Valtteri Bottas
thanked the facilities to add his second victory of the year in Sochi, with the bonus of the fastest lap (1: 37.030).
It was a nondescript race on this semi-urban circuit, where only a double penalty for
Lewis Hamilton
upset the established order.
After putting up with the guy at the start, starting from that 'pole' so conducive to slipping, the Briton received a tremendous slap in the form of double punishment for some maneuvers prior to the race.
Third place on the podium, behind
Max Verstappen
, allows him to maintain at least a 44-point lead on the World Cup table.
Carlos Sainz
was
much less productive on Sunday
, out of circulation on the first lap after a failure in turn 2. As soon as he lost the line, the Madrid native wanted to avoid the cars that came from behind, but when he rejoined the front part burst. of his car against one of the protective walls.
McLaren also could not retaliate with
Lando Norris
, relegated from the first lap and fifteenth at the finish line.
Due to paradoxes of this sport, the race was resolved almost half an hour before the red light went out.
At the time, Hamilton was rehearsing his starting drills in a totally irregular way.
The stewards recorded the incident and deliberated for a long time before communicating their punishment, which was actually double.
Two five-second penalties that you should serve during your passage to change tires.
"This is just ridiculous," the Brit said.
Angry with the engineers
After reviewing the video images, the stewards had discovered that the Briton had carried out these maneuvers at the pit exit and not at the end of it, violating articles 19.1 and 36.1 of the regulations.
According to these texts it should have accelerated at the beginning of the 'pit-lane', where it is always mandatory to open gas.
The punishment also meant 10 points in the superlicense, just two from the limit, which would force him to miss a race.
Of course Lewis fumed under his helmet.
Or he would get mad at his own engineers on lap 16.
At that moment, on the soft tires, the stop seemed a bit premature, given that a minute earlier he had set the fastest lap.
Bottas, installed in the lead with the intermediate tires, endured 10 more laps on the track.
To also mount the hard compound, with which he was enough to reach the checkered flag first.
The Finn had accumulated enough merits to allow himself a quiet career.
At Sochi, one of his favorite tracks, he was simply faster than anyone: 12 seconds ahead of Verstappen and 22 seconds ahead of the sulky Hamilton.
His only moment of doubt came on lap 43, with a 'virtual safety car' to replace the bollards of turn 2. The diligence of the stewards, who resolved everything in a jiffy, avoided further setbacks.
Ferrari, in irrelevance
The fight from behind had been resolved in favor of
Sergio Pérez
, who in the middle of the race had gained positions with a precise 'overcut'.
Racing Point, after the abandonment of
Lance Stroll
in the first lap, delivered all its letters to the Mexican.
Not to dream of the podium, but to contain the push of
Esteban Ocon
and
Daniel Ricciardo
.
The pace of the Frenchman did not seem ideal for the chase, so
Cyril Abiteboul
ordered him to give way to his partner at Renault.
Before the Australian had too many illusions, he was punished with five seconds for not following the directions of
Michael Masi
after a track exit at Turn 2.
In any event, Renault's growth has further doomed Ferrari, relegated another week to irrelevance.
Not even
Charles Leclerc
, far above the car, could aspire to more than sixth place.
Even more embarrassing was to see
Sebastian Vettel
in his fight with the thirteenth with
Kevin Magnussen
and
Kimi Raikkonen
.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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