Qualification
The current Russian Grand Prix has become a serious test of strength for the organizers due to the heavy rains that hit Sochi during the days of the stage.
So, even on Friday, the possibility of transferring qualifications to Sunday was not ruled out.
True, we still managed to carry out two free practices.
In both, the best time was shown by the driver of Mercedes Valtteri Bottas.
His teammate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton was slightly inferior to him both times, and was also remembered for the demolition of a mechanic in the pit lane.
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But on Saturday morning, the weather worsened.
The rain continued and the third training session had to be canceled.
The second Formula 2 and Formula 3 races also did not take place.
However, closer to the beginning of qualification, the clouds dispersed as ordered, and the pilots still managed to go to the circuit.
At first, there were many puddles on the track and a high risk of accidents remained, but serious incidents were avoided for the time being.
Moreover, the racers were gradually drying the asphalt with their tires.
The first segment failed to overcome Kimi Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher, Antonio Giovinazzi, Nikita Mazepin and Max Verstappen, who passed only the setting circle.
The representative of Red Bull, who was in the lead in the overall standings, did not risk it, since he already had to start the race last due to the replacement of the engine.
After the second segment, Sebastian Vettel, Pierre Gasly, Yuki Tsunoda, Nicholas Latifi and Charles Leclair finished the fight.
By the middle of the third qualifying segment, the track began to dry up, some pilots decided to take a risk and changed the tires for slicks.
One of the first to do this was George Russell.
Hamilton, confidently moving to the next pole, also tried to enter the pit lane, but crashed into the wall and broke the front wing.
The Briton had to urgently change the part, and Bottas took part in the transportation of the car.
In this procedure, both lost about a minute.
In addition, Lewis made a U-turn on a fast lap.
As a result, he showed only the fourth result, two seconds behind the leader, and Valtteri - the seventh.
But the mini-sensation was created by Lando Norris, who responded perfectly to the changing weather conditions and won pole position for the first time in his career.
The last time a McLaren driver won qualification nine years ago, when Hamilton was still for the team.
Russell, who lost only to Carlos Sainz Jr., unexpectedly managed to get into the top three.
Thus, representatives of McLaren, Ferrari and Williams were together in the top 3 in qualifying for the first time since 2004.
Race
Fortunately, on Sunday, the weather initially favored the pilots.
The sun was shining over the circuit in Sochi, and the track was completely dry.
However, the race still promised to be as unpredictable as possible.
And so it happened - on the first lap the leader was replaced.
Sainz passed Norris.
By the way, Mazepin had a great start, and at one point he even climbed to 12th place.
But Hamilton after the start fell back to seventh position.
However, the Briton was clearly not going to surrender.
For the time being, he neatly kept himself in the group of pursuers and at any moment was ready to demonstrate the power of the car and the highest skill.
The composition of the leading three remained unchanged for some time.
Sainz kept the lead by a small margin from Norris, while Russell held back the peloton.
However, it quickly became clear that the pole car was simply faster.
In the end, he passed the opponent as expected.
Meanwhile, Verstappen with the new motor played one position after another and literally churned out the best laps.
Taking advantage of the wave of pit stops, closer to the equator of the race, he made his way to the top 5.
Hamilton also looked great, passing one rival after another.
As a result, by the middle of the distance he was second only to Norris.
And only after that the reigning world champion decided to change his "medium".
In the future, the British could no longer be stopped.
He felt confident and began to renew the fastest laps of the race.
As a result, the main intrigue boiled down to the struggle between two representatives of Great Britain.
Lewis was closing the gap with Norris, but he retained the lead with the last of his strength.
It is difficult to say how the Russian Grand Prix would have ended if the weather had not interfered with the distribution of seats.
Closer to the finish line it started to rain, which gradually intensified.
In this situation, the pilots were faced with the question: should they change the set of tires for intermediate ones or drive on the old ones and not waste time?
Hamilton and Verstappen took the risk and paid off.
In the final laps, they easily passed Norris, whose car almost flew off the track.
When Lando decided to leave for the pits, it was already too late.
As a result, he finished only seventh.
The current champion of the planet regained his leadership in the overall standings and was the first in history to win the 100th anniversary victory in Formula 1.
“Many thanks to the fans.
The weather gave us a spectacular race.
Thanks to Russia for accepting us.
It took me a long time to achieve this 100th victory.
Lando has a great race and is doing a great job at McLaren.
I was even pleased to see the former team ahead.
It's nice that they reunited.
We didn't know what would happen to the weather.
But I am grateful to all our guys and girls from the team ”, - quotes the“ Championship ”words of Hamilton.
We should also mention Max Verstappen, who eventually became the second.
Sainz Jr. finished third.
As for Mazepin, despite a good start, he took the 18th line in the final protocol.
In the course of the Grand Prix, even Mick Schumacher passed him, but on the 33rd lap he was forced to retire due to technical problems.