Mercedes took full advantage of Scuderia Ferrari’s reliability and tactical problems in Russia, as Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win in four races on Sunday when he rode his luck to end Ferrari’s winning streak.
Sebastian Vettel, who led from lap one, suffered a mechanical failure and retired after leading, gifting Mercedes a chance to extend their Sochi supremacy to six wins in succession. Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc came home a frustrated third after starting from pole and losing his advantage to Sebastian Vettel on the opening lap in a race punctuated by two Safety Car interventions and one use of the Virtual Safety Car.
“It was pretty clear. I got off to a good start and I think I’ve kept my part of the agreement. This will be discussed internally. Then I felt comfortable, I could expand the lead. I want to discuss this in the team, not here, but I thought it was clear what the plan was and I did my part so I didnt understand it in the moment i just tried to do my race. I don’t know exactly what happened there to be honest. I think we had an agreement, I spoke in particular with Charles before he race, I think it was quite clear. But I don’t know, maybe I missed something. Bitter today because we wanted to have 1 and 2.” – Sebastian Vettel said in his post-race interview – “The speed was there, but unfortunately technology has slowed me down. Everything else will be discussed in the team. Suddenly I had no more power from the battery, I was missing 60hp. I then parked the car where, in my opinion, no safetycar was needed.” – the German driver explained.
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