The F1 Russian GP provided some dramas on track as Mercedes returned to 1-2 status with Lewis Hamilton ahead of Valtteri Bottas after Ferrari explosion.

Ferrari continued its high run in the second half of the 2019 F1 season with Charles Leclerc registering another pole in Russian GP at Sochi Autodrom. The grand prix turned around in favour of Mercedes after reliability issues for the Italian manufacturer.

Already things were complicated for Ferrari with Sebastian Vettel ahead of Leclerc in the opening stint, with Mercedes’ Hamilton and Bottas behind. A pit swap had Leclerc back in front but the German had MGU-K failure which turned the race around.

A free stop for Hamilton helped him in lead from Bottas. Ferrari were forced to stop Leclerc again, so that he has a chance against Bottas but it just wasn’t enough in the end. Behind the Top 3, it was the two Red Bull Racing drivers.

Max Verstappen was fourth – although not happy – but a charge from the pitlane saw Alexander Albon in a good fifth ahead of McLaren’s Carlos Sainz as the best of the rest but had Racing Point’s Sergio Perez on his tail in seventh.

Haas’ Kevin Magnussen finished eighth but a penalty dropped him to ninth, which helped McLaren’s Lando Norris in eighth as Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the Top 10. Here’s how the F1 Russian GP panned from stats point of view:

  • Hamilton scored his first win since the summer break, his 82nd overall and fourth Russian GP. With his ninth win of 2019, he is edging closer to overall record of 13 wins in a season, held by Vettel and Michael Schumacher.
  • Mercedes had its 98th win, sixth Russian GP. It is its eighth 1-2 finish of the season, first since the British GP.
  • Hamilton had his 145th F1 podium, Bottas his 42nd and Leclerc ninth.
  • Leclerc registered his fourth consecutive pole position. The last time a Ferrari driver took four straight poles was Michael Schumacher in 2000/01.
  • Hamilton clocked the fastest lap in Russian GP, his fourth of 2019 and 45th overall.
  • Hamilton now has the all-time record for races led. It was the 143rd grand prix he has led as he went past Schumacher’s mark.
  • It is the fourth time in 2019 that the same order on the podium has been repeated with Hamilton, Bottas and Leclerc.
  • Albon started from the pitlane and finished fifth place to make up 15 places in all.
  • Hamilton continued his consecutive points finish streak with 28 races now since the 2018 British GP. He has to score in five more to equal his own record and six to better.
  • Five drivers retired from the race including both Williams which is a first for them. With Robert Kubica and Vettel having a DNF in Russian GP, it is only Hamilton now left with a 100% finish record in 2019.
  • With McLaren having 101 points, it is the first time since 2014 for the British outfit to have more than 100 points.
  • The drivers’ standings has Daniel Ricciardo and Hulkenberg tied on 34 points in 10th and 11th respectively, while Daniil Kvyat and Perez are tied on 33 in 12th and 13th.
  • With another points finish, Norris gained three places in the standings to be ninth.
  • Magnussen scored two points for Haas which is their first since the German GP. Also, Romain Grosjean has seven DNFs to his name, the most in 2019.
  • Kimi Raikkonen is third in the all-time list of entries and starts with 310 and 307 respectively.
  • Magnussen was given one penalty point for improper rejoining and Raikkonen was given two penalty points for jump start. The Dane has four points in all, while the Finn has two.

The stats were compiled by Jack Elleker and Darshan Chokhani

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