Hamilton wins dramatic Sochi GP

Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of the Formula One world title after victory in Sochi, as Sergio Perez claimed a stunning third place after his heavy crash in qualifying left him hospitalised.

Lewis Hamilton is on the brink of the Formula One world title after easing to another victory at the Russian Grand Prix as a throttle issue effectively ended Nico Rosberg’s championship hopes.

Having qualified on pole in Sochi, Rosberg fended off a series of attacks from Hamilton at the start, which saw the safety car deployed after Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg collided with the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson forcing both to retire.

But Rosberg’s superb efforts throughout the weekend proved in vain, with his throttle problem becoming apparent as Hamilton capitalised by sweeping past after the German had run wide at turn two on lap seven.

Valtteri Bottas and the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel soon followed in overtaking Rosberg, who then limped into the pits to retire the car.

The safety car made its second appearance on lap 13 when Lotus’ Romain Grosjean went spinning into the barriers at turn three.

However, the incident had no impact on Hamilton’s progress, with the Brit coasting to his ninth victory of a dominant campaign.

Vettel claimed second, while Sergio Perez took third for Force India, as Finnish duo Raikkonen and Bottas collided having passed the Mexican on the penultimate lap, with the latter sliding into the wall.

Hamilton now leads Vettel by 66 points and Rosberg by 73 with just 100 points left to race for and can seal a second successive title at the United States Grand Prix in a fortnight.