Lewis Hamilton (P1, Fastest Lap, 26 pts): 9/10
It's been a lean few weeks for Lewis Hamilton, who has had to readjust to the simple fact that Mercedes no longer enjoys a clear on-track advantage over its rivals anymore. It means that Hamilton is having to really roll up his sleeves and get to work, and the effort was clear to see at Sochi. He struggled to match the pace of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in practice and even failed to get on top of his team mate at any point, but when it came to qualifying he was once again able to dig deeper, as we've seen so often in the past. He came up with a surprise effort to put himself on the front row ahead of a less than thrilled Sebastian Vettel. The team's tactic of starting the race on mediums (we're still not convinced it was a good one in the circumstances) then put him on the back foot at the start, dropping him back to third place by turn 1 where he was almost passed by Carlos Sainz. He later got lucky as a result of Ferrari's family squabbles, Sebastian Vettel's retirement and the timing of the virtual safety car, but it's to Hamilton's credit that he'd worked hard to keep himself in contention up to then even when the situation appeared to be at its bleakest. He therefore thoroughly deserved the win, and taking the bonus point for the fastest lap two laps from the finish showed just how much hunger the five-time champ still has for the sport.
