F1 Talk: Mercedes return to winning ways as Ferrari crumble

Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix as Ferrari faltered and were hurt by a mid-race virtual safety car that gifted Mercedes the opportunity to win the race.

Ferrari dominated much of the weekend with superior straight line speed that saw Charles Leclerc unbeatable in qualifying.

Hamilton managed to somehow get his Mercedes onto the front row of the grid with a superb lap but immediately lost out to a fast starting Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel took the lead thanks to the long run down towards turn two with Leclerc giving him a handy slipstream.

On the outside it looked like there was a pre-race plan for Leclerc to give Vettel a slipstream so Ferrari could control the race with a 1-2.

This is when the endless team radio of Leclerc and Vettel started with Leclerc arguing that Vettel should allow him by because he had given Vettel a tow (as agreed) but Vettel did not want to give the position back.

In my opinion, Vettel did the right thing. It is what it is and even though it might not be better to start from pole position, you still have to be there and take advantage from starting second or third. Also, Vettel looked to have stronger pace as he built up a four second gap before Leclerc pitted.

More importantly, had Vettel allowed Leclerc by then it would have enable Hamilton to close by two seconds. In a sport where you are playing for hundredths and tenths, giving away free seconds to your rival is silly.

Hamilton was able to just about keep up with the Ferrari drivers whilst Valtteri Bottas dropped away and Max Verstappen struggled to carve his way through the midpack.

Ferrari gave Vettel a sub-optimal strategy which put him behind Leclerc after the pitstop phase. While all this was going on, Hamilton was able to pump in the laptimes and stay within a VSC or SC window.

Disaster struck when Vettel suffered an MGU-K and stopped out on track. Ferrari shot themselves in the foot as a VSC was deployed gifting Hamilton the lead. In a matter of seconds, the race turned on its head.

Then, George Russell crashed which brought out a full safety car so Ferrari decided to pit Leclerc. I can see why they did it because Leclerc thought he was vulnerable to Bottas (on soft tyres) and with the Ferrari straight line speed advantage the Monegasque driver thought he would be able to jump Bottas on the restart then attack Hamilton.

Personally I would have stayed out. Overtaking is very difficult around Sochi because of the last sector which is a nightmare to follow. It would have given Leclerc a chance of taking the lead immediately on the restart and then it wouldn’t have mattered what tyres he was on because track position is king.

It would have been fascinating if there was no VSC or SC because Hamilton would have been chasing down Vettel and Leclerc on softer rubber in the final part of the race; we were robbed of a possibly great race.

Mercedes were hoping for a VSC or SC and they got it, they didn’t got it in Singapore but it happened in Russia. It’s just the way it goes sometimes.

Leclerc could never get close to Bottas coming out of the final corner to mount a challenge so could only follow the Finn home on the podium.

It feels now, a little bit like last year. It is down to fine margins and the driver is making the difference in qualifying and the race. This is what we want to see so it’s brilliant to see Ferrari and Mercedes so close again. Hopefully this will continue for the remainder of the year.

Red Bull were nowhere and likely turned down the engine to save it for Suzuka in just over a week’s time.

Alexander Albon was pretty disappointing, struggling all weekend and was very lucky with the timely VSC which he benefited massively from. The Thai driver crashed in qualifying and didn’t make much progress during the first half of the Grand Prix but seemed to fare better on the soft tyre at the end of the race.

Carlos Sainz has had a breakthrough year and continues to impress. The Spaniard has been very quick and has got the perfect balance between aggression and discretion that is fundamental in the midfield.

Lando Norris has been good too and considering it is his rookie year, he has matched or at least been just behind Sainz throughout a race weekend.

A word on Sergio Perez who was excellent in Sochi. He just missed out on the top 10 but had a stellar start to see him collect some vital points as Racing Point continue to show good signs with there development.

It was not the most exciting race but Russia rarely is. Mercedes managed to end their winless streak and it is just a question of whether they can push away as they have done in the last two years, or will Ferrari stay with them all the way to Abu Dhabi.

The championship is all but over but the prospect of some exciting Grand Prix is in the horizon.