Lewis Hamilton says there is “still a long way to go” in the Formula 1 title race despite moving to the brink of triumph with victory in Russian Federation.
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Starting second on the grid, Hamilton took advantage of his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg’s early crash to move into the lead.
The clash gave the third podium spot to Force India’s Sergio Pérez, his team’s first of the season.
Daniil Kvyat finished sixth on home soil in the Red Bull ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas qualified third for Mercedes-powered Williams with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen fourth and fifth.
Despite Hamilton’s victory still ultimately being enough to clinch Mercedes their second successive Constructors’ Championship, team boss Toto Wolff was left with mixed emotions post-race.
But following investigations, the Finn was penalised 30 seconds and was demoted to eighth. Hamilton now leads Vettel by 66 points and Rosberg by 73. That lead had extended sufficiently by lap 33, when he made his only stop of the race to pit and return to the front unchallenged.
“One lap before the end it seemed like everything went away from us”.
Rosberg started on pole but retired on lap seven with a throttle problem and dropped to third in the standings.
Rosberg said, “I’m very happy”.
In a race with two Safety auto interventions, several accidents and a series of retirements, Carlos Sainz, who had crashed heavily in his Toro Rosso on Saturday, was passed fit to start from the back of the grid.
Mercedes have won 11 of 14 races so far, with eight one-two finishes, and staff can expect significant bonuses again this season. ” Vettel hopes his second-place finish is a sign of things to come in 2016″.
He then broke the Sochi lap record with a 1m 40.777s, beating Bottas’ best from past year of 1m 40.896s.
But Hamilton claimed a much bigger prize than the Ferrari drivers – the winner’s trophy from Russian president Vladimir Putin. And Hamilton, who briefly stopped his media session to send Brawn a congratulatory text, paid tribute to his countryman. There was no more I could do because I had been on the same tires for more than 40 laps.
NR: This time I do not intend to be in the situation of correcting any mistakes. Both were left stranded, bringing out the safety auto.
“It was a shame for the team to lose one of the cars and not to have a race”.
“It is [also] a special moment for me to surpass Ayrton [‘s win tally] and carry it on this way this weekend”.
Button improved on his starting position of 13th to claim ninth place.
“I remember sitting with Ross and I got such a good feeling when they told me the plans they had”, he added.
“At a few point I was hoping there might be a slight chance to catch Lewis, but he had a few pace in hand and wasn’t really pushing at the end”.
“Still, it wasn’t bad. The goal is still to make sure I have it when I cross the line in Abu Dhabi”.
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“But eventually, hopefully, we are going to wear them”.
