Lewis Hamilton reached the plateau of 100 Formula 1 victories on Sunday in Sochi after a race full of surprises that ended under the rain. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen finished in 2nd place ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr.
The Briton’s 99th victory dates back to July, at the British Grand Prix, marked by the controversy of his collison with Verstappen.
“It was time, we were waiting for this one. This has not been easy. I lost a lot of ground at the start trying to avoid problems.” Hamilton said.
“It wouldn’t have been easy to pass Lando who had a great pace. The rain came at the right time. The team made the right strategic choice in the end.” Hamilton added.
Hamilton fellow Lando Norris, who led the race chose to stay on slick tyres, while Mercedes-Benz brought Hamilton in for wet tyres.
Verstappen on the other hand, the Dutchman obtained an unexpected result as he started from last place on the starting grid.
“We will take this second place, he admitted. I did not expect that. First of all, I avoided the clashes at the start of the race, I was careful. Then I watched my tire wear well, and in the end, the team made the right decisions at the right time.” Verstappen said.
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll settled for 11th place, while Williams driver Nicholas Latifi had to withdraw on lap 48, after a misconduct.
Stroll, starting from 7th place, had managed to gain three places in the first lap and rode in 4th until his first pit stop. He then had to fight in the middle of a peloton, which caused his second set of tyres to suffer.
With his 100th victory, Hamilton regains the lead, two points ahead of Verstappen, and will now want to win his 8th world title at the end of the season.
