Hamilton Records Historic 100th Formula 1 Win
Photo: Honda
Lewis Hamilton yesterday snatched his 100th win at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, a historic record that will likely never be repeated. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion didn’t make it easy on himself, hitting the wall in the pits on Saturday before spinning and getting once more out-qualified by future teammate George Russell.
His cautious approach to Turn 1 also lost him places at the start, but once Hamilton found his groove, there was only one other driver to stand in his way: fellow Brit Lando Norris, who was on the hunt for his maiden win.
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It looked as though Hamilton wouldn’t get past until the rain broke out in the dying stages of the race, forcing teams and drivers to make a snap decision about whether to stay out or pit for wet weather tires. It wasn’t easy to tell what would turn out to be the right call.
In the end, the difference came down to how the teams handled their drivers. Both McLaren and Mercedes asked Norris and Hamilton, respectively, to come in for a pit stop, and both drivers said they wanted to stay out. But while McLaren respected Norris’s decision, Mercedes insisted that Hamilton come in — and that proved to be the race-winning move.
Left out on slicks as the rain began to pour in earnest, Norris lost heaps of time and nearly spun into the wall. He dashed into the pits after that, but it was much too late, and, a few minutes later, he finished the race in what will likely be the most disappointing seventh place of his career.
Red Bull Racing also made the call to pit Max Verstappen at just the right time, enabling him to finish in second place, an amazing result considering the world championship contender had started dead last after taking a grid penalty for his new Honda engine.
Photo: Honda
Hamilton on top followed by Verstappen is the most common result we’ve seen so far this year (tied with the other way around), but this familiar outcome certainly does not do justice to the excitement that led to it. For a time, it seemed anybody could win it. Carlos Sainz led the race for a few laps, and Pérez might have been in contention had Red Bull not bungled his last stop — something the team has been struggling with since the pit stop rule change.
Hamilton and Verstappen are now separated by only two points in the championship, the former seeking a record-setting eight championships and the latter seeking his first drivers’ title. Barring more collisions, however, Verstappen shouldn’t need a new Honda engine for the rest of the season, while it’s improbable Hamilton will be able to complete the last eight races with his remaining power unit components.
Even if he never gets that eighth championship, 100 wins is a record that will almost undoubtedly stand the test of time. Nobody else is even close. After Michael Schumacher, who had a seemingly insurmountable 91 wins, the driver in third place on the all-time list is Sebastian Vettel at 53 wins — and he’s probably retiring in a handful of years.
Verstappen currently has the best shot at reaching 100. He’s only 23 years old and has 17 wins already — but even with another 15 years in F1, he’d need to average 5.5 wins per year to get there, which would be a mind-boggling achievement. It’s just not going to happen without a driver benefiting from a significant and sustained team advantage, as Hamilton has enjoyed for seven of the past eight years. And for the sake of the sport and its viewers, let us hope that never happens again.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.