By Daily Sports on September 30, 2019

Lewis Hamilton was handed victory in the Russian Grand Prix after a virtual safety car cost Ferrari's Charles Leclerc the lead.

Hamilton's first win in four grands prix inched him closer to a sixth world title and came after Ferrari's chances of victory fell apart following a controversy over Leclerc's team-mate Sebastian Vettel disobeying team orders.

Ferrari's pre-race plan was for Leclerc to tow Vettel down into the first corner to remove the risk of Hamilton, starting second, taking the lead.

Leclerc played his side of the bargain, but once Vettel was in the lead, he refused a demand to let his team-mate back past him.

After a series of conversations over the radio, Ferrari decided to do the swap later and Leclerc recovered first place when he was pitted four laps earlier and allowed to benefit from fresher tyres.

But Vettel’s engine developed a problem in its hybrid system on his first lap out of the pits and when he was told to park the car, that led to the virtual safety car being deployed.

It was bad timing for Ferrari, because it meant Hamilton, who had been promoted into the lead by Ferrari's pit stops, could stop under the VSC and lose far less time than under racing conditions, allowing him to keep the lead.

Leclerc then lost second place as well when George Russell crashed with an apparent braking problem just as the VSC was ending, bringing out the safety car. (BBC)

•PHOTO: Lewis Hamilton 

Source Daily Sports

Posted September 30, 2019

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