Nico Rosberg cruised to victory in the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday as his title rival, Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, dodged crashes to finish second.
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His teammate Lewis Hamilton did well to battle back to the front of the pack after starting in 10th place on the grid, and at one stage a burst of impressive driving saw him cut Rosberg’s lead down to 7.7 seconds.
Although Hamilton – who has endured a frustrating campaign – came second to Rosberg in Sochi, his race was affected by an engine problem.
Kimi Raikkonen maintained his good 2016 form with third place in Sochi, but the Finn admitted that Ferrari didn’t have the pace to challenge Mercedes.
The Mercedes drivers continued their team’s domination of the season, as they came home ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, who completed the podium positions.
Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff says conspiracy theorists suggesting his team favor Nico Rosberg over Lewis Hamilton are “lunatics”.
“The reason why I’m being vocal about it is that I want to protect those guys because they’re being hit by comments that are just inexcusable and unfair – abusive without any reason”.
“There wasn’t a doubt in my mind I could win it”, said Hamilton, who went on to finish second.
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel (centre) is rammed off the track by Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat (left) in the first lap of the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom racetrack in Sochi, Russia, on Sunday. “Today, with the best material, technical and human resources and with such a gap and the rules not changing, they will always have the opportunity to win the race”.
The other three drivers all went on to be crowned champions after achieving the landmark, but Rosberg is refusing to get ahead of himself. “Of course it doesn’t feel great but these things happen sometimes”. We are pushing the limits on the chassis and on the engine side a lot…
His lead in the world championship now stands at 43 points – nearly the equivalent of two full race victories. He scored his fourth consecutive race win of the season and a historic seventh straight win of his career.
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Hamilton ended by thanking his team for their efforts in ensuring he started tenth on the grid, which included flying parts in by private jet overnight and long hours to prepare his vehicle. “We are behind where we want to be but I’m sure as a team we will get there”.
