Formula One: Russian Grand Prix - Hamilton back to winning ways after Vettel crashed out

Sebastian Vettel ignored Ferrari's orders to let team-mate Charles Leclerc overtake before crashing out and letting Lewis Hamilton take the victory in Russia.

A virtual safety car cost Charles Leclerc the lead in the Russian Grand Prix allowing Lewis Hamilton to take the win, his first in four Grand Prixs.

It inches the Brit closer to a sixth world title, but the headlines were stolen by the Ferrari drivers, when their chances of victory were dashed when Sebastian Vettel disobeyed team orders.

Ferrari had planned to let Leclerc tow Vettel into the first corner to prevent Hamilton - who was starting second - taking an early lead.

Leclerd followed the instructions, but once Vettel had the lead, he refused to let his team-mate back past.

Photo from BBC Sport

Conversations on the Ferrari radio confirmed the decision to do the swap later, with Leclerc recovering first place with a pit stop four laps earlier than planned, allowing him to benefit from fresher tyres.
But Vettel suffered an engine problem in the hybrid system of his car on his first lap out of the pits, and his stop prompted the virtual safety car's (VSC) deployment.
The timing could scarcely have been worse for Ferrari, with Hamilton being able to stop under the VSC, losing far less time than in racing conditions, allowing him to keep the lead that he had gained when the Ferraris had pitted.
Leclerc couldn't hold onto second place either, with George Russell crashing due to a brake fault just as the VSC period was ending, but then a real safety car as brought out.
The Monegasque pitted again, swapping medium tyres for soft, matching the Mercedes drivers, meaning Leclerc dropped to third behind Valtteri Bottas.
Leclerc struggled to attack the front two, allowing Mercedes a first one-two finish since the British Grand Prix in July.
Hamilton got the fastest lap and secured an extra points, taking his lead in the drivers championship to 73 points.
Mathematically he cannot win the title at the next race in Japan - but it could be sealed in the following race in Mexico.

Photo from BBC Sport

Failing to see out the victory was bad luck for Ferrari, but there will be questions over whether Vettel would have been able to pit under the VSC that cost them the race.
But that will be nothing to the debate over Vettel's disobedience at the start of the race, with Leclerc seemingly making a mistake to leave the door open for Vettel at the first corner.
A radio message soon after confirmed a change to the pre-race plan, with the team telling Leclerc "We are looking into doing the swap later in the race," referring to a strategy for Leclerc to allow Vettel past to secure the top two positions, before the German would let his team-mate back into the lead.
Leclerc was told "Seb will let you by on the next lap, after five laps, but the problems began when Vettel said "I would have got him anyway."
Vettel was again asked to let Leclerc past, but objected and suggested the team should tel his younger team-mate to go faster.
Leclerc then told the team "You put me behind. I respect everything. We speak later."

The team asked a third time for Vettel to let Leclerc past, with no action from the German, with the team the radioing Leclerc to say "We will do the swap later."

That turned out to be the pit stops, when Leclerc was brought in on lap 22, he was given four laps on fresh tyres to close sufficiently on Vettel, to take the lead when the four-time world champion pitted.

It seemed that there would be a tussle for the win right to the end, with Vettel determined to prove that he was right about being quicker than his team-mate, while Hamilton was chasing with fresher tyres.

Vettel's retirement changed the complexion of the race, with the fall-out from his actions likely to rumble on.

Max Verstappen took fourth for Red Bull, climbing from ninth on the grid after a penalty for using too many engine parts, with his team-mate Alexander Albon finishing fifth after starting in the pit lane, as Carlos Sainz took sixth for McLaren.

Photo from Straits Times

2019 Russian Grand Prix Results

#		DRIVER	team	LAPS	TIME/RETIRED	pts
C		L Hamilton	MERCEDES	53	1:33:38.992	26
2		V Bottas	MERCEDES	53	+3.829s	18
3		C Leclerc	FERRARI	53	+5.212s	15
4		M Verstappen	RED BULL	53	+14.210s	12
5		A Albon	RED BULL	53	+38.348s	10
6		C Sainz Jr.	MCLAREN	53	+45.889s	8
7		S Perez	RACING POINT	53	+48.728s	6
8		L Norris	MCLAREn	53	+57.749s	4
9		K Magnussen	HAAS	53	+58.779s	2
10		N Hulkenberg	RENAULT	53	+59.841s	1
11		L Stroll	RACING POINT	53	+60.821s	0
12		D Kvyat	TORO ROSSO	53	+62.496s	0
13		K Räikkönen	ALFA ROMEO	53	+68.910s	0
14		P Gasly	TORO ROSSO	53	+70.076s	0
15		A Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO	53	+73.346s	0
NC		R Kubica	WILLIAMS	28	DNF	0
NC		G Russell	WILLIAMS	27	DNF	0
NC		S Vettel	FERRARI	26	DNF	0
NC		D Ricciardo	RENAULT	24	DNF	0
NC		R Grosjean	HAAS	0	DNF	0

Formula One Driver's Championship Standings
#/Driver/Team/Points/Wins/Podiums
1/L Hamilton/Mercedes/322/9/13
2/V Bottas/Mercedes/249/2/12
3/C Leclerc/Ferrari/215/2/9
4/M Verstappen/Red Bull/212/2/6
5/S Vettel/Ferrari/194/1/7
6/P Gasly/Toro Rosso/69/0/0
7/C Sainz Jr./McLaren/66/0/0
8/A Albon/Red Bull/52/0/0
9/L Norris/McLaren/35/0/0
10/D Ricciardo/Renault/34/0/0
11/N Hülkenberg/Renault/34/0/0
12/D Kvyat/Toro Rosso/33/0/1
13/S Pérez/Racing Point/33/0/0
14/K Räikkönen/Alfa Romeo/31/0/0
15/K Magnussen/Haas/20/0/0
16/L Stroll/Racing Point/19/0/0
17/R Grosjean/Haas/8/0/0
18/A Giovinazzi/Alfa Romeo/4/0/0
19/R Kubica/Williams/1/0/0
20/G Russell/Williams/0/0/0

2019 Races and Results
Australian Grand Prix
Melbourne, 15-17 March
1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Verstappen

Bahrain Grand Prix
Sakhir, 29-31 March
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai, 12-14 April
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Vettel

Azerbaijan Grand Prix
Baku, 26-28 April
1. Bottas, 2. Hamilton, 3. Vettel

Spanish Grand Prix
Barcelona, 10-12 May
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Verstappen

Monaco Grand Prix
Monte Carlo, 23, 25-26 May
1. Hamilton, 2. Vettel, 3. Bottas

Canadian Grand Prix
Montreal, 7-9 June
1. Hamilton, 2. Vettel, 3. Leclerc

French Grand Prix
Le Castellet, 21-23 June
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Austrian Grand Prix
Spielberg, 28-30 June
1. Verstappen, 2. Leclerc, 3. Bottas

British Grand Prix
Silverstone, 12-14 July
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

German Grand Prix
Hockenheim, 26-28 July
1. Verstappen, 2. Vettel, 3. Kyvat

Hungarian Grand Prix
Budapest, 2-4 August
1. Hamilton, 2. Verstappen, 3. Vettel

Belgian Grand Prix
Spa-Francorchamps, 30 August-1 September
1. Leclerc, 2. Hamilton, 3. Bottas

Italian Grand Prix
Monza, 6-8 September
1. Leclerc, 2. Bottas, 3. Hamilton


Singapore Grand Prix
Marina Bay, 20-22 September
1. Vettel, 2. Leclerc, 3. Verstappen

Russian Grand Prix
Sochi, 27-29 September
1. Hamilton, 2. Bottas, 3. Leclerc

Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka, 11-13 October

Mexican Grand Prix
Mexico City, 25-27 October

United States Grand Prix
Austin, 1-3 November

Brazilian Grand Prix
Sao Paulo, 15-17 November

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Yas Marina, 29 November-1 December

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