Nico Rosberg completed his first ever Grand Slam with pole position, fastest lap, and the race win at the Russian Grand Prix.
The German joins Michael Schumacher and Alberto Ascari on seven consecutive race wins, and now leads the Drivers’ Championship by 43 points over his teammate.
It was damage limitation for Hamilton, who capitalised on the chaotic start which saw him climb to fifth within the first few corners.
He managed to get past Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen, and Valtteri Bottas but a water pressure issue meant he was unable to catch Rosberg before the end of the race.
Daniil Kvyat may have been in the right in China, but after knocking Sebastian Vettel out of the race in Turns 3 and 4, the Red Bull driver will have to concede that he was in the wrong this time around.
With Vettel out it meant Raikkonen eased to third place, finishing well ahead of Bottas and Felipe Massa, and both Williams drivers will be disappointed not have been closer to the Ferrari and Mercedes.
McLaren had their best race weekend of 2016, with Fernando Alonso an impressive sixth, and Jenson Button in 10th.
Kevin Magnussen took advantage of the problems ahead of him to come in at seventh ahead of Romain Grosjean, who managed to get back into the points after his disappointing weekend in China.
Sergio Perez scored his first points of the season, but might have hoped for even better after putting the soft tyres on later in the race than those around him.
The Red Bulls couldn’t recover after their first lap incidents, and both drivers finished outside of the points.
Max Verstappen was on for a strong points finish before being forced to retire with an engine issue on lap 35.
The result means that Rosberg remains unbeaten in 2016, and Hamilton will have his work cutout to close the gap.
