The British anthem sounds for the 100th time in honor of Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1. The Briton won at the finish in Sochi on Sunday 26 September, depriving his compatriot Lando Norris, who started on pole, of his first victory in F1. In a lively race, the seven-time world champion adopted a better strategy than Norris, as the rain appeared in the final laps, to climb to the top of the podium. Max Verstappen, who started last, made a superb comeback and finished second ahead of Carlos Sainz.
Everything changed in the last ten laps. While Lando Norris had hitherto contained Lewis Hamilton behind his McLaren, the rain made its appearance on the Sochi track. Under pressure from his elder brother, Norris preferred not to change tires to stay on the track. On the contrary, Mercedes called its driver back to the pits a few laps from the finish, at the best time to put on tires more suited to bad weather. On a slippery road, Norris, who was aiming for his first victory, followed a series of errors until he went off the track which relegated him to 7th place.
Incredible drama in Sochi #RussianGP # F1 pic.twitter.com/iRRDiD1DbX
– Formula 1 (@ F1) September 26, 2021
Until then, Lando Norris had yet performed a faultless. Doubled at the start by Carlos Sainz, he returned to the Spaniard’s Ferrari on lap 13, before leading the rest of the Grand Prix. But behind him, Hamilton came back dangerously with a very powerful car. “Lewis, you can win this race”, even predicted Toto Wolff, the boss of the Mercedes team, from the 30th lap on the radio. His driver took advantage of Norris’ bad decision, which spoiled all his efforts in the race, to resound the British anthem again, the 100th just for him.
Barely out of his car, the seven-time world champion praised his compatriot’s great race: “Lando did an incredible job today, with a great pace. It makes me happy to see my old team in the first places “, without being sure that this consoles the young 21-year-old pilot.
On the podium, Hamilton is ahead of Max Verstappen, who started last after changing parts of his engine and who made a fantastic comeback, putting together the fastest laps at halfway. Carlos Sainz completes the podium. On the French side, Pierre Gasly, 13th, is ahead of Ocon by one place.