Mercedes-Benz has won the World Championship as a constructor

Lewis Hamilton won the first ever Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix today at the Sochi Autodrom, with teammate Nico Rosberg finishing second after a strong recovery drive from a first lap pit-stop.

• The 1-2 victory is the team's ninth in 2014 and sealed the F1 Constructors' Championship for Mercedes-Benz

• This is the first time in 120 years of motorsport that Mercedes-Benz has won the World Championship as a constructor

• Lewis' win means he equals the record number of wins for a British driver, set by Nigel Mansell (31)

• All of today's top 5 finishers were powered by Mercedes-Benz, a fitting result to seal the company's first Constructors' title

Lewis Hamilton

It was a good day and an amazing weekend. Firstly I'm so proud to have contributed to the work of this great team, to get the first Constructors' Championship for Mercedes-Benz is a huge achievement. Massive congratulations to the guys back in the UK and Germany, it's history for us. Today I had to manage the tyres a lot through the race; managing the fuel wasn't too bad. The car felt great and I didn't have to push too hard. At the end, when Nico was behind, I needed to match his times, which I did. I've thoroughly enjoyed the weekend here in Russia, it's a great place. It's been one of my favourite venues so far this year, so it's very cool to have won the first race here. ‎The fans have been amazing; I didn't know so many people followed it here but they were all there in the grandstands and looked excited! The organisers have also done a great job - the layout, the surface and the whole event; I take my hat off to them.

Nico Rosberg

We are World Champions! I feel so happy for the team and the whole Mercedes-Benz family, today we made history. Thanks to everybody for their efforts, also thanks to the husbands and wives to send us your partners to make this happen. I remember well the hard times we had in this team. So now it's great to be so dominant in our sport. But I'm also divided. Today was a really tough race for me. I just messed up in the first corner. I simply braked too late, which was unnecessary. So I flat spotted my front tyres and it was impossible to continue due to the vibrations. I had to pit, and on the prime tyre I had great pace. In the middle of the race I thought the degradation would start to increase. But very soon it was stable and I was able to push a lot. Then I managed to overtake Bottas. Also still at the end I was able to push, but the team asked me to control the pace as everyone was worried about dropping at the very end of the race. P2 was damage limitation. I really look forward to the last 3 races of the year with this outstanding championship car.

Per scaricare il Comunicato Stampa completo (Word) selezionare "Effettuare il download della selezione" dal menù sottostante