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(Reuters) – Valtteri Bottas won the Russian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday after his teammate and Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton was penalized for infractions before the race started.
Hamilton, who had started from pole position in Sochi hoping for a 91st win to equal the all-time record of Ferrari’s great Michael Schumacher, finished third behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
He accused the commissioners of trying to prevent him from winning and said the “ridiculous” penalties were excessive, but they were to be expected.
“They are trying to stop me, right?” the Briton told Sky Sports television.
The Briton’s lead over Bottas was reduced to a still healthy 44 points after 10 of 17 races, and the Finn got an extra point for the fastest lap.
“Never give up. It’s a good day,” said Bottas, who addressed his critics in more basic terms on team radio as he took the checkered flag.
“It’s good to get a win, it’s been a while and I need to try to keep up the momentum … there are still quite a few races left so you never know. I’ll keep pushing, I won’t give up and we’ll see how it ends.”
The victory, by 7,729 seconds, was the Finn’s second of the season, and the first since Austria’s first game in July.
‘RIDICULAR’ SANCTIONS
Bottas said he had been lucky, but was well placed to win anyway, with Hamilton starting on the most worn softs after a tense qualifying on Saturday while the Finn was in the media, the best long-term strategy.
In any event, Hamilton’s hopes were dashed when the stewards issued two five-second penalties for making practice starts outside the designated area as he headed to the grid.
“I’m pretty sure no one has ever received two five-second penalties for something so ridiculous before,” said the Briton, who had won six of the nine races before Sochi.
“I didn’t put anyone in danger. I’ve done this on a million tracks over the years and I’ve never been questioned.
Hamilton also received two penalty points on his license, which would have put him just two away from a one-race ban, but they were later rescinded after Mercedes explained that the driver was following his instructions.
Stewards said the team-to-car audio supported this. Instead, Mercedes was fined 25,000 euros ($ 29,052).
“If Lewis wants to raise something, like I’ve told him before … the door is always open,” race director Michael Masi said of Hamilton’s comments.
“We have the commissioners as an independent judiciary to judge … there was a violation and it does not matter if it was Lewis Hamilton or any other of the 19 drivers.”
In a boring race after two exciting rounds in Italy, Mercedes continued its record of winning every Russian Grand Prix from the first at the 2014 Winter Olympics venue.
Mexican Sergio Pérez was fourth for Racing Point, Australian Daniel Ricciardo fifth for Renault and Charles Leclerc sixth for Ferrari.
Frenchman Esteban Ocon ranked seventh for Renault with Russian driver Daniil Kvyat eighth and pleased the first real crowd of a season hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
AlphaTauri’s teammate Pierre Gasly, a surprise winner at Monza, was ninth and Red Bull’s Alexander Albon took the final point in tenth.
The safety car was deployed for four laps after the start when McLaren’s Carlos Sainz spun off and misjudged his return to the track, hitting the wall hard.
Leclerc also set Lance Stroll’s Racing Point, with the Canadian circling.
Hamilton served his penalties at a pit stop, returning in 11th place but moving up to third after others pitted. “This is just ridiculous, man,” he said over the radio.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, edited by Ed Osmond and Ian Chadband)
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