And it's lights out and away we go. Lando Norris does get away very well,
Daniel Ricciardo too. and Norris now leads George Russell,
who is ahead of Carlos Sainz, and Ricciardo coming up alongside him,
and Sainz is getting a good slipstream. Hamilton trying to go down the inside.
Into the first braking zone we go! Carlos Sainz locks up,
going straight on, it's Fernando Alonso. It's Sainz in the lead from Lando Norris,
then comes George Russell, and then a very good start for Lance Stroll.
Hamilton is wheel to wheel with Ricciardo, as towards Turn 4 we go now.
It is Sainz out in front for Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton is now along
just ahead of Ricciardo. Sainz, from Norris,
then comes the Williams of George Russell, and then Fernando Alonso just behind
Lance Stroll with Hamilton on the inside. Here's the start. Look at the start.
Russell's got it. Sainz actually gets a poor start,
and it must be in the second phase. He picks his slipstream up.
Look how the difference is here. And Lando Norris giving him that
and opened it up. There goes a challenge,
Norris is on the dirty part of the track. and Sainz getting his way through here. Here comes Hamilton around Turn 3,
taking the long way round, has he got the momentum to try
and squeeze ahead? As into Turn 4 they go,
Hamilton has got past Fernando Alonso, and made a move up into 6th place. - Onboard now with Max Verstappen.
- Is he going down the inside? He's going to try it,
and he's going to succeed as well! Verstappen has cleared Valtteri Bottas. That's a big move for Max Verstappen
in the championship battle. Whoa! Verstappen was trying
an opportunist move down the inside there and had to back out, but he has got ahead of Charles Leclerc,
who goes wide. Verstappen to see what is going on ahead as Leclerc goes down the inside of Vettel,
goes too deep. Vettel thinks, "I'll get you back.
Thank you very much indeed." Now Verstappen is just going to go
on the inside. They might have touched, you know. Norris leads the race! Lando Norris has got past Carlos Sainz. He's been trying for a while,
dropped back just a touch, complained about his tyres,
but has now managed to get enough grip to put the brakes on late enough
to get past Carlos Sainz, and go on to take the lead of this race. Got it. Ricciardo, I think is the McLaren. Oh, they're slow. It's a slow pit stop, Crofty! We can see a still stationary -
Finally, Ricciardo is released. - Hamilton in the pits.
- Karun, take us through the pit stop. And Red Bull in the pits as well, Crofty. You got Red Bull mechanics
with their set of the medium tyres there. Hamilton is in and out, as the Red Bull is getting serviced
at the same time. It's a bit slower there for Verstappen,
as he comes back out. Ok, Lando, we will be boxing this lap. - We are going to box this lap.
- Copy. So Norris now stops, and they get to work,
tyres serviced nicely. And that's a much more efficient,
faster stop for Lando Norris, who can come back out
onto the track again. He'll be behind Charles Leclerc. Down that main straight,
Hamilton has got fresher tyres and he's got better pace than Carlos Sainz,
and into the first braking zone they go. At Turn 2, Hamilton makes the move on Sainz. Mercedes is absolutely rapid
in a straight line, isn't it? Lewis, you can win this race. We'll see how Alonso got past Verstappen. And now we approach the part of the track
where we're near the sea front, where it is going to be at its wettest.
You can see the rain signs there. Hamilton is getting so much closer
to Lando Norris. These next two corners are really critical,
as Lando Norris goes wide. And you can see just how slippy it is
for both Norris and Hamilton. Norris hasn't got as much experience
in this sort of situation, Hamilton has, now what's going to win out? This is a part of the track where it's wet, do you stay out in slicks,
do you stop for inters? What do you do? Because you're going to
benefit later in the lap. You can see they've already got
their grip back. So, if you're Verstappen, do you gamble? Do you fit the inters?
Of course, Red Bull have been watching that. The rain is increasing
out there on the track. What has Vettel done?
This is Vettel having a spin. Well, that's his teammate Lance Stroll
just ahead of him... And Stroll wandering over
to the left-hand side, - puts his teammate into the wall.
- That broke the steering arm on Stroll's car. Nope. They both got away with it. Perfect. Lando, what do you think about an inter? No! Is that the right decision or
the wrong decision? We'll only find out at the chequered flag. What Hamilton loses by making this pit stop,
will he be able to make up as Norris continues to struggle
out on the track? And all the lap times have got
that much slower Damage for Lance Stroll, as he slides his way off the circuit
and into the barriers. He managed to get out, but you can see... And that might have been an earlier moment
with Pierre Gasly. And it's now just four seconds
between Norris and Hamilton. Verstappen could finish P2 here. And Hamilton takes the lead of the race
as Lando Norris slides off the track, and avoids the barriers,
manages to keep going, but Hamilton takes the lead. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen is on
the intermediate tyres, - he's making his way through the field.
- He's P2. This is how the lead swapped hands. Absolutely incredible.
I feel so sorry for Norris. He had everything.
But that's the benefit of being second, you can hang it out or go forward.
Has he crossed the line? - Is he going to get another penalty?
- Oh, no. - You can't come back.
- And he's gone back into the pits and that is going to earn him a penalty. For Lewis Hamilton and
his personal milestone, he is going to become the first ever driver
to reach 100 victories in Formula 1. Brazil and their amazing champions have
only produced 106 victories between them. Hamilton is going to get 100.
He came into this race as a gladiator, he finds the chequered flag as a Centurion. Lewis Hamilton, it's 100 race victories. He wins the Russian Grand Prix,
and he retakes the Championship lead. Catch you there, Lewis. That's it, mate. That's the 100. Yeah, well-reacted at the end there, Lewis. - Beautiful drive, mate.
- Great effort, guys. That was hard work, man. It's taken us a long time to get that 100, but I'm so grateful for all of you, for all the work in the factory and here.
Thanks so much for not giving up on me. Right on, Lewis. Great job, mate.
Really well done. Behind the top 5: Fernando Alonso,
6th place for him after starting 6th on the grid.
Lando Norris, 7th. Behind Norris, Kimi Räikkönen picks up
his best finish of the season, 8th, ahead of Sergio Perez, and George Russell,
who takes the final points place.
