Drama in Sochi: Rain and Hamilton prevent Norris triumph

With seven races still remaining, Hamilton now leads Verstappen by just two points and has the best chance of winning his eighth driver's title. Former world champion Sebastian Vettel only came twelfth in the Aston Martin and missed the points for the fourth time in a row. Mick Schumacher retired just over half way through due to a defect in his Haas car.

Hamilton had started qualifying as the big favorite, but was not given this role due to his own mistakes and was only able to start from fourth place. At the start he even fell back to seventh place, while Sainz immediately took the lead. The Spaniard had finished second in a crazy qualifying session Pole man Norris proven. The duo stayed at the front at the start, as did Williams super talent George Russell in third. Dramatic final phase and a disappointed Norris After his engine penalty, Verstappen had to laboriously work his way forward. The seven-time season winner started the high-speed course in 20th place. Overtaking maneuvers are difficult in Sochi, but Verstappen still skillfully used his superior car to quickly make up positions. Just like the Dutchman, vice world champion Valtteri Bottas in the Mercedes and Ferrari star Charles Leclerc, among others, also changed their engines and were punished because they had already used more than three drives. Lando Norris led for a long time, but ultimately only crossed the finish line in seventh place. © APA/afp / ALEXANDER NEMENOV

Verstappen could no longer keep up at the beginning of the final phase and initially fell back to seventh place, Hamilton showed one fastest lap after the other and came close to Norris. The youngster countered with best times - then things got dramatic. The onset of rain made it slippery. Shortly before the end, Norris came off the track twice and Hamilton changed his tires. That was the key to victory. Norris didn't want to change his tires and was severely punished for it. He crossed the finish line in seventh place, disappointed. Russian GP: The result Pos Name racing team Time 1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:30.41,001 hours 2. Max Verstappen Red Bull +53,271 seconds 3. Carlos Sainz Ferrari +1.02,475 4. Daniel Ricciardo McLaren +1.05,607 5. Valtteri Bottas Mercedes +1.07,533 6. Fernando Alonso alpine renault +1.21,321 7. Lando Norris McLaren +1.27,224 8. Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo +1.28,955 9. Sergio Perez Red Bull +1.30,076 10. George Russell Williams +1.40,551

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Drama in Sochi: Rain and Hamilton prevent Norris triumph

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