© Getty ImagesLast Place To Podium For Max In RussiaDutchman claims incredible second place in Sochi.
MaxVerstappenwentfromlastonthegridtoathrillingsecondplaceattheRussianGrandPrixasalatedownpourattheSochiAutodromsawtheDutchdriverandTeammaketherightcalltopitforintermediatetyres.WiththedecisionmadeattherighttimeheclimbedfromP7toapodiumplacebehindrace-winningtitlerivalLewisHamilton.SergioPerezmeanwhiledecidedtotryandattempttostayonslicksinthedeterioratingconditionsandfinishedninth.
At the start of the race, Norris got away well from his first pole position, but behind him eventual podium finisher Carlos Sainz got the benefit of a massive tow on the long run towards turn one. And as they went into the first complex of corners the Ferrari driver powered past the McLaren man to take the lead, as Russell held third place.
Hamilton made a solid start but got boxed in on the inside as the field went into the first turn and he was passed by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and soon after by McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo. Checo, meanwhile, held eighth place at the end of the first lap but he soon passed Alpine’s Fernando Alonso to take up position behind Hamilton.
At the rear of the field, Max made a good start and quickly began to work his way through the pack. By the end of lap five he was up to P15 and was closing in on Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, who had taken an overnight 15-place penalty for changing power unit elements and started from P16.
Max made his way past the Finn on lap six, powering down the inside of the Mercedes into turn 13 to steal P14. He then quickly caught Pierre Gasly and two laps later employed the same move to push past the AlphaTauri man.
There was a nervous moment for the Dutch driver soon after, however. Ahead of him Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was attacking Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel and seeking to profit from their tussle Max dived to the right of the Ferrari driver. But fighting for position, Leclerc was unsighted and almost pushed the Dutch driver into the wall.
Entertaining Weekend For Fans At Sochi Autodrom© Getty Images
Max narrowly escaped disaster and when Leclerc outbraked himself into the next corner, Max pounced to claim P12. Vettel was next in his sights and once again he used the run to turn 13 to grab a tow and then power past his rival as they reached the braking point.
At the front, Norris was using the same move. On lap 13 he tucked into the slipstream behind Sainz, and as the pair approached turn 13 he powered past the Ferrari driver to claim the lead.
Max than began to pump in fastest laps and by lap 21 as Sainz, Stroll and Russell pitted ahead he rose to sixth place behind Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. More crucially, as Norris led from teammate Ricciardo, Max found himself just under four seconds behind third-placed Hamilton.
Hamilton and Max made their first visit to the pit lane at the end of lap 22. Hamilton re-joined in P9 on hard tyres with Max in P12. The Brit began to make his way through the pack and by lap 30 he was back up to P5. Max, though, was still in P10 behind Ricciardo who had earlier suffered a slow pit stop.
At the front, Checo was now leading the Russian Grand Prix, and still running on his starting hard tyres. Behind him, Alonso was in second place ahead of Leclerc, who also needed to pit. Norris was now fourth ahead of Hamilton, Gasly and Sainz.
Leclerc pitted on lap 35 but a slow stop dropped him down the order. Checo made his pit stop at the end of lap 36, but the switch to medium tyres was hampered by a stuck rear left and when he re-joined the action, he was behind Ricciardo who was now fourth behind Sainz, Hamilton and race leader Norris.
Checo Setting The Pace At Sochi Autodrom© Getty Images
Max was now just behind his teammate in sixth place, but his medium tyres were beginning to degrade and he couldn’t resist pressure from Alpine’s Fernando Alonso and dropped to seventh as the race entered its closing stages. Checo then made a move and got past Ricciardo to sit in P4` and as the race entered the final 10 laps and gaps appeared secure it looked like the order might solidify.
However, on lap 46 spots of rain began to fall and as the umbrellas went up in the grandstands the race was suddenly thrown into chaos.
With rain predominantly falling just in the final two sectors, both Norris and Hamilton initially elected to remain on track on slicks. And for a lap it looked like both had made the right choice. However, after brief lull the rain suddenly intensified, and Hamilton dived into the pits for inters. With just four laps left Norris gambled on slicks, which proved to be the wrong call.
Hamilton was quickly chasing down the McLaren driver and when Norris slid wide in the final sector, Hamilton flew past to take his 100th career F1 win.
Max Pleased With Peformance At Sochi© Getty Images
Max, though, read the conditions just right. The Dutchman made the switch to inters at precisely the right time, avoiding the track still being dry, which would damage inters in the slow corners, and also choosing the right moment to shed slicks that were no longer capable of keeping him on track. After emerging from the pit lane on lap 50 he scythed through the field to claim a brilliant second place when Norris eventually pitted for inters.
Behind him Sainz took third place, with Ricciardo claiming fourth. Fifth place went to Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas, despite the Finn spending the bulk of the race outside the points. Alonso took sixth, while Norris was left with seventh place. Although even that result looked in danger after the race, as in his eventual rush to fit inters he slid across the white line on the pit entry and then re-entered the pit lane. His transgression was set to be investigated after the race. Eighth place at the flag went to Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Räikkönen and Checo finished ninth.
The result was a bitter pill to swallow for the Mexican. Starting from eighth on the grid, Checo went deep into the race on his first stint, beautifully managing his hard tyres though to the end of lap 36 and assuming the race lead in the process.
However, his switch to medium tyres was hampered by a stuck right rear wheel and when he emerged from the pit lane it was behind Ricciardo. He pushed hard however to eventually get past the Australian and ahead of the downpour was in a solid fourth place. But when the rain fell, Checo made the decision to gamble on his slick tyres, and though he eventually pitted for inters he had waited too long and had slid down the order to ninth place. The final point on offer went to Williams’ George Russell.
Max Fighting All The Way At Sochi© Getty Images
Wow, we will definitely take that result! Of course to come from last to second is very good and when I woke up this morning I definitely didn’t expect this result
"To finish where we did with the penalty we had, we didn’t lose as many points as we could have so as a Team we did a really good job. It was a crucial call to change to the inters, it was really slippery on track and we made a great decision with the timing and took the right lap to pit. A lot of things can happen when you’re starting from the back of the grid, especially on the first lap when other cars are fighting each other, but we stayed out of trouble, kept it clean, and managed our race very well. The race itself was not very easy, it was difficult to pass other cars and once you got stuck it was easy to damage your tyres but luckily in the end the rain helped us make the last jump in positions.”
Checo Ready For Charge At Sochi© Getty Images
We were on for a podium today so I decided to take the risk in staying out on the slicks instead of pitting for inters
"In the first and third sector it was pretty dry and you could get temperature into the tyres, so if it then dried up those of us on the slicks would have made it work and those on the inters would have seen their race destroyed. In hindsight the slick wasn’t the right tyre and ultimately the timing of the rain in the race meant some people got lucky today and others didn’t.
We were on for a great result with a podium through pure merit and despite a slow pit stop we still managed to come through the field to third but sometimes this is how racing is. The issue with the stop wasn’t a human error and I spoke with my pit crew after the race to check they were okay because we’re obviously all disappointed. As a Team we still walk away with a lot of points today and yes, it is frustrating for me, but I feel like I got so much out of the car which is only promising going to Turkey in two weeks’ time.”
Great Team Performance At Sochi© Getty Images
Today’s result in recovering from 20th to 2nd is an amazing performance
"Our congratulations must go to Lewis on his 100th victory, but second for us after taking our grid penalty feels like a victory. With six or seven laps to go it didn’t look like it was going to be possible. In tricky weather conditions like we had today, you can very easily come out looking like a hero or zero. It’s such a tough call knowing whether to pit or not and the drivers see and feel so much more out on track compared with the engineers on the pit wall, and so the decision was left to Max and Checo on stopping for inters or not.
In the end Max got it right and nailed the call to come in, and benefitted massively as a result whilst Checo decided not to pit and ended up losing out significantly, but these things can happen and luck also has its part to play. You could see Sergio wasn’t alone with the guys out front that tried to brave it out being so close to the end of the race, but ultimately it didn’t work out. The last two venues have historically been very strong for Mercedes so to come away only two points behind in the Drivers’ Championship is positive, and I’m glad we’ve got our power unit penalty out of the way here and managed to recover with a podium.
Everybody in the Team is really enjoying this championship, we’ve got ourselves back into a competitive position and it’s going to be all about these final seven races, getting the strategy right, having the pace, and penalties are going to play a role too. It’s going to be fascinating to see how it unfolds. Looking ahead to Turkey, it was an interesting race with the new surface last year. Hopefully it has weathered in now but we’re really looking forward to it and today’s result sets everything up in the championship up nicely. It’s going to be a phenomenal competition.”
| Position | Driver | Team | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz | Daniel Ricciardo | Valtteri Bottas | Fernando Alonso | Lando Norris | Kimi Räikkönen | Sergio Pérez | George Russell |
| Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | McLaren | Mercedes | Alpine | McLaren | Alfa Romeo Racing | Red Bull Racing Honda | Williams |
