Mercedes continue their 100% record of wins in Russia as Valtteri Bottas took a comfortable victory. Lewis Hamilton could only manage 3rd after being penalised for his practice race starts, while Max Verstappen came 2nd.
Race Report:
Hamilton placed himself under investigation before the race began with a practice start way out of the pit lane. This infringement would lead to two 5s penalties being awarded on lap 7. Furthermore, the British driver now has 10 penalty points, 2 more will lead to a race ban.
Verstappen didn’t get off the line well and was swamped by Bottas off the line. The Finn then attempted a move around Hamilton but wasn’t able to complete the move out of turn 1. However, traditional race start chaos took place as Carlos Sainz made a mistake on the exit road out of turn 2. He misjudged the re-entry on to the track and had a huge impact with the left hand side wall. Then, in a separate incident, Stroll was tapped by Leclerc and lost control of his car, smashing into the wall on the outside of turn 5. The safety car was deployed and multiple cars took to the pits to attempt an alternate strategy.
Race Restart
The Safety Car came in on lap 6 and Hamilton led from Bottas and Verstappen. The top 3 were unchallenged down the kilometre long straight and now strategy now came into play. The optimum strategy was to start on the medium compound tyre before moving to the hards. However, Hamilton had to start on the soft tyre after the chaotic qualifying session from yesterday. Hamilton’s initial laps were 0.7s a lap quicker, but the chasing pair had strategy on their side. Hamilton was then awarded the two 5 second penalties for his practice starts. Hamilton had it all to do, with a weaker strategy and now an extra 10 seconds added on.
Behind the main 3, Ocon and Ricciardo were looking strong in 4th and 5th respectively, less than 2s off the podium. At the back of the grid, Norris, Albon and Russell started a hugely entertaining battle. Russell won out initially, but a lock up gifted Albon the lead in the battle. Norris eventually found his way past and, even though it was only for 16th, gave fans an exciting glimpse to the future of Formula 1.
Pit Window Opens
Hamilton was ordered to pit and refused, the Briton wanted to take the tyres as far into the race as he could. To prove his point, he immediately set the fastest lap and extended the gap to 2nd, despite being on 14 lap old tyres. He was eventually forced to pit on lap 17 and served his 10 second penalty. He eventually came out 11th, but every car in front of him still had to pit. In response, Bottas started setting fastest laps with no disturbed air hindering him. He would eventually pit on lap 27 and came out with a healthy lead.
Down the road, Perez and Ricciardo displayed some incredible driving with a side-by-side battle through the long turn 3. Perez impressively won out and Ricciardo immediately entered the pits. After these stops, It was now Perez in a net 4th, ahead of Vettel, Ocon and Ricciardo. Vettel hadn’t stopped and was holding up the Renault pair. Ocon was unable to overtake and switched positions with Ricciardo. However, during the switch, Ricciardo ran slightly wide on turn 1. This lead to the Australian getting a 5s penalty.
Ricciardo managed to get past Vettel almost immediately and now had to work on building a 5s gap from his team-mate. Vettel stayed out, clearly struggling and it became clear that he was holding up the Renaults to benefit Leclerc. The Monegasque had his pit stop and split the Renault drivers. This was entirely due to Vettel sacrificing his race for the team to gain points. Ocon had spent numerous laps trying to get past a Ferrari, he now had to do it again.
A Race Of Two Halves
The race petered out towards the end as the top 3 remained unchallenged. There were numerous midfield battles, most notably between the Ferrari powered cars, but these were not for any significant positions. However, Norris, Albon and Gasly started a battle for 9th with 8 laps to go. Norris was defending supremely but the 3 cars were bleeding time. Albon was backed up into the jaws of Gasly, who managed to overtake in turn 11. Albon had now dropped out of the points. Next, Gasly had Norris in his sights and overtook him 2 laps later into turn 1. Norris locked up a few corners later and gifted Albon with 10th. The McLaren’s hard tyres had managed 46 laps, but couldn’t hold on to the end of the race.
Verstappen attempted a late charge on Bottas, taking the fastest lap in the process. The gap closed to a tantalising 5.1s, but Bottas responded, reclaiming the fastest lap and extending the gap.
And so, for the second time in his career, Bottas won in Russia from 3rd on the grid. Verstappen managed yet another podium ahead of Hamilton, who had a lonely race to 3rd. Perez impressed with a very solid drive to 4th while Ricciardo managed to break his penalty and finish 5th. Leclerc dragged his Ferrari to 6th, as Ocon was unable to make it past. The Alpha Tauri’s finished in formation with Kvyat 8th and Gasly recovering to 9th. Albon took the last points paying position, but was still 8 positions behind his team-mate.
Formula 1 will return in 2 weeks for the Eifel GP at the Nurburgring.
Full Race Standings:
- Bottas
- Verstappen +7.729
- Hamilton +22.729
- Perez +30.558
- Ricciardo +52.065
- Leclerc +1:02.186
- Ocon + 1:08.006
- Kvyat +1:08.740
- Gasly +1:29.766
- Albon +1:37.860
- Giovinazzi +1 Lap
- Magnussen +1 Lap
- Vettel +1 Lap
- Raikkonen +1 Lap
- Norris +1 Lap
- Latifi +1 Lap
- Grosjean +1 Lap
- Russell +1 Lap
- Stroll RET
- Sainz RET
Featured Image Credit: @Mercedes-AMGF1 Official Twitter
