2014 Formula One Russian Grand Prix: Hamilton and Mercedes rule Russia

Nico Rosberg takes second place at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix. Looking on is Russian president Vladimir Putin, who was instrumental in putting up the Grand Prix.

The inaugural Grand Prix of Russia was held in Sochi, a rather remote province located on the coast of the Black Sea. Sochi was also the venue for the recent Winter Olympics. This past weekend saw the Formula One community troop to mother Russia to tackle the 5.8 kilometer track. Including with the now infamous turn 3, the circuit was very smooth and had vast run off areas which don’t penalize the drivers if they stray off the track, unlike, Monza or Albert Park. Visually, the track was fantastic, with wide sweeping corners. It has several 90-degree corners that offer overaking opportunities.

Saturday qualifying saw Lewis Hamilton take P1 ahead of his teammate, Nico Rosberg. Slotting in at P3 was Valtteri Bottas, who was on course to take P2 or even P1, had he not made a mistake in the last 2 corners of Q3. Jenson Button came in at P4, his best qualifying position this year. Behind him was rookie Daniil Kyvat in the Toro Rosso. It really helps one’s driving skills if you know that you will be moving up to the mother team Red Bull Racing for 2015. Daniel Ricciardo, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen, Jean-Eric Vergne, and Sebastian Vettel rounded up the top 10.

Sunday saw the F1 community come together and have a moment of silence for the recovery of Jules Bianchi. The Marussia driver is still in serious condition after his crash in Japan last week.

As the race got underway, Hamilton had a good start, and tried to chop-block Nico going into turn 1. But the German had a better start and edged Lewis going to turn 2. Then Rosberg outbraked himself heavily and had to use the run off area and cut the corner, coming out in front of Lewis. The team immediately asked him to give the place back to Hamilton to avoid a penalty from the stewards. Rosberg replied that he flat spotted his tire and had to pit for a new set as he came around for the second lap. Hamilton then went about extending his lead over Bottas and the rest of the field, setting fastest lap times, lap after lap after lap. The Mercedes was just driving away like it was on rails.

Lap times came tumbling down, with very few overtaking manuevers. The track was so smooth and wide, that even with DRS enabled, the cars in front carried just enough speed to offset the advantage when the DRS is used by the chasing car.

Race leader Hamilton came in on lap 28. He had such a big lead that he was able to maintain his position despite a 30 second trip into the pitlane. A single pit stop was the strategy of choice for most of the teams.

The only concern of the Mercedes team was Rosberg. Having pitted on lap 2, will the German be able to stretch his tires to the end, or will he need to come in again for another set? Nico kept driving steadily. He even had the fortune to retake second place when the rest of the field came in for their tires.

Now it was only a question of: will Lewis manage his lead or will Nico be able to challenge him for P1?

Lap 53 came and Lewis Hamilton took the pole to flag win ahead of Nico Rosberg, who came across the line 13 seconds adrift. Valtteri Bottas brought home the Williams in 3rd and Jenson Button took 4th ahead of Kevin Magnussen in the other McLaren.

With his win, Lewis now leads the drivers championship by 17 points, 291 to Nico’s 274. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo is 3rd with 199, and Valtteri Bottas jumped four time champion Sebastian Vettel for 4^th, with 145 points to Sebastian’s 143.

Mercedes AMG F1 Petronas, dominating all season long with their innovative power unit, took the Constructors Championship well ahead of the season ending race in Abu Dhabi. Mercedes has won 13 of the 16 races so far, and nine times it took the top 2 steps of the podium. To date, Mercedes had garnered 565 points. In comparison, Red Bull Racing has a measly 342 points. Williams Martini Racing comes in at a surprising 3rd with 216, even besting the struggling Ferrari with 188 points.

Mercedes AMG F1 Petronas has now won their first ever constructors title. Toto Wolff, Team Principal, paid tribute to former team principal Ross Brawn for all that he has done for the team before Wolff took over. “ I have to pinch myself sometimes that we are a part of the Mercedes history,” Wolff said.

Attention now shifts to Austin, Texas, for the United States Grand Prix. With three races to go and 100 points still up for grabs in the drivers championship (with double points for the last race in Abu Dhabi), Lewis and Nico can’t rest on their laurels. Daniel Ricciardo, with his 199 points still has a very slim chance to sneak in and claim the crown. It will be a battle to the end, and for Mercedes, it would serve them well to caution both drivers not to take each other out in the coming races.