The Russian grand prix was going so well, until the rain came down, and the drivers and their positions started to slide around, quite literally.

Lando Norris drove an amazing race until lap 47 when the rain came down. Lando Norris had a great Saturday managing to qualify on pole for the first time in his career. At the race start he didn’t make the best getaway and got overtaken by Carlos Sainz. He fought most of the race against various opponents, but looked to be on track to win his first race. When the sky opened up and the rain came down, Lando decided to not pit for intermediates, based on the information he was given by his team, and opted to stay on his slicks. This ended up being the wrong decision and after a heartbreakingly slow lap, he was passed by multiple people including Lewis Hamilton who had been chasing him for a while. He had to watch not only the race win but any chance at a podium pass him by. He managed to salvage a little bit of his race and ended up finishing in seventh but he was rightfully upset. It was hard to watch for sure, but I know his time will come. He is a great driver and he has shown this many times, but he is still young and has lots of time left in the sport.

As mentioned, laps 47 and 48 changed a lot of things for a lot of drivers. The top ten went from being Norris, Hamilton, Perez, Sainz, Alonso, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Leclerc, Stroll, Vettel, to being the top 10 listed in the second to last paragraph. Bottas made the biggest jump going from being 14th to 5th. There was a lot of apprehension from some drivers because they didn’t think the rain would be very hard and that their slicks would work until the end. However, the rain did not agree and came down very heavily until shortly the track was undrivable on slicks. It was definitely a twist ending to the race.

Sir Lewis Hamilton has officially become the first driver to ever win 100 races. He fought hard in this race, struggling to get to the front for most of the race. He stayed consistently in the high to mid points areas until finally, when the rain came down, his team forced him into the pits and he breezed passed his competition who were still sliding around on their slicks. It was almost poetic that he would end up taking the lead and he proved once again, why he is one of the greatest drivers of all time.

Max Verstappen drove a brilliant race. He started last on the grid after taking an engine penalty but clawed his way through the field to finish in P2! While the rain at the end helped slightly, it was his pure skill that helped him succeed in this race. It was a fantastic performance and it really demonstrated why he is competing with Hamilton for the championship.

Carlos Sainz had a pretty great race. He qualified P2 on the Saturday and managed to take the lead for a bit at the race start. He was pretty consistent and managed to finish the race in P3. I think he has been getting overlooked recently, and it should be mentioned that he is a great job for Ferrari. He has been on the podium more than once this season now and has been demonstrating really solid performances.

Aston Martin did not have a good race. Both drivers finished out of the points, and the two team mates had a run it on track, after Stroll seemed to collide with Vettel. This sparked a lot of talk online as this is not the only time the two have come together this season. There seems to be a little tension between the teammates, which I hope can be worked out soon. I want to see both drivers do well, but they need to start focusing on their own races as opposed to each other.

Mick Schumacher was the only retirement of the race. He was called into the pits on lap 33 and forced to retire the car due to a mechanical issue that couldn’t be resolved.

Lewis Hamilton, as mentioned, celebrated his record breaking 100th win at this race. He was joined on the podium by Verstappen in second and Sainz in third. Daniel Ricciardo finished fourth followed by Valtteri Bottas in fifth, Fernando Alonso in sixth, Norris in seventh, Kimi Raikkonen in eighth, Sergio Perez in ninth, and George Russell rounding out the top ten.

This week we head back to Turkey. Last season it was slippery track, I can’t wait to see what happens this year, and if we will continue with the nail biting races that we have been so blessed to have this season.