Pictures courtesy Daimler / Mercedes
Nico Rosberg of Mercedes won
the Russian Grand Prix while his team mate Lewis Hamilton recovered to second
in a race dominated by the former. The race in Sochi saw Hamilton fighting his
way from 10th on the grid to secure the familiar Mercedes one-two, as Ferrari’s
Kimi Raikkonen came in third to complete the podium. Sergio Perez of Force
India came in 9th to ensure some vital points for the Indian team.
It was Rosberg’s fourth win of
the season and his seventh in succession. The Sochi results gives Rosberg a 43-point
lead in the driver standings. Former world champion Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari
ran into bad luck as he was was hit from behind by Daniil Kvyat in Turn 2 on
the opening lap as he pushed the Ferrari inside Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. It
simply got worse for Vettel after that as he had to slow down because of a
puncture but he was again hit from behind by Kvyat and sent spinning hard into
the wall in Turn 3. The Russian was given a 10s stop-go penalty and three
penalty points, but it was all over for Vettel.
There was further disaster further
back between Haas’s Esteban Gutierrez, the Force India of Nico Hulkenberg,
Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber and Rio Haryanto’s Manor. Max Verstappen looked set for a strong sixth
for Toro Rosso until his Ferrari engine broke on the 34th lap, handing the
position to Fernando Alonso who had made a blinding start for McLaren.
Among the first ten drivers
were Valtteri Bottqas of Williams, his teammate Felipe Massa, Fernando Alonso
of McLaren, Kevin Magnussen of Renault, Romain
Grosjean of Haas, Perez of Force India and Jenson Button of McLaren who came in
10th.
Rosberg now has a lead of 43
points over Hamilton and joins Alberto Ascari, Michael Schumacher and Vettel as
the only men ever to win seven Grands Prix in a row. As Raikkonen rises to
third with 36 points, Vettel himself lies fourth on 33, one ahead of Massa.
POS. DRIVER TEAM
1 NICO ROSBERG MERCEDES
2 LEWIS HAMILTON MERCEDES
3 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FERRARI
4 VALTTERI BOTTAS WILLIAMS
5 FELIPE MASSA WILLIAMS
6 FERNANDO ALONSO MCLAREN
7 KEVIN MAGNUSSEN RENAULT
8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN HAAS
9 SERGIO PEREZ FORCE INDIA
10 JENSON BUTTON MCLAREN
11 DANIEL RICCIARDO RED
BULL RACING
12 CARLOS SAINZ TORO ROSSO
13 JOLYON PALMER RENAULT
14 MARCUS ERICSSON SAUBER
15 DANIIL KVYAT RED BULL RACING
16 FELIPE NASR SAUBER
17 ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ HAAS
18 PASCAL WEHRLEIN MANOR
NC MAX VERSTAPPEN TORO
ROSSO DNF
NC SEBASTIAN VETTEL FERRARI DNF
NC NICO HULKENBERG FORCE
INDIA DNF
NC RIO HARYANTO MANOR DNF