Lewis Hamilton's win at the Russian Grand Prix meant he became the first F1 driver to hit the century mark, with the significance of that feat not lost on Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott. The 36-year-old bounced back from a poor start and found himself battling with Lando Norris for the lead in the closing stages in Sochi. Hamilton's decision to pit for Intermediate tyres proved the difference, as Norris stayed out and had to settle for a disappointing P7 finish . Elliott lauded Hamilton for his "amazing" achievement, noting that his win tally won't be surpassed for a long time, if ever. "Lewis has been an unbelievable driver, to break all the records he has broken is something special," said Elliott. "For us, as part of this team, to be involved with 79 of them is amazing. "But in actual fact, what you have to bear in mind is some of us have been with Lewis for a lot more than that. I personally have seen 88 of his wins because I spent a chunk of my early career at McLaren. "For some of my colleagues at HPP [Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains] who work on the power unit, they've seen all 100 of Lewis' wins. So it is an amazing achievement for those guys as well. "Coming back to Lewis, I mean that is an unbelievable achievement. It's probably not going to be surpassed for a long, long time if it ever is. Massive congratulations to him." Hamilton's 100 victories put him nine clear of Michael Schumacher for second on the all-time list. Sebastian Vettel, who remains the closest in terms of active drivers, sits third with 53 wins to his name.
Most read
