Mercedes’ Hamilton wins in Russia via team tactics at expense of P2 Bottas; Vettel salvages P3 for Ferrari, Verstappen fights from P19 to P5

Mercedes acted with ruthless efficiency to thwart any threat from Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel during the Russian Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom on Sunday, utilizing team tactics in an unsentimental way to insure victory for their ace, Lewis Hamilton. With their other driver Valtteri Bottas having won the pole and leading the race after the first and only round of pit stops, the team ordered Bottas to step aside for the championship points leader nearly midway through, ceding the lead and subsequently acting as a blocker to Vettel’s Prancing Horse for the remainder of the contest. It wasn’t the most popular move to make, as it seemed unfair to the Finnish driver who hadn’t put a foot wrong all weekend and was seeking his first win of the season. But through the cold-eyed prism of the overall Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championship it was the right call.

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

The Ferraris of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen lacked the pure pace of the Mercedes Silver Arrows and could never get close enough to get by Bottas for the remainder of the race let alone challenge Hamilton. Afterwards a subdued Hamilton credited Bottas’s “gentlemanly” teamwork for his victory, the Englishman’s eighth of the season and fifth out of the last six contests. That stunning run of success has now ballooned Hamilton’s lead over Vettel in the Drivers’ Championship to a whopping 50 points with just five GP remaining. Mercedes also pulled away from Ferrari a little more in the Constructors’ and now lead by 53 points. But Bottas could be forgiven if all that good news for the team and Lewis came as cold comfort for him after having a chance for victory snuffed out by the having to move aside for the “greater good.”

A lot of the intrigue at Mercedes was caused by the near-miraculous drive of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who was forced to start form way back in 19th on the grid after several engine modification penalties. But the Dutch wunderkind, who turned 21 on race day, was not about to let technical infractions spoil his party. With a stunning display of overtaking, Verstappen made up a pile of positions in the opening laps, passing back markers seemingly at will. After Lap 1 he was already up to P13. By Lap 3 he was up to P10 and by Lap 8 he had clawed his way all the way up to P5. Also, in trying to maximize their first stint in coming from the back Verstappen, and his equally penalized teammate Daniel Ricciardo in P18 on the grid, had started on the hardest compound Soft Pirelli tires, while the front runners he now found himself directly behind were on the quicker-wearing Ultra Soft rubber. So when Mercedes pitted Bottas on Lap 12 for the change to Soft Pirellis, Verstappen picked up another position. Vettel came in on Lap 13 for this same swap, while Hamilton stayed out perhaps one lap too long and lost time. His in-lap was not quite fast enough and when Hamilton emerged from the exceptionally long Sochi pit exit he found himself directly beside Vettel’s Ferrari at full chat.

But the Mercedes showed its superiority on the very next lap, as Hamilton harassed, was rather dangerously blocked by and then forcefully passed Vettel to regain his position on track, usually a difficult feat at this circuit. After all those pit stops had cycled through and Hamilton had made his excellent overtake that meant that Raikkonen now temporarily lead the race with Verstappen amazingly in P2. And when Raikkonen pitted on Lap 18 Vertsappen had made it all the way to the front of the pack. The only question that remained was how long he could run his original set of Soft tires before he had to make his mandatory pit stop so he could maximize his projected finishing position. That meant Vertsappen had to nurse his rubber somewhat and that saw him begin to hold up the two Mercedes behind him, with Hamilton desperate to get away from Vettel just behind them. With Bottas unable to get close enough to Verstappen to make a move and Hamilton running faster on slightly fresher rubber behind them Mercedes decided to make that fateful call on Lap 25… and Bottas pulled aside to let Hamilton through.

Vertappen’s teammate Ricciardo finally made his first stop on Lap 40 but the Dutchman continued to circulate. Hamilton made an aggressive attempt to pass for the lead on track but could not get by him and presumably the Mercedes pit wall reminded him that it wasn’t really necessary to make any risky moves. Finally on Lap 43 Verstappen came into the pits for his first and only stop and Hamilton inherited the lead and with it the eventual victory. Bottas would finish a somwhat disgruntled P2, Vettel in P3, Raikkonen in P4 and Verstappen a fantastic P5 after his P19 start, an excellent and hard-earned birthday gift. And if it was not the most satisfying Mercedes win of Hamilton’s career it was nonetheless another crucial stepping stone to ultimate 2018 supremacy for both driver and team.

Top 10 finishers of the Russian GP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next round is in but a week’s time — the Japanese Grand Prix from historic Suzuka. With wet and wild weather a distinct possibility as it has been so often in the past it could turn out to be a race where anything might happen. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!