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Valtteri Bottas treats himself to a bubbly shower after the ninth victory of his Formula 1 career
Photo:
MAXIM SHEMETOV / AFP
The race scene:
From the start line to the first correct braking zone at the second corner, Sochi is around 1000 meters where the entire field is full throttle.
After that, it often happens as it did at this Russian Grand Prix: a collision.
Carlos Sainz had to dodge into the run-off zone of the right-hand bend after braking - and was still too fast to avoid an impact.
Lance Stroll got a nudge from Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc and spun.
For both Sainz and Stroll, the race was over after just one kilometer.
Result:
After the early crashes, the safety car was on the track for a few laps.
At the restart there wasn't much going on in the front positions.
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas won his ninth Formula 1 race ahead of the Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
World champion Lewis Hamilton made it into third place despite a total of ten seconds time penalty.
Here is the race report.
Russia belongs to the Silver Arrows:
no other racing team has ever won in Russia.
In 1913 Georrgy Suvorin and in the following year Willy Scholl prevailed in Saint Petersburg - since the country has been back on the racing calendar since 2014, Hamilton won four out of seven races, usually his teammate.
For Bottas, it was the first ever Formula 1 victory in 2017.
Small consolation:
As satisfied as Mercedes can be with the results this season - eight wins and ten pole positions in ten races - the disaffection among many spectators is likely to be as great.
Because there are two main reasons why people watch professional sports.
One is the promise to watch the absolute best in their discipline - the other is the tension, the promise of uncertainty as to who will triumph in the end.
In Formula 1, the second point is now completely lost.
At the top is Mercedes - almost always.
And it counts as a surprise if it is not the world champion who wins, but his teammate.
Hamilton's double penalty:
The reason for Hamilton's missed win came before the start.
The six-time world champion was punished with five seconds each for two irregular practice starts before the start of the race.
Hamilton had to do the time during his pit stop, after which he came back on track in eleventh place.
From there he easily overtook the competition, with the exception of Bottas.
The Schumacher record still holds
Party postponed:
Without the time penalties, Hamilton would have reached the special mark of 91 Grand Prix victories.
So far, only Michael Schumacher has succeeded, whose record of seven world championship titles Hamilton is also targeting this season.
In two weeks, at the Nürburgring, Hamilton will attack the record again.
Then the Eiffel Grand Prix rises (October 11, 2.10 p.m., TV: RTL, Sky, live ticker: SPIEGEL.de).
For a long time:
Even before the race, a record was set in Sochi, namely by Kimi Räikkönen.
The 40-year-old (Alfa Romeo) competed in the premier class of motorsport for the 322nd time.
Only Rubens Barrichello, Schumacher's long-time team-mate, was there that often.
In the coming season, Raikkonen will have company in the Formula 1 senior club, as Fernando Alonso (311 starts) will return to Renault.
"I never give up":
That's what Bottas told reporters after his victory. The 31-year-old started third. On lap 17 he took the lead with Hamilton's tire change, stayed first after his pit stop - and got through to the finish line not even in distress. Bottas also took the extra point for the best lap time with him. At what point could he have thought of giving up?
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