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Rosberg in seventh heaven after victory in Sochi
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FORMULA One championship leader Nico Rosberg chalked up his seventh win in a row at the Russian Grand Prix yesterday with teammate Lewis Hamilton fighting back from 10th on the grid to seal a Mercedes one-two.
In a race that started with chaos, and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel being shunted into the wall by Red Bull’s Russian Daniil Kvyat, Rosberg had an untroubled afternoon from pole for his 18th career win.
The German equalled the achievement of compatriot Michael Schumacher in winning seven successive races, with only Vettel (nine in 2013 with Red Bull) and the late Italian Alberto Ascari ahead of them.
Only champions Schumacher, Britain’s Nigel Mansell and Brazilian Ayrton Senna had won the first four races in a season before Rosberg joined them.
“It felt very special out there,” said the happy winner, who led all the way and also set the fastest lap, after being congratulated on the podium by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Triple world champion Hamilton was 25 seconds behind Rosberg with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen finishing third after winning a battle with fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas, who started on the front row, in the Williams.
The podium was Ferrari’s 700th since the championship started in 1950.
Rosberg, who won the last three races of 2015 and now the first four of 2016, leads Hamilton by 43 points in the standings with 17 races remaining and the Briton facing an increasingly daunting challenge.
Mercedes switched the power unit in Hamilton’s car after it failed in qualifying, flying parts out from Britain overnight by private jet to avoid a penalty that would have forced Hamilton to start from the pit lane.
Starts have been the Briton’s big weakness this season, despite two pole positions, and he had yet to get through the opening lap without problems but he stayed out of trouble as those around him collided.
Vettel, starting seventh, was hit twice from behind by Russian Kvyat’s Red Bull into turns two and three while Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Manor’s Rio Haryanto both retired.
Brazilian Felipe Massa was fifth for Williams with Fernando Alonso sixth for McLaren, which had its first double points finish since Hungary last year when Jenson Button crossed the line in 10th. Dane Kevin Magnussen took Renault’s first points of the season in seventh with France’s Romain Grosjean continuing his remarkable form with newcomer Haas in eighth. Force India’s Sergio Perez was ninth.
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