It was the 51st lap at Sochi when all the drama took place. Lewis Hamilton was trailing Lando Norris by less than a second and McLaren driver, on slick tires in late rain, slid off the track. With 21-year-old out of the way, there was no hurdle between Hamilton and his much awaited 100th Formula 1 win. The seven-time champion registered a win at the Russian Grand Prix, to take the championship lead from Max Verstappen.

As Lando Norris, racing for his first F1 win, and team McLaren stood disappointed, Redbull’s Max Verstappen, who was seventh, took advantage of the mix up in the middle and finished second. Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz finished third followed by Daniel Riccardo and Valtteri Bottas. 

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Hamilton turned Verstappen’s five-point championship lead into a two-point lead of his own as the Dutch driver finished second after a dramatic drive from last on the grid. Carlos Sainz was third for Ferrari.

“To come from last to second, it’s very, very good. The race was not easy, was not easy to pass and once you got stuck, it was tough. But the rain helped. With the penalty we had, to lose just one spot basically, it’s not too bad. When I got up in the morning, I definitely didn’t expect this result,” Verstappen said post the dramatic race. 

“Especially from the back, a lot of things happen. You have to stay out of trouble and stay clean. It all worked out.”

But then the rain came and Verstappen switched to intermediate tires early, allowing him to claim an unexpected podium finish and limit the damage to his hopes of a first title. Norris trailed in seventh after his gamble to stay on dry tires failed.

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Verstappen started last after a penalty for an engine change in his Red Bull but sliced through the field and had Hamilton in sight by the halfway stage. Hamilton’s Mercedes worked better on the hard tires in the second half of the race and Verstappen’s charge seemed to have stalled when he was overtaken by the Alpine of Fernando Alonso and stuck in seventh.

Hamilton thanked the crowd. 

“Big thank you to the crowd, it’s not been the best of weather but thank you. The 100th has taken a long time, wasn’t sure if it would come. Lando did so well, bittersweet to see my old team ahead.

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“Going to bed last night, I wasn’t happy with what I had done. I watched the race again and again and there were subtle mistakes but came determined to do the best I could. Lost a lot of ground in the start but hung on. Obviously Max did a great job to finish second from last.

“Would have been tough to overtake Lando, he was fast and wasn’t making any mistake. But then the rain came and the team did a great job. Delighted with the point,” Hamilton said.