Lewis Hamilton, seven times world champion, won his 100th Formula 1 win at Sochi. The Brit admitted that Lando Norris, a rising star at McLaren, was hard to beat. He was lucky that a late rain shower swept the race in his favor marking a century to his name.
The Brit admitted that Lando Norris, a rising star at McLaren, was hard to beat. He was lucky that a late rain shower swept the race in his favor marking a century to his name.
Hamilton started fourth but lost three places on the opening lap. However, he managed to regain the position and trailed McLaren by nine seconds after the pit stop cycle.
Clear air helped Mercedes’ driver to leap forward with the help of clear air and reduced the gap just over one second. He informed his team about his struggle to get any closer to Norris with only ten laps to chequered flag.
Late rain in the race triggered teams to call their drivers for pitting to exchange for intermediates. Hamilton went for the tyre change at the end of 49th lap while Norris chose to gamble and stay put.
Unfortunate for McLaren, rain grow heavier causing problems for its driver. He struggled to keep himself straight and had to go for a pit stop. After the exit, he found himself at the eight position.
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It saved Hamilton from putting efforts to chase Norris, which led to his 100th GP victory. He became the first-ever driver in Formula 1 history to mark this hallmark.
Currently, he also lead the championship by 2 points over Red Bull’s driver Max Verstappen.
Hamilton applauded Norris greatly, after he came to congratulate and hug the former during an post race interview.
“Lando does such an amazing job, he had incredible pace, he’s doing such a great job for McLaren and it’s very bittersweet obviously to see my old team ahead,” Hamilton said.
“They’re doing so well, they won the last race so, you know, they’re doing fantastic obviously powered by Mercedes, so it’s good to see them united again, and obviously the team made a great call right at the end.
“I didn’t want to let Lando go, and of course I didn’t know what the weather was doing. But I’m incredibly grateful to all these men and women that are here and back to the factory.”
Hamilton doubted he would have been able to get past Norris had the rain not come and shaken up proceedings late on.
“It would have been tough to have got past Lando, he had great pace and had the fastest lap,” Hamilton said.
“It would have been tough to pass unless we caught some traffic or something, or he made a mistake which he’s not been doing at all.
“Then the rain came and it was very opportunistic. As I said, the team did an amazing job, so a big thank you to them.”
