Russian GP: Hamilton claims 100th F1 win as rain denies Norris his first

Lewis Hamilton secured his 100th Formula 1 Grand Prix win as Lando Norris was washed away by rain in the closing lap in Russia.

The Briton struggled early on behind Daniel Ricciardo, allowing championship rival Max Verstappen only a few seconds behind him despite starting P20.

But once in clear air, Hamilton showed his pace and benefitted from a bad decision by Norris to stay out as conditions deteriorated to claim his century of victories.

Race Review

Carlos Sainz took the lead from Norris at the start as Hamilton dropped to seventh on a scrappy opening lap.

Verstappen made some progress from the back of the grid, quickly catching Valtteri Bottas, who started 16th after Mercedes took a “tactical” decision to give the Finn a new engine, resulting in a penalty.

It would only take until Lap 7 for the Dutchman to pass Bottas, with a nice move into Turn 13.

Hamilton recovered past Fernando Alonso in sixth but became stuck in a DRS train led by George Russell in third for Williams.

That was allowing Sainz and Norris to pull a healthy lead out front in the early laps, before the McLaren driver began attacking for the lead.

And as the soft tyres began to fade, Lando made his move into Turn 13 with Ferrari pitting the Spaniard a lap later.

The early stop was the wrong move, however, as Norris continued at a strong pace out front with teammate Ricciardo second.

Hamilton remained stuck behind the McLaren in third, as Verstappen on hard tyres closed right in on his championship rival in sixth.

As Mercedes teased the undercut, Ricciardo pitted but a slow stop undid all the Australian’s hard work, while also releasing Hamilton who immediately upped his pace.

The world champion and Verstappen pitted on the same lap but with the tyres reversed as Lewis switched to hards with Max on mediums.

After the stop, Hamilton went back on the charge lapping consistently faster than Norris, who also made his pit-stop.

Meanwhile, Max found himself seventh when the final stops were made behind teammate Perez and Alonso, who passed the Red Bull on fresh tyres.

Despite Lewis’ speed, Norris was able to match the Briton as he closed in but the race was turned on its head as rain hit the track in the closing laps.

Lando and Hamilton braved it out as conditions worsened as drivers behind, including Verstappen, pitted for intermediates.

Further down, the two Aston Martins touched and Sebastian Vettel spun when the rain hit, dropping both he and teammate Lance Stroll outside the top 10.

Ultimately, Lewis would put on the wet tyres at just the right time before the rain worsened, while Norris saw his hopes of victory wash away as he tried to stay out on slicks.

Once ahead, Hamilton’s path was clear to claim his 100th Grand Prix win, as Verstappen recovered up to second to claim an unexpected podium and limit the damage in the championship.

Sainz also made an earlier move to intermediates work to claim third for Ferrari, ahead of Ricciardo in fourth for McLaren.

Bottas vaulted up the order to fifth when the rain came in the second Mercedes, with Fernando Alonso sixth.

Norris eventually dropped to seventh, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, Perez and Russell claiming the final point for Williams in 10th.

Full results from a crazy race in Sochi can be seen below: