If any season could jolt the Russian Grand Prix into life it would be 2021. And come to life it most certainly did. In fairness, the excitement started on Saturday as heavy rain not only saw free practice 3 cancelled but turned qualifying on its head.

A drying track at the end of qualifying on Saturday saw the young generation of drivers come to the fore in a big way. While Hamilton not only clouted the wall in the pitlane but also spun on his flying lap the likes of Lando Norris, Carlos Sainz, and George Russell aced the conditions. As it were, Norris scored the first pole position of his career while Sainz and Russell rounded out the top three.

With the longest run on the calendar to the first braking point, the slipstream was always going to have an effect for those starting at the sharp end. It was Carlos Sainz who manoeuvred it best of all as he took the lead of the race from Norris. Hamilton struggled at lights out and dropped behind Lance Stroll, Daniel Ricciardo, and Fernando Alonso, to seventh, for most of the opening stint of the race. Meanwhile, Verstappen started dead last due to penalties but made decent progress in the opening laps. Mercedes opted to fit yet another power unit to Bottas’s car in what they termed as “tactical” decision. The only tactic they were playing at was to use Bottas as a blocker against Verstappen. But Bottas has never been the most robust in defence nor is he a match, in a straight-out fight, for Verstappen. As if to emphasize this Verstappen overtook Bottas on lap 6 of the race with a minimum of fuss.

Up ahead, as Russell and Stroll dipped into the pits, Norris closed down Sainz and passed the Spanish driver into turn 2 on lap 14. Sainz diverted to the pitlane on lap 15 but Hamilton and Norris opted to stay out. At this point, Verstappen had made significant progress to run only four seconds behind Hamilton. Both championship contenders entered the pitlane on lap 27 and emerged in 9th and 12th respectively. Verstappen made short work of Russell for 11th place and now only had Ricciardo between himself and Hamilton. As Norris pitted Hamilton progressed to 5th to run 8 seconds behind the net race leader.

For all money, Hamilton’s pace suggested that he’d breeze past Norris and into the lead of the race. But Norris was driving brilliantly and kept the Merc at bay at the most crucial parts of the lap around the Sochi Autodrom. But it would all be turned on its head as the rain came down with just five laps to go. Though it did come down the rain light enough to sow some doubt in the drivers’ minds. Initially, both Norris and Hamilton elected to stay out on slicks. But with 3 laps to go Hamilton swopped his slicks for Inters but Norris decided to try and hang on with his dry tyres. In hindsight, Norris’s decision was the wrong one and resulted in a heartbreaking tumble down the field. It doesn’t take away what stellar driving the 21-year-old McLaren driver had delivered all weekend.

Hamilton meanwhile took the chequered flag first for the 100th time in his career. It’s a monumental achievement and a record that won’t be broken for a very long time. The win has also regained him the lead in the driver’s championship but, incredibly, by only two points. For when it was all going off at the front of the race Verstappen too opted onto the Inters early enough to gain himself an incredible second-place finish.

Red Bull always knew Mercedes held the advantage in Russia. A second-place finish then was likely the best they could do even on a ‘normal’ day. But a second-place finish on a day when Verstappen started dead last is an enormous result. And that with a fresh power unit in his pool to boot.

The third step on the podium was snapped up by Carlos Sainz while McLaren’s Ricciardo finished fourth. Bottas, who also benefited from an early switch to Inters, was fifth ahead of Alonso in sixth. The unlucky Norris was eventually seventh ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who on his return to F1 after testing positive for Covid-19 drove a superb race to finish eighth in what is a grotesquely off-the-pace Alfa Romeo. For the final points paying positions, Sergio Perez and George Russell were ninth and tenth.

Only seven races remain in the 2021 season and if what has gone before is anything to go by then what is to come is not only going to be the stuff that champions are made of but is also likely to culminate in one of the most memorable and exhilarating Formula 1 season ever.