IN a tense qualifying fight in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix pole, it was between Lewis Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas in his Williams but all with Mercedes engines. Finally, Hamilton qualified for pole position just in front of Rosberg and Bottas for one, two, three.
Last year’s world champion, Sebastian Vettel, managed to qualify only 11th, four places behind Daniel Ricciardo. The weather in Sochi was very pleasant for racing, unlike the Japanese Grand Prix, which was virtually rained out.
The Ferraris’ performances were disappointing as Fernando Alonso managed to qualify eighth and Kimi Raikkonen ninth.
Felipe Massa, in the second Williams, experienced fuel pressure problems and was duly relegated to 18th position on the grid.
The race started under perfect conditions, with the world champion points leader Hamilton in first place.
Teammate Rosberg pulled alongside him going into turn two.
The German had the inside line but locked up heavily under braking, flat spotting his tyre so badly that he needed to pit for fresh rubber at the end of the first lap.
As a result he had to play catch-up from 20th position, and his medium compound Pirelli tyres had to last the whole race if he was to appear on the podium.
It wasn’t a very eventful or exciting race, other than Rosberg’s recovery process, which brought him up through the field. Hamilton thus led from start to finish.
Bottas was closing up on Rosberg in the final stages, setting the fastest lap time, but finished up 3.7 seconds short in the fight for second place.
Excitingly, Jenson Button rode a fantastic race to revitalise the McLaren team, heading home his teammate Kevin Magnussen in fourth and fifth places.
While Ferrari’s Alonso finished in sixth, he had to fend off the constant attentions of Ricciardo in his Red Bull, finishing seventh.
Ricciardo’s teammate and main rival Vettel, in the other Red Bull, finished in eighth.
Raikkonen, in the second Ferrari, finished a distant ninth, Sergio Perez in the Force India breathing down his neck and finishing off in 10th.
Mercedes secured the constructors’ crown for 2014, by ousting Red Bull for the first time.
Hamilton now heads the drivers’ standings by 17 points from Rosberg, 291 to 274, with Ricciardo third on 199, still mathematically in title contention with 100 points available from the remaining three rounds.
Race: 1 Lewis Hamilton; 2 Nico Rosberg; 3 Valtteri Bottas; 4 Jenson Button; 5 Kevin Magnussen; 6 Fernando Alonso; 7 Daniel Ricciardo; 8 Sebastian Vettel; 9 Kimi Raikkonen; 10 Sergio Perez.
Written in the absence of Rod Kinsey by Huibert Phielix and Elaine Kinsey (Rod’s daughter).
