Bottas wins in Sochi after double penalty for Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton will have to wait a little before equaling the record of 91 career victories held by Michael Schumacher. 

The world championship leader shot himself twice in the foot even before the start of the Russian Grand Prix. By carrying out two simulated starts outside the area reserved for this purpose, Hamilton violated article 19 of the instructions transmitted by FIA race director Michael Masi before each Grand Prix.

The sanction being at the discretion of the commissioners, they decided to impose a penalty of 5 seconds for each violation of the regulations. 

Before suffering the penalty during his pit stop, Hamilton had made a good start from pole position but, as he expected, he was sucked in by his teammate Valtteri Bottas. The Finn entered the first braking at Turn 2 leading on the outside but Hamilton immediately regained control after his teammate missed the apex.

Behind, there was quite a bit of trouble, especially for the McLaren. Carlos Sainz veered wide and violently hit the wall on the front left while trying to follow the path imposed in the event of leaving the road at this precise location. 

A little further, Charles Leclerc, off to a good start, hooked the left rear wheel of Lance stroll and sent the Racing Point driver into the wall. This series of events led to the intervention of the Safety Car for 5 laps. 

Just before the Safety Car, Verstappen veered wide at the first braking but passed properly between the cones to rejoin the track as required but behind a Daniel Ricciardo very lively over the first few kilometers of the race. The Australian was in 3rd position at turn 4 before falling to 5th after being caught by his former teammate Red Bull but also his comrade Renault current, Esteban Ocon. 

At the restart, Hamilton, forced to start on soft tires after the twists and turns of Saturday's qualifying, tried to widen the gap in the lead, fuming over the upcoming time penalty. The Briton stopped on the 17th lap and came out in 11th place. 

From there, Bottas had the way clear to control the race, which he did brilliantly on a circuit which has always been successful for him and where he had achieved his first career success 3 years ago. Taking advantage of his medium tires at the start, Bottas stopped calmly 10 laps after his teammate and was able to continue his race in the lead. 

Behind, Verstappen had a peaceful afternoon aboard his Red Bull. The Dutchman finds his way back to the podium after two frustrating rounds in Italy. 

Hamilton managed to move up to 3rd place and did not lose much ground on Bottas in the Drivers' championship. 

Taking advantage of a better strategy than Renault, Sergio Pérez recovered the 4th place he occupied on the grid, while the Losange got his feet caught in the mats, without much consequence. 

While Ocon stumbled on Sebastian Vettel, the French team ordered him to let Ricciardo pass so that the Australian could try his luck. Except that Ricciardo locked his wheels while overtaking Ocon and veered too wide at turn 2, without going around the famous cones supposed to slow down the offending drivers. Result: 5 seconds penalty for the native of Perth, who still finished 5th because his lead over Charles Leclerc was sufficient. 

Despite a Ferrari 2020 which is what it is, the Monegasque continues to perform small miracles to win big points. Leclerc is ahead of Ocon, finally 7th. 

Starting on an offbeat strategy with a very long first stint on hard tires, the regional rider of the stage Daniil Kvyat pleased the 30 or so fans present in Sochi with a solid 000th place, one place ahead of his teammate Pierre Gasly, valiant but not helped by his own strategy. 

Penalized by 5 places on the grid due to a gearbox change, Alexander albon goes back to snatch the last point in play; despite also having a 5 second penalty.

Bottas' triumph, his 9th career, is total since the Finn also grabs the bonus for the fastest lap in the race. 

CLASSIFICATION: RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX 

Confirmation of the win for @ValtteriBottas - the ninth of his career and his first since Round 1 in Austria in July#RussianGP  #F1 pic.twitter.com/qDRJPGg4YU

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 27, 2020