Mercedes admits: 'Then it was a disappointing result'

Lewis Hamilton scored his 100th victory in his Formula 1 career on Sunday afternoon. The Briton was faster than Max Verstappen, who overtook many drivers from last place and finished second.

Mercedes was the favourite to win the Russian Grand Prix prior to the weekend. However, the German outfit experienced a disappointing qualifying session, leaving Hamilton to start the race in fourth position.

Hamilton stayed in second place for a long time and didn't seem to get past Lando Norris. However, the front-runner did not go in when it started to rain, while Hamilton chose this strategy. It ensured the Briton's victory. "Without the rain at the end, it could have been a very disappointing result, with Lewis in second place and Valtteri (Bottas, ed.) outside the points," states Andrew Shovlin in conversation with Motorsport-total.com.

Mercedes' engineer finds it difficult to say how Mercedes' car compared to the competition. "When we had clear track, we were good. But we were also often in traffic and usually behind a McLaren. And there you can't see the pace. We were definitely on a par with Red Bull. Whether we were faster is hard to say given the race we had."