RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX - RACE
Nico Rosberg was in control in Sochi, taking the first grand slam of his career with a pole position, fastest lap, and a race win in the fourth race of the 2016 championship, whilst team mate Lewis Hamilton took on the challenge of starting tenth to finish second. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen completed the podium.
The return of the power unit problem that Hamilton saw in China ruled the Brit out of the third qualifying session and put him in tenth on the grid whilst team mate Rosberg started on pole. A new gearbox gave Sebastian Vettel a five place grid penalty, lining him up alongside his friend from China, Daniil Kvyat.
It was a fantastic start for Rosberg off of the line, with Raikkonen taking second place from fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas. Behind them, Felipe Massa kept fourth whilst Hamilton burst through the field.
Behind them, chaos.
Vettel had gained off of the line, pulling up alongside Red Bull’s Daniel Riccardo. Behind him, Kvyat was flying, right into the rear of the Ferrari. Riccardo was sent wide but Vettel kept going, only for Kvyat to crash into him again and send the Ferrari spinning.
After the crash at the last race, Vettel was not best pleased.
“Today it was not my fault, there was nothing I could have done differently, nothing I would change. I don’t dislike him (Kvyat), but I think he did a mistake two weeks ago, he made a mistake today but it doesn’t help me now. Obviously I would have loved to drive the car today to feel if we could keep the same balance into the race, but for the future nothing has changed. Of course I’m disappointed but we’re already focused on the next race.”
Once the crash had been cleared and the safety car returned to the pits, Hamilton was back on the move, quickly overtaking Massa and catching up with the all Finn battle for second place. He would have to wait until the pit stop window to make another place though, allowing Rosberg to drive off into the sun set.
A quick stop for Williams kept Bottas just ahead of Hamilton after the pit stop, but the Mercedes driver was within DRS range, and overtook the Williams as Raikkonen headed into the pits. The Ferrari came out between the two of them, gaining the place from Bottas.
Hamilton was in net second and set off to catch his team mate, but a water pressure problem kept Hamilton from getting too close and Rosberg finished the race with a gap of over 18 seconds to his team mate.
Behind them, Raikkonen finished third. The Finn said it was the best he could do for the weekend.
“It’s a pity not to be fighting for the win, but we take this result and keep on working to put ourselves in a better position.”
Further down the field, Williams took a fourth and a fifth place finish in a rather quiet second half of the race, closing the gap to constructors’ championship rival Red Bull. It was a good race for the team, but more was expected after qualifying put them in such a promising position.
“The car performance is going forward, even in race trim today,” said Williams’ head of performance, Rob Smedley.
“We had improving pace against Ferrari and Mercedes and that’s what we need to keep heading towards… We’ve developed the car a lot, but we need another two or three tenths, and we just need to keep developing it, in all areas. Nobody is free from finding performance in Formula One, and certainly not at Williams, but I think we got the most we could have done out of today.”
Also having a good day was McLaren, with their first double points finish since Hungary last year. The pair started the race outside the top ten but benefited from the chaos ahead of them in the opening laps. Alonso was promoted into seventh by the time the safety car came out, and gifted another place with Toro Rosso driver Max Verstappen was forced to retire.
Jenson Button had a more challenging race, battling just outside the top ten with Romain Groskean, Sergio Perez, and Carlos Sainz. In the closing stages of the race, a lock up from Sainz allowed Button to catch up and take the place, finishing the race in tenth, giving the team their best finish of the season so far.
Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, Haas’ Romain Grosjean, and Force India’s Sergio Perez also took points from Sochi.
RESULTS:
1. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes-Mercedes / Germany / + 25 Points
2. Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain / + 18 Points
3. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland / + 15 Points
4. Valtteri Bottas / Williams-Mercedes / Finland / + 12 Points
5. Felipe Massa / Williams-Mercedes / Brazil / + 10 Points
6. Fernando Alonso / McLaren-Honda / Spain / + 8 Points
7. Kevin Magnussen / Renault-Renault / Denmark / + 6 Points
8. Romain Grosjean / Haas-Ferrari / France / + 4 Points
9. Sergio Perez / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico / + 2 Points
10. Jenson Button / McLaren-Honda / Great Britain / + 1 Point
11. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Australia
12. Carlos Sainz / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Spain
13. Jolyon Palmer / Renault-Renault / Great Britain
14. Marcus Ericsson / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
15. Daniil Kvyat / Red Bull-TAG-HEUER / Russia
16. Felipe Nasr / Sauber-Ferrari / Brazil
17. Esteban Gutierrez / Haas-Ferrari / Mexico
18. Pascal Wehrlein / Manor-Mercedes / Germany
RETIRED - Max Verstappen / Toro Rosso-Ferrari / Netherlands / Engine
RETIRED - Sebastian Vettel / Ferrari / Germany / Crash
RETIRED - Nico Hulkenberg / Force India-Mercedes / Germany / Crash
RETIRED - Rio Haryanto / Manor-Mercedes / Indonesia / Crash
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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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