'Special moment' as Hamilton roars past idol Senna

Lewis Hamilton took full advantage of Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg's mechanical misfortunes to seize a commanding victory in Sunday's Russian Grand Prix and take a massive step toward a third world title.

En route to his ninth win of the season, the defending world champion started second on the grid but inherited the lead when Rosberg retired after seven laps with throttle pedal problems.

With his 42nd career win Hamilton passed his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna's tally in the record books.

It also lifted the Briton to 302 points in the world championship, with Sebastian Vettel, who took second in his Ferrari, at 236 points and Rosberg at 229.

If the cards fall in his favor, Hamilton can clinch the title on Oct 25 in the US. He needs to beat Vettel by nine points and Rosberg by two.

"I honestly did not know that, but I am just going to take it race by race and concentrate on that," he said. "I don't take what we have for granted, but it's a special moment for me to surpass Ayrton."

Mercedes sealed back-to-back constructors' titles with four races to go after Ferrari's fifth-placed Kimi Raikkonen was demoted to eighth for a last-lap collision.

Despite his bad luck Rosberg refused to concede the drivers' title.

"Formula One is pretty incredible sometimes, how tough it is," he said.

"I am never going to win a championship like that when normal things break on a day when I should have won the race, but I will come back, as I always do."

In a race with two safety car interventions, several accidents and a series of retirements, Carlos Sainz who had crashed heavily in his Toro Rosso on Saturday, was passed fit to start from the back of the grid, rose to 10th and retired after spinning off in the closing laps.

An opening lap multi-car collision prompted the first safety car. The second came after 12 laps when Romain Grosjean crashed heavily in his Lotus and climbed out of the wreckage unhurt.

Another crash on the final lap, involving Finns Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas of Williams as they battled for third gave the position instead to Sergio Perez, who claimed only the third podium in Force India team's history.

"It's just feels great to be back," said Perez, who is Mexican.

"One lap before the end it seemed like everything went away from us. I was very unhappy with myself but in the end I thought I gave it all. It was just amazing."

Bottas was upset, declaring: "I got past Perez and approaching Turn Four someone hit me from behind.

"It's really disappointing because it's ruined my day. I guess he (Raikkonen) will get a penalty, but I would have to see the video ... it feels bad when it ends like this."

Raikkonen was subsequently docked 30 seconds, demoting him to eighth, for his part in the incident.

Felipe Massa secured some compensation for Williams by finishing fourth. Then came local hero Daniil Kvyat of Red Bull and Felipe Nasr of Sauber.

Pastor Maldonado took seventh in the revised placings followed by Raikkonen, and the two McLaren cars both claimed points with Jenson Button finishing ninth and Fernando Alonso 10th.

Sainz, in his rookie season, started cleanly in his Toro Rosso, but in the midfield pack, Nico Hulkenberg in his Force India spun and tangled with Marcus Ericsson's Sauber after hitting Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso.

That resulted in a safety car signal that repacked the field behind Rosberg as Russian President Vladimir Putin watched on from the stands.