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Mercedes-AMG continued its 100% winning streak at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday, which served as the 10th round of the 2020 Formula One World Championship.
Valtteri Bottas was the first to cross the finish line in the race held in Sochi, although he benefited from the bad luck of his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who managed to recover from receiving two five-second penalties to finish third, 22.7 seconds per behind. Bottas.
Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen divided the two Mercedes drivers, finishing second about 7.7 seconds behind Bottas. For Verstappen, it was his first podium at the Russian Grand Prix.
Hamilton received two penalties for a pair of practice starts he made before the race in the wrong area. In addition to time penalties, Hamilton also lost two points on his Super License, leaving him just two points from the 12 in 12 months that would trigger a race ban. The stewards later added the points back after they determined that Hamilton had practice start in the wrong area as per team orders.
Bottas started the race in third place, but quickly passed Verstappen in second and then challenged Hamilton for the lead. McLaren’s Carlos Sainz went off the track early and crashed into a barrier while trying to rejoin, ending his career.
2020 Formula One Russian Grand Prix
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll also came out just two laps later, this time when it received a touch on the rear right from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, sending it into a wall. This caused the safety car to leave. Leclerc was able to carry out without penalty.
Racing resumed on lap six and then a lap later, Hamilton, still in the lead, received his time penalties. He pushed harder to build a gap and was finally called to the pits on lap 16. He rejoined the race in 11th place, some 35 seconds behind Bottas, who was now in the lead.
Hamilton made his way to the field and was third on lap 32 of the 53-lap race. He failed to catch Verstappen, who himself was trying to catch Bottas. Further down there was a good battle between Sergio Pérez from Racing Point and Daniel Ricciardo from Renault, with Pérez finally coming out on top to finish fourth, with Ricciardo finishing fifth.
Despite the surprise of the weekend, Hamilton still has a comfortable lead in the 2020 Drivers’ Championship. He sits at 205 points to Bottas’s 161 and Verstappen’s 128. In the Constructors’ Championship, Mercedes leads with 366 points against Red Bull’s 192 and McLaren’s 106.
The revised 2020 season resumes in Germany in fifteen days with the special Eifel Grand Prix, to be held on the Nürburgring grand prix circuit. It is the first time the circuit will be on the F1 calendar since 2013.
Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes-AMG at the 2020 Formula One Russian Grand Prix
Below are the full results of the 2020 Formula One Russian Grand Prix:
1) Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-AMG
2) Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing +7.729 seconds
3) Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG +22.729 seconds
4) Sergio Pérez, Racing Point +30.558 seconds
5) Daniel Ricciardo, Renault +52.065 seconds
6) Charles Leclerc, Ferrari +62.186 seconds
7) Esteban Ocon, Renault +68.006 seconds
8) Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri +68.740 seconds
9) Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri +89.766 seconds
10) Alexander Albon, Red Bull Racing +97.860 seconds
11) Antonio Giovinazzi, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
12) Kevin Magnussen, Haas +1 lap
13) Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari +1 lap
14) Kimi Raikkonen, Alfa Romeo +1 lap
15) Lando Norris, McLaren +1 lap
16) Nicholas Latifi, Williams +1 lap
17) Romain Grosjean, Haas +1 lap
18) George Russell, Williams +1 lap
NC) Lance Stroll, Racing Point DNF
NC) Carlos Sainz, McLaren DNF
