F1: Lewis Hamilton 1 Win Away From F1 World Championship
Lewis Hamilton’s 66 pt lead means he gets his !st chance to wrap up the world championship at the next round in America in 2 weeks.
Mercedes wrapped up their 2nd consecutive constructors championship after a last lap drama which kept the team hanging until 2 hours after the Chequered flag dropped on a steward’s inquiry after Kimi Raikkonen piled into the side of Valtterie Bottas into the final turn.
The Ferrari driver was handed a 30 second penalty for causing the crash, which pushed him down to 8th to ensure the Scuderia could not catch the MBZ’s/.
Mr. Raikkonen said: “For me it was a racing incident. I passed him once before there and I was trying to pass. But I am not a steward.”
But Mr. Bottas said: “I don’t think it was racing. I didn’t see anyone there and suddenly they hit me.
“To be running third and ending up with zero points is disappointing.
“Whether he gets penalized or not does not matter to me because I’m never going to get those points back.”
Mr. Rosberg’s failure was his 2nd in 4 races as his season falls over.
“F1 is pretty incredible sometimes how tough it is,” he said as he loses a 2nd successive championship to Mr. Hamilton.
Toto Wolff added: “The sport is cruel sometimes. Today was glory and drama. He has got to keep fighting, it’s not over until its over.”
Mr. Hamilton now leads the championship by 66 points as Sebastian Vettel moved into 2nd place in the championship dash.
Mr. Hamilton’s 42nd win moved him past the career total of his idol, F1 Champion Ayrton Senna.
Radio chat award of the day went to Fernando Alonso, who usually reserves his pithy witticisms for his woefully slow Honda engine.
Mr. Alonso was told in mid-race by his team he was in a “battle to the end with Massa,” he replied “I love your sense of humor”.
They told him: “We can at least try.”
Jenson Button was 9th and Fernando Alonso 10th, with their best team result of the season after Hungary.
If you missed the race here it is in full.
Final Positions after F1 Russian Grand Prix Race (53 Laps):
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1hr 37mins 11.024secs
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:37:16.977
3 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:37:39.942
4 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:37:49.855
5 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:37:53.382
6 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull 1:37:58.590
7 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:38:07.532
8 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus F1 Team 1:38:12.112
9 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:38:30.491
10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:38:37.234
11 Max Verstappen (Ned) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38:39.448
12 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams at 1 Lap
13 Roberto Merhi (Spa) Manor Marussia F1 at 1 Lap
14 Will Stevens (Gbr) Manor Marussia F1 at 2 Laps
Not Classified:
15 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 47 Laps completed
16 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 45 Laps completed
17 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 11 Laps completed
18 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 7 Laps completed
19 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 0 Laps completed
20 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 0 Laps completed
World Championship Standings after Russian Grand Prix
Drivers
1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 302pts
2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 236
3 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 229
4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 129
5 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 111
6 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 109
7 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull 74
8 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 73
9 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 54
10 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus F1 Team 44
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 38
12 Max Verstappen (Ned) Scuderia Toro Rosso 32
13 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 23
14 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Lotus F1 Team 20
15 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 12
16 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 12
17 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 9
18 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 8
19 Roberto Merhi (Spa) Manor Marussia F1 0
20 Will Stevens (Gbr) Manor Marussia F1 0
21 Alexander Rossi (USA) Manor Marussia F1
022 Kevin Magnussen (Den) McLaren 0
Manufacturers
1 Mercedes GP 531pts
2 Ferrari 365
3 Williams 220
4 Red Bull 147
5 Force India 92
6 Lotus F1 Team 64
7 Scuderia Toro Rosso 44
8 Sauber-Ferrari 32
9 McLaren 20
10 Manor Marussia F1 0
Next round at The Circuit of the Americas (http://www.circuitoftheamericas.com/f1)
23-25 October 2015
Have a terrific week.
Paul Ebeling
HeffX-LTN
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