Russian GP: Race - Re-Cap & Results

RUSSIAN GP - RACE - RE-CAP & RESULTS

    Valtteri Bottas took his first Formula 1 victory after a lightening start in Russia.

    The Finn started the race from the second row of the grid, but shot past the leading Ferraris on the way to the first corner.

    Team mate Lewis Hamilton wasn’t quite as quick off of the line, unable to find a way past Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

    Before Bottas had a chance to race off into the distance, the safety car paused the action. Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer had come together, leaving both cars stranded on track. Just as the safety car boards were brought out, Lance Stroll was sent into a spin, but the teenager managed to continue.

    McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne ran wide to avoid the incident, earning himself a five second penalty for running outside the track limits. Kevin Magnussen also received a penalty. Vandoorne’s team mate Fernando Alonso was already out of the race. The Spaniard hadn’t made it to 
the start line, a problem with the engine bringing him to a halt on the formation lap.

    On the restart, Bottas managed to pull away a little from Vettel behind him, starting to build up a gap. Meanwhile, Hamilton was stuck behind Raikkonen and struggling to keep the engine cool enough. The problem appeared to be Mercedes specific. Hamilton’s engineer told him Bottas also had temperature problems, but running in dirty air meant Hamilton was really struggling.

    After the single pit stop, there was no change to the top four’s order, even with Vettel staying out seven laps longer than Bottas. If Vettel wanted his third win of the season, he’d have to take it on track.

    Vettel rose to the challenge, chasing after Bottas and slowly closing the gap to the Mercedes. In the closing laps, back markers began to play a factor, slowing down both drivers in turn as Bottas and Vettel both raced to the flag.

    Bottas’ Williams team mate Felipe Massa was the last man to be lapped. The Mercedes managed to get past the Brazilian easily enough, but Vettel had a little more trouble. The German was stuck behind Massa through turn three on the final lap of the race, though he managed to get past on the following corner. The time lost may have cost Vettel the win, as he crossed the line just six tenths of a second behind Bottas, though Massa said he was “sure” Vettel wouldn’t have passed Bottas.

    Kimi Raikkonen finished the race in a lonely third, 11 seconds behind Vettel but 25 seconds ahead of Hamilton in fourth.

    Max Verstappen took fifth. The Red Bull driver shot off of the line, challenging Hamilton and the Ferrari’s on the run up to the front corner, but he fell away through the rest of the race. He finished a further 25 seconds behind Hamilton.

    His Red Bull team mate had a little less luck. Daniel Ricciardo retired early in the race, his brakes on fire. He managed to make it to the pits before coming to a stop.

    Behind Verstappen, Nico Hulkenberg was set to take sixth after starting eighth, but a slow puncture forced him to pit late. He emerged from the pits in eighth.

    Force India took advantage of that late stop to take sixth and seventh, Sergio Perez leading Esteban Ocon across the line.

    Massa finished the race ninth, with Carlos taking the final points paying position.

RESULTS: 

1. Valtteri Bottas / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland / + 25 points
2. Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany / + 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 12 Points
5. Max Verstappen / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands / + 10 Points
6. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 8 Points
7. Esteban Ocon / Force India-Mercedes / France / + 6 Points
8. Nico Hulkenberg / Renault-Renault / Germany / + 4 Points
9. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 2 Points
10. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Renault / Spain / + 1 Point
11. Lance Stroll / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
12. Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso-Renault / Russia
13. Kevin Magnussen / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
14. Stoffel Vandoorne / McLaren-Honda / Belgium
15. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
16. Pascal Wehrlein / Sauber-Ferrari / Germany

RETIRED - Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-Heuer / Australia / Brake Failure
RETIRED - Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / Collision
RETIRED - Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain / Collision

DNS - Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / Power Unit

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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