{"id":22436,"date":"2021-09-26T10:29:49","date_gmt":"2021-09-26T15:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=22436"},"modified":"2021-09-26T10:29:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-26T15:29:49","slug":"sir-lewis-carl-davidson-hamilton-mbe-honfreng-becomes-first-f1-driver-in-history-to-record-100-victories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myboysay.com\/blog\/?p=22436","title":{"rendered":"Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE HonFREng, Becomes First F1 Driver in History to Record 100 Victories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lewis Hamilton Becomes First F1 Driver in History to Record 100 Victories<\/h1>\n
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@LewisHamilton<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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\"\" <\/span> \u00a0\u00a0<\/span> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first F1 driver in history to record 100 career wins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton, the four-time defending Formula 1 champion, won the\u00a0Russian Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first F1 driver in history to record 100 career wins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the victory, Hamilton also reclaimed the overall season standings lead, overtaking Max Verstappen. Verstappen and Carlos Sainz finished second and third, respectively, in Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix.<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It will come when it comes, but of course, I’ll be giving it absolutely everything tomorrow, chasing that number 100,” Hamilton said earlier this week when asked by reporters about the prospects of reaching the century win mark.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“It’s a big number. It seems like it’s taking longer than ever before to get it. It’s a pretty cool number to wait for.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton’s latest win comes amid a boom in the sport’s popularity. Earlier this week, Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, who has produced the hit docuseris\u00a0Formula 1: Drive to Survive,<\/em>\u00a0spoke to German outlet D<\/em>er Spiegel<\/em><\/a> and said the company “would definitely consider” bidding for F1’s streaming rights.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lewis Hamilton Wins Instant Classic Russian Grand Prix<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Photo<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

On lap 1 of the Russian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton found himself with a run on pole-sitter Lando Norris and nowhere to go. He lifted hard to avoid a crash, falling all at once from third to eighth. He would be stuck behind a train of traffic for the next thirty laps, while Norris would push out to a twelve second lead on the field. Then things got out of control.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton’s race was seemingly ruined by a long stint behind George Russell in third, but when half of the “DRS train” behind Russell chose to undercut the Williams in an attempt to get ahead, Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo stayed the course. Both cleared the pit delta to the Williams on pace without undercutting, then stopped for their scheduled stop. A slow stop left Ricciardo behind Russell, but Hamilton came out just ahead on fresh hard tires with half a race to go and a wide variety of cars ahead of on track.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once the Mercedes got into clean air, none stayed ahead for long. Hamilton was in second in what seemed like a heartbeat, then methodically closed a gap of more than twelve seconds to just two in ten laps. Hamilton was just over a second behind Lando Norris with six laps to go, setting up what would have already been a classic finish between the fastest and the hungriest drivers in the field. Then, finally, rain forecast for today’s race throughout the past week hit. Not heavy rain, mind you, but enough to ruin the racing surface immediately.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Half the field quickly stopped for intermediate tires, but Hamilton and Norris stayed out for another lap. A sketchy, difficult lap saw both drivers go off track, but with just four laps to go Norris decided to stay out again. Hamilton did not, turning the massive 40-second gap he had built over third-placed Carlos Sainz Jr. over the dry stint into an opportunity for a risk-free stop. He had four laps to close what was a 25 second gap, but it was done in a lap and a half. By the time Hamilton actually saw Norris again, the race was already decided. Hamilton flew into the lead for what would become a win by nearly a minute, while Norris would struggle to a distant seventh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Behind Hamilton, somehow, was Max Verstappen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Red Bull driver screamed through the field in the opening laps, bouncing up into the top ten from the back of the grid on hard tires in the first stint before falling into a slower rhythm on medium tires in the second. He seemed stuck in seventh while Hamilton was fighting for the win, but the rain came at a crucial time and Red Bull stopped him at the perfect time. While the cameras were focused on the battle for the win, Verstappen screamed past every other car that had moved onto intermediates and every other car choosing to stay out on dry tires alike. He finished 53 seconds adrift from Hamilton, but he was nine full seconds ahead of Sainz after running four positions behind him on track with seven to go.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sainz completed the podium, a respectable result after a long day that saw him lead the opening laps and fall back in the field after a disastrously slow first stop. Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas would recover to fourth and fifth in the rain after difficult days of their own. Fernando Alonso, Norris, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, and George Russell completed the top five after Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel fell out of the points in the wet conditions.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton’s win is his 100th, making him the first driver in the history of the series to hit triple digit wins. It also inches him forward in his fight for a record eighth championship. While he was in position to gain even more before Verstappen’s own stellar run through the rain, the Mercedes driver has moved back into the championship lead by a margin of two points.<\/strong><\/p>\n

F1’s next scheduled race will be held at Turkey in two weeks, the track that held no grip at all throughout its return race weekend last season. This season-long fight is far from over, though: The unbelievably long 2021 F1 schedule goes until December 12th.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Lewis Hamilton takes 100th win in Russian Grand Prix<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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\"hamilton\"<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton won the Russian Grand Prix after a frantic last few laps caused by heavy rain dashed Lando Norris’ hopes of a maiden victory.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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And the rain helped Hamilton’s title rival Max Verstappen vault from seventh to second in his Red Bull after timing his change to wet tyres perfectly.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Mercedes driver’s 100th career win puts him back into the title lead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Verstappen’s drive from the back of the grid meant Hamilton’s advantage is only two points.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The late race downpour turned the race on its head and while it gave Hamilton a victory it helped Verstappen even more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norris, who took his maiden pole position on Saturday, was leading with five laps to go when it started to rain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rain started light and only over a few corners, but Verstappen, who was at that point struggling in seventh place, was one the first drivers to pit for treaded intermediate tyres.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was the making of his afternoon as Norris and Hamilton – more than 30 seconds up the road in their battle for the lead – initially stayed out.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A similar decision briefly vaulted Alpine’s Fernando Alonso, who was leading Verstappen in sixth place before the rain, to third.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Halfway around the lap following Verstappen’s stop, Norris was asked if he wanted to stop for intermediate tyres and he said: “No.” <\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton was also saying it was not raining that heavily, but was advised to come in because more rain was coming.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He stopped a lap after Verstappen, with four to go, leaving Norris out in front on his slick tyres as the rain fell increasingly heavily.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton was 14.9 seconds behind Norris a lap after he had stopped, but the rain was by now so bad that the seven-time champion caught the McLaren within five more corners and swept by into the lead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Norris finally stopped after tip-toeing around the rest of the lap but the delay in coming in for tyres dropped him down to seventh place at the end.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz, who stopped for tyres at the same time as Verstappen, took third, while McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo and Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas also benefited from early stops for treaded tyres to take fourth and fifth ahead of Alonso.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Russian<\/span><\/span><\/strong>
Norris also lost the lead on the first lap<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A terrible twist for Norris<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The late rain was a bitter blow for Norris after appearing on course for an impressive maiden victory for so long.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The 21-year-old lost the lead to Sainz at the start and tracked the Ferrari for 13 laps before re-passing for the lead.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hamilton, meanwhile, had dropped from fourth on the grid to seventh on the first lap and he spent the first part of the race stuck in a train behind Williams driver George Russell in third, ahead of Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll and Ricciardo.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Russell and Stroll pitted out of the way, Ricciardo appeared to be holding Hamilton back to give Norris some breathing space at the front. <\/strong><\/p>\n

At the same time Verstappen had made excellent progress from his place on the back row of the grid following an engine penalty and was only two seconds behind Hamilton – with team-mate Sergio Perez and Alonso between them – after just 20 laps.<\/strong><\/p>\n

After both Norris and Hamilton had pitted, Norris had a 10-second lead, which the Mercedes driver remorselessly closed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But with 10 laps to go, Norris appeared to be in control, with Hamilton not able to get within a second of him, only for the rain to change everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was another to suffer for a late decision to change tyres.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starting from the back of the grid, he was ninth heading into the closing laps, two spots behind Verstappen, and was briefly up to fourth as the rain threw everything up in the air.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But stopping late on the same lap as Norris meant he dropped down out the points into 15th.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lucky break for Verstappen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A decision to stop for fresh tyres on lap 26 – about half-distance – appeared to have been damaging for Verstappen when he could have stayed out longer on the hard tyres he had chosen at the start. <\/strong><\/p>\n

It dropped him behind a slow-moving pack of cars and he lost ground to the leaders. And things went from bad to worse when Alonso – who had also started on hards, but stopped 10 laps later for fresh tyres – passed him into Turn Two, Verstappen seemingly unable to do anything about reclaiming sixth place.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the rain came to his rescue. He made the call to stop for intermediate tyres at exactly the right time and was able to vault up into second, in what could be a critical move in a championship battle so close.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Driver of the day<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Really hard to call this one. Norris, Hamilton, Verstappen and Alonso were probably the picks of the field, but let’s give it to Norris for controlling the race so well for so long after re-passing Sainz, even if he and McLaren did bungle the late tyre choice.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What happens next?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

A two-week gap until the Turkish Grand Prix. Last year’s race was a chaotic rain-hit affair in which Hamilton put in one of his greatest ever drives to win the title.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Lewis Hamilton claims 100th F1 victory in Russia as Lando Norris skids off track<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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