosso cars were forced to retire after only three laps.
On the 12th lap, Valtteri Bottas was the first of the leaders to pit. Sebastian Vettel then chose to dive into the pit lane the following lap, while Lewis Hamilton tried to do a second lap to attempt to pass his teammate. But Mercedes’ strategy did not work as the Ferrari was able to slip between the two Mercedes cars.
This had the merit of forcing Lewis Hamilton to attempt an overtaking maneuver on his championship rival on the track. Although the German moved over at the second corner, he could do nothing at the following braking of the fifth corner.
A crucial move by @LewisHamilton to get past Sebastian Vettel and allow Mercedes to take control of the #RussianGP ????????
Several laps later, he’s 50 points clear of his title rival ????#F1 pic.twitter.com/AKlsCXCACc
— Formula 1 (@F1) 30 septembre 2018
On the other hand, the driver with number 44 did not need to exert much of his talent to take the lead of the race since the pit wall ordered Valtteri Bottas to pull over just before the 13th turn so that Lewis Hamilton could further increase his championship lead over Sebastian Vettel.
Behind, Force India also played the strategy game by asking Esteban Ocon to let Sergio Perez pass so that the Mexican could attempt to overtake Kevin Magnussen. But the strategy did not work, and Sergio Perez was forced to let the Frenchman pass again.
In the second to last lap, Valtteri Bottas asked on the radio if he would get his place back on the line. But Mercedes’ response was terse: « The positions remain as they are. We’ll talk about it at the end of the race. » Once the race was over, Toto Wolff stated on the radio « A difficult day for you, a difficult day for us. We’ll talk about it afterwards. »
The two Red Bulls managed a very impressive comeback, finishing 5th and 6th after starting from the back of the grid. Charles Leclerc also succeeded in having a very good race, finishing 7th, far ahead of Kevin Magnussen. The Dane was able to perfectly keep the two Force India cars behind him throughout the race.
