Lewis Hamilton just won his 100th Formula 1 Race.
The 2021 Formula 1 season has been quite a drama-filled one for sure. Every race seems to have some massive controversy or some unexpected event. From the shortest ever race in F1 history due to heavy rains at Spa to rivals Vertappen and Hamilton taking each other out at the Italian GP. It looks like this season is also one for the history books as 7 time World Champion Lewis Hamilton just took home his 100th Formula 1 GP win yesterday at the Russian GP. This makes Lewis Hamilton the first driver to ever hit 100 F1 wins in history! Love him or hate him, you have to admit he’s the best at what he does.
Hamilton’s 100th Win At The 2021 Russian GP
It wasn’t apparent that Hamilton was going to take his 100th win at yesterday’s race until quite late in the race. Lando Norris had started in pole position for the first time in his career. He lost the lead to Carlos Sainz but eventually recovered it in the 13th lap. Lando’s McLaren had been fitted with dry tyres and in the last few laps, rain started to pour. With Lewis behind him, the 21 year old driver refused to pit for a tyre change. The more experienced Hamilton, however, took his team’s advice and swapped tyres out with just four laps to go.
Lando’s decision to stick to slicks eventually led to his downfall as the rain began to fall more intensely. In the 51st lap, it became apparent that he was beginning to drive a little slower and he eventually lost control of his car and losing his lead. He finally came in in 7th place.
Nevertheless, Hamilton was graceful in his win, praising the young Norris and his former team:
“Lando did such an amazing job. He had incredible pace, he’s doing such a great job for McLaren, and it was very bittersweet obviously to see my old team ahead – they’re doing so well, obviously they won the last race – they’re doing fantastic, obviously powered by Mercedes.
“So it’s good to see us united again and obviously the team made a great call right at the end. I didn’t want to let Lando go and of course I didn’t know what the weather was doing but I’m incredibly grateful to all these men and women that are here and back at the factory because, wow, 100.” – Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
Driver Standings
Hamilton’s win at Sochi puts him in the lead in the Driver Standings for 2021. Max Verstappen was in the lead for a long time, but now he trails Hamilton with 244.5 points versus Hamilton’s 246.5. Max Verstappen finished in 2nd place in Russia, having started at the back of the grid as his car had taken a new engine.
You can read the full race report here. Or watch the highlights below:
