Race winner Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 W05 crosses the line. Formula One World Championship, Rd16, Russian Grand Prix, Race, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, Sunday, 12 October 2014 © Sutton Images. No reproduction without permission
Not only did they wrap up their 13th win and ninth one-two finish of the season, they also earned enough points to seal their first ever constructors’ championship crown.
Mercedes now have a staggering 565 points from 16 races - just 31 fewer than last year’s constructors’ champions Red Bull achieved over the whole of the 2013 season.
Behind the Silver Arrows, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas underlined Mercedes’ dominance by coming home in third to make it 35 podiums out of a possible 48 for Mercedes-powered cars this season. Bottas also scored his first career fastest lap.
Lewis Hamilton, who led every lap in Sochi, equaled Nigel Mansell’s British record of 31 Grand Prix wins with his ninth victory of the season, and also stretched his winning streak to four races. Only twice before in F1 history has a driver had two separate streaks of four race wins in a row in one season (Michael Schumacher in 2004 and Sebastian Vettel in 2013), and on both previous occasions the driver concerned won the title.
Hamilton, who is now guaranteed to finish the season with the most wins, has a 17-point advantage over Rosberg in the drivers’ standings with a maximum of 100 points left to be won. Bottas, meanwhile, has vaulted Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel to move into P4 in the points, behind Daniel Ricciardo. The last Williams driver to finish in the top four in the drivers’ championship was Juan Pablo Montoya in 2003.
With Jenson Button coming home fourth and Kevin Magnussen fifth, McLaren picked up their biggest points haul (22) since the season opener in Australia, when they scored 33 points. The result also lifted the Woking team back above Force India and into fifth in the constructors’ standings.
Ferrari, meanwhile, lost more ground to Williams in the battle for third overall, despite getting both cars home in the points for the tenth time this season. Ferrari, of course, have not yet won a race this year - the last time they went a full season without a victory was all the way back in 1993.
Elsewhere, after a dream Saturday which saw home favourite Daniil Kvyat qualify fifth and Jean-Eric Vergne tenth, Toro Rosso endured a nightmare Sunday with both drivers tumbling down the order. Kvyat eventually finished back in 14th, one place behind his team mate.
Finally, Sauber’s awful streak continues - the Swiss team have now gone 16 races without scoring a point. Only Caterham, who joined the grid in 2010 and are still yet to score a point, have a worse record.