Mercedes F1′ Nico Rosberg has dominated the Russian Grand Prix to take his record 7th straight Formula One win after leaving the rest of the drivers behind on Sunday at Sochi race track.
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Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull, who had also collided with Vettel at the last race in China, struck the Ferrari driver twice on the first lap, the second time punting him into the wall. Only Michael Schumacher in 2004 and Alberto Ascari from 1952-53 have matched that achievement, while Vettel is the only man to have more back-to-back wins with his nine consecutive wins in 2013.
Rosberg leads the drivers’ championship on 100 points, with Hamilton (57) and Raikonnen (43) behind him.
Despite Rosberg’s win coming across two seasons, another stat also highlights his chances – four other drivers have won the first four races of a Formula 1 season and all went on to become world champions.
With a margin of around 13 seconds, and with Hamilton hampered by a water pressure issue, the German was never really threatened and controlled the second half of the race to come home 25 seconds clear. He had to settle for second behind his teammate, and though Mercedes would yet again claim a 1-2 finish, Hamilton himself would have to settle for second by almost 30 seconds.
Hamilton had suffered an engine failure in qualifying but there was nothing to fault his racing as he tried to put himself back in contention in terms of defending his title.
And you know what’s better than winning – awkward exchanges with Russian President Vladimir Putin – as Rosberg wins the Grand Prix in Sochi. Mercedes chartered a private jet from their base in Brixworth to Sochi with replacement engine parts just so Hamilton would avoid a pit-lane start.
Raikkonen lost out to Valtteri Bottas at the restart after the safety vehicle, but passed him in the pit stop sequence.
Rosberg’s teammate Lewis Hamilton has a bad start but managed to secure the second place.
The Briton said: “I’m not sure I’ve ever been big believer in luck. At that time, I was lapping a little quicker than Nico, I was chewing away at (his lead)”, said Hamilton, adding he had no idea how serious the problem with his auto was. Renault’s Kevin Magnussen was seventh, with eighth for Romain Grosjean of Haas, followed by Force India’s Sergio Perez and the second McLaren of Jenson Button. “I had a great start and from there was able to control the pace at the front”, said Rosberg.
With Hamilton out of contention, Rosberg secured pole easily, opting not to run at the end of the final session after setting a time well beyond the reach of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was.706 seconds off the pace in second. Whereas Kvyat seemed to have shaken off Vettel’s comments before, he was quick to admit his fault this time. I think there was enough damage to conclude I couldn’t continue.
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Two weeks previously in China, exactly the same engine failure left him at the back of the grid, and he finished seventh in a vehicle damaged in a collision at the first corner. After he had cooled down he said when asked about Kvyat “I don’t dislike him”.
