F1 Russian GP 2020 Winners And Losers

The talk ahead of the Russian GP was all about Lewis Hamilton equalling Michael Schumacher’s record for the most number of F1 wins. By the end of the race, one got the impression that Hamilton was doing everything possible to delay getting to 91 career wins. Two five second penalties played into the hands of Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas who won ahead of Red Bull Racing-Honda’s Max Verstappen. Hamilton was third.

Winners

Valtteri Bottas - The much maligned Finn has been at the receiving end of criticism from those who would much rather see a driver like Max Verstappen - or even George Russell - in the second Mercedes to keep Lewis Hamilton honest. Taking full advantage of Hamilton’s mistakes, Bottas took a dominant win on a track where he took his first career win. The Sochi Autodrom has been a happy hunting ground for Bottas who had a profanity laced message on the post race radio transmission for his critics. 

Max Verstappen - A fantastic second on the starting grid was followed by a strong second place in the race as Red Bull Racing-Honda’s talisman didn’t allow Bottas to be completely comfortable. Even a recovering Hamilton couldn’t make up the deficit to Verstappen late in the race as the Dutchman pulled away to finish over ten seconds ahead. F1 fans have once again been left wondering what the driver who is arguably on par with Hamilton can achieve if he gets a car equal to the mighty Mercedes. 

Daniel Ricciardo - One moment summed up the Australian’s character as a racing driver. When he passed Renault teammate Esteban Ocon but went off the track and rejoined illegally, he was handed a five second time penalty. His pit crew communicated this to him and Ricciardo simply got on with the job. His target was to finish at least five seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to hang on to his fifth place. Ricciardo finished almost ten seconds ahead of Leclerc. It was Ricciardo’s fourth top five finish of 2020 and puts him sixth in the championship, just one point behind Red Bull Racing’s Aexander Albon. 

Charles Leclerc - Ferrari is suffering an awful 2020 season where they currently have just 74 points in the constructors’ championship. After the Russian GP, 57 of those points have come thanks to Charles Leclerc. While his teammate, a four-time world champion and winner of 53 F1 races has just 17. Leclerc’s sixth place finish - while Vettel was 13th - puts him seventh in the drivers’ championship. The Monegasque driver is doing everything he possibly can to drag a decent result out of an underpowered Ferrari. 

Sergio Perez - Despite the latest upgrades to the Racing Point-BWT Mercedes RP20 going to Lance Stroll, Sergio Perez not only out-qualified the son of his employer but finished fourth in the race while Stroll crashed out early. The Mexican has finished fifth and fourth in the last two races while Stroll has crashed out. Perez now lies just a single point behind Stroll in the championship standings and will want to make a point as he is currently without a seat for the 2021 F1 season. 

Losers

Lewis Hamilton - The six-time F1 champion had only himself and the Mercedes team to blame for picking up two five second penalties before the Russian GP even started. The infractions were on account of Hamilton doing practice starts outside of the designated area on his way out of the pits and to the starting grid. Since the penalties were handed out before Hamilton’s first pitstop, he had to be stationary for an extra ten seconds during his sole tyre stop. Hamilton emerged at the tail of the top ten after his stop and slowly made his way to third due to the Mercedes’ enormous pace advantage over the rest of the cars. An incensed  Hamilton is likely to bounce back at the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

McLaren-Renault - Carlos Sainz made an error while rejoining the track on the opening lap and smacked into the wall while Lando Norris finished outside of the points in 15th. It was a big blow to third placed McLaren who are now just two points ahead of Racing Point in the constructors’ championship. Renault are also close behind as Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon’s fifth and seventh place finishes puts them just five points behind Racing Point. There is a lot of financial incentive for teams to place higher than the others in the constructors’ championship so McLaren have cause to worry.

Sebastian Vettel - The German appears to be fully committed to not caring what comes of the 2020 season anymore. His on-track performances certainly seem to reflect it. A 13th place finish in the race after crashing out in qualifying added to the misery Vettel has had to endure this year. The start of 2021 and being in a Mercedes powered Aston Martin can’t come soon enough for Vettel.