Lewis Hamilton win in Russia seals his 100th Grand Prix victory

LEWIS HAMILTON wins the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi to become the first F1 driver to ever reach 100 victories 

Lewis Hamilton took the chequered flag today, Sunday, September 26, in an eventful Russian Grand Prix in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, to become the first F1 driver in history to notch up 100 victories, crushing the dreams of young British driver Lando Norris in the process.

Norris started on pole, but lost the lead when Spain’s Carlos Sainz took him on the first lap, only for the dynamic young McLaren driver to regain the lead on Lap 13, where he stayed until just five laps from the end, when the heavens opened up and the error to stay on the same tyres cost him a probable maiden Fi win, as his car became unsteerable at times, by which time the Mercedes team had put Hamilton on a new set of intermediate tyres and it was game over.

His team had asked him over the radio if he wanted to come in to change to intermediate tyres but the 21-year-old gave them a firm “no”, with Hamilton also telling the Mercedes team that the rain was not that bad, but being ordered to pit anyway, a very wise decision that paid its dividend as the rain suddenly started to pour down, rejoining the race 14.7 seconds behind Norris, but within just five corners he had passed the McLaren and taken the lead.

This victory takes Lewis two points clear of his main rival, Max Verstappen, who had a stunning drive, starting 20th on the grid, but fighting his way through the field to an eventual second place, with his Red Bull team right on the money with the tyre change when they saw the rain coming.

Carlos Sainz finished a very deserved third in the Ferrari, again stopping at just the right time to put the intermediates, with Daniel Ricciardo – who won the previous race in Monza – placing fourth in the other McLaren, ahead of Hamilton’s teammate Valtteri Bottas in fifth, and a brilliant drive from Fernando Alonso in the Alpine saw him take sixth.

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