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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Michael Butler

F1: Russian Grand Prix – as it happened

Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton shakes hands with Russian president Vladimir Putin after winning in Russia. Photograph: Lars Baron/Getty Images

Hamilton, Vettel and Perez walk out on the podium in traditional Russian hats to collect the trophies and the crowd’s applause. Vladimir Putin, who else, in on hand to shake hands and pose for pictures.

That is Hamilton’s 42nd race win, which ties him third on the all-time list with today’s runner-up, Sebastian Vettel. Only Michael Schumacher and Alain Prost are ahead of Hamilton now.

Thanks for reading! See you next time, bye!

Updated

Here’s how it finished then …

What that means for the drivers championship is that Hamilton now has a 66-point lead over his nearest challenger … who is now Sebastian Vettel, overtaking Nico Rosberg into second after Rosberg’s retirement. There are a maximum of 100 points to play for in the four remaining races. It’s surely Hamilton’s title.

Hamilton wins, but all the excitement was behind him on the last lap. Perez held on for third, Massa finished in fourth (having started the day in 15th) and Raikkonen recovered from his crash with Bottas to limp home in fifth. Bottas had a great qualifying and a great race up until the last lap, he is understandably furious with Raikkonen.

LEWIS HAMILTON WINS THE RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX!

Backing up his win in Sochi last year. His ninth win of the season and surely the drivers’ championship with Rosberg’s retirement!

Lewis Hamilton raises his armas his wins the Russian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton raises his armas his wins the Russian Grand Prix. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Lap 53: Perez has blown it! He locked up on the corner and both Bottas and Raikkonen squeeze by, Bottas on the inside, the Ferrari man on the outside. But wait, not three turns later, Bottas and Raikkonen collide, and Perez takes advantage, reclaiming third! It’s all happening on the last lap! Bottas is out!

Perez makes the podium.
Perez makes the podium. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

Updated

Lap 52: Bottas tries the same move that worked on Riccardo, opening up the DRS on the back straight. But it doesn’t work, Perez holds on? One lap to go, can he get that podium?

Lap 51: Raikkonen has just joined the party, there is a three way battle for third!

Lap 50: Perez is still in third! Bottas is just 0.6 secs behind. Three laps to go!

Lap 49: Oh no! Ricciardo is out! Christian Horner has his head in his hands. He seems to think there is an issue with his suspension. That means Massa will surely finish in sixth! Good points tally for Williams, with Bottas in fourth!

Updated

Lap 48: An official darts out on to the track and picks up some debris that came off the back of Sainz. Vettel speeds by, and has to swerve to avoid hitting the brave/foolish Russian! That was close!

Updated

Lap 47: Carlos Sainz is out! He’s had a brake failure in the front left wheel, and spins out. Such a shame after his excellent recovery today following his big crash yesterday.

Lap 46: Riccardo and Raikkonen are battling it out for fifth place. The Finn tries to come down the outside, but runs wide, and the Australian is able to regain his place.

Lap 45: Nine laps to go. Bottas’ straight line speed to too much for Riccardo on the home straight using the DRS. There is a plume of brake dust that flies into the face of the Australian on the first corner. Bottas up into fourth, and closing on Perez in third, who is struggling with his front tyres.

Updated

Lap 44: Vettel has just set a new fastest lap! But he won’t catch Hamilton.

Lap 43: With Hamilton and Vettel comfortably clear, it is the battle for third that is the one to watch. Riccardo, Bottas and Raikkonen and all in Perez’s wing-mirror.

Lap 42: The question for Perez remains if he can look after his tyres, which are in a considerable worse state than those behind him.

Updated

Lap 41: Yep, if you’re wondering, Lewis Hamilton is still leading this race. He’s 12.4 seconds clear of Vettel in second.

Lap 40: Perez has been quietly impressive in this race. Nothing too spectacular but he’s running in third after making a very smart pit stop when the safety car was out. Can he hang on for a famous podium for Force India?

Can Perez hold on?
Can Perez hold on? Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Lap 39:

Updated

Lap 38: All that jostling between Bottas and Raikkonen means Riccardo is able to open up a bit of a gap in front of them in fourth.

Lap 37: Raikkonen uses the DRS to move ahead of Bottas, but the Williams man reclaims fifth on the next turn, as he retained a better line. Raikkonen has to settle for sixth, but it’s good to see the Ferrari man pushing for places. He’s got his swagger back.

Lap 36: Alonso doesn’t seem too confident about reclaiming that ninth place.

Lap 35:

Lap 34: Grosjean has also been talking to the cameras following his crash. He has a plaster on his left elbow, but is otherwise unharmed.

Well I might be a little bit sore tomorrow morning but I am happy that the barriers and the safety is so high tech because when I saw the barrier coming I thought this is going to hurt. Those three or four tenths of a second before you hit the wall feel like 10 seconds. I feel sorry for the guys who will have to fix the car but grateful we have done so much work in technology.

Lap 33: Hamilton has also pitted, and he emerges back in first place, 7.4 secs ahead of Kvyat, who is yet to pit! Clean pit, clean air in front of him, Hamilton simply has to canter home to the chequered flag now.

Updated

Lap 32: Raikkonen’s pit is less successful that Bottas, the Ferrari man emerges just behind his Finnish compatriot and the two nearly touch! Or did they? I think Raikkonen clipped the back of Bottas but both remain unharmed.

Lap 31: The leaders are all coming into pit now. Vettel’s is particularly excellent, he emerges in sixth after a 2.2 second pit, crucially ahead of Ricciardo and Bottas. He is also on the prime. Expect Raikkonen to pit next lap.

Updated

Lap 30: Bottas is past Sainz into 10th, but is still running in traffic. “Tyres are all good,” says Hamilton.

Lap 29: Hamilton now has a 14 second lead over his nearest challenger, Vettel. Barring a crash or a technical problem, he’s surely won this race.

Hamilton increases his lead.
Hamilton increases his lead. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Lap 28: We’re at the half-way point here and nearly all of the leaders are still on the supersoft tyres. Bottas has the new prime ones on, but is stuck in traffic behind the Ricciardo and Sainz and so can’t get an advantage. That’s encouraging for the others: “a podium is still possible” Ferrari tell Raikkonnen.

Updated

Lap 27: “Tyres are dying,” says Bottas over radio. He comes into pits and gets some fresh rubber on, the prime tyres. It’s only a 3.4 second stop, but Bottas re-emerges in 11th. Nearly all the top 10 are yet to pit though.

Updated

Lap 26: Sainz has also been penalised for cutting the pit stop white line, but he has incurred a five second penalty!

Lap 25: McLaren have just told Alonso that he’s been given an official warning by FIA for cutting the corner at turn 16.

Alonso drives warned for cutting corner.
Alonso drives warned for cutting corner. Photograph: Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Lap 24: Hamilton has opened up a seven second lead over Bottas! How has he done that in just seven laps since the safety car?!

Lap 23: Here’s how they line up in the top 10.

Lap 22: It won’t be too long until the cars think about coming in for what should be their solitary pit-stop.

Lap 21: Up front, Lewis Hamilton has opened up a four-second lead over Bottas in second. Have you ever heard the sound of Bottas’s voice by the way? A deep, booming and relaxed voice echoes over the airwaves. How does he sound so calm?

Hamilton increases his lead.
Hamilton increases his lead. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

Updated

Lap 20: Verstappen is up into 12th! 12th! Remember he had tyre damage following the collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson on Lap 1. The teenager was forced to come from the back of the field, but he’s done an excellent job to get within two places of the points at this early point. Surely he is a world champions in the making, he only turned 18 about 10 days ago!

Lap 19: Update on Grosjean: he’s absolutely fine. Good man.

Lap 18: Now it’s the Red Bulls that clash! This is great stuff. Ricciardo stays level with Kvyat for two corners (two, three, four) and eventually moves ahead into tenth and into the points. That turn three is a long even gradient which drivers take a great speed, there’s over 4G pushing down on the drivers at the height of turn three.

Lap 17: We’re racing again! And the Ferrari’s go toe to toe again: Vettel gets down the inside on the home straight and manoeuvres the inside line. Raikonnen has no option but to run wide on turn two, and while he cuts to the corner to maintain third place, he will surely have to give up the place to Vettel following that move.

“I have no speed in the straight line” says a furious Raikonnen. Yep, Vettel moves ahead into third.

Vettel overtakes Raikkonen.
Vettel overtakes Raikkonen. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

Updated

Lap 16: Hamilton says he is struggling with the temperature of his tyres as the safety car whips round for another lap. Rosberg has been talking to the cameras following his retirement from the race.

Such bad luck. After a great start, I was really feeling confident. During the [first] safety car, that’s when the pedal broke. It was quite dangerous, really. I’m never going to win the championship if it continues like that. I should have won the race today. Of course I will come back, I always do.

Updated

Lap 15: Safety car is STILL OUT. Officials are desperately trying to clear the considerable debris that is all over the track at turn three. There is a narrow clear passage where cars can pass with the safety car.

Safety car leads the field.
Safety car leads the field. Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis

Updated

Lap 14: The safety car is still out. We’re now down to 16 cars from the 20 that started.

Lap 13: It seems as though Grosjean lost control due to excess rubber on the track, what are currently referred to as the ‘marbles.’ He has walked away from the car though, so at least he is OK.

Lap 12: Massive crash for Grosjean! The safety car is out! Grosjean completely lost control of the back his car and skids like Bambi on ice into the barriers, which do their job and absorb the impact of the collision. Grosjean’s car, meanwhile, is a smouldering wreck, the back of the car was the first thing to hit the barriers, which sent the machine spinning, with debris all over the track.

Lap 11: Hamilton has built a two-second lead over Bottas at the head of the pack. Mercedes inform Hamilton that Rosberg has retired, “let’s use up some of that fuel and open up a lead” they add.

Lap 10: Button falls back into 11th after a nice pass down the inside from Maldonado.

Lap 9: Desperately bad luck for Rosberg, he looks very dejected back in the garage.

Updated

Lap 8: If there was any doubt before, that surely means Hamilton will wrap up the drivers’ championship if the Brit can avoid a DNF. And if Vettel finishes well today, the Ferrari man should also leapfrog Rosberg into second in the overall standings.

Updated

NICO ROSBERG IS OUT OF THE RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX!

Lap 7: Those throttle damper issues have ended Rosberg’s race. The German completely loses control on turn two, and Hamilton skips forward to take the race lead! It initially looked as though Rosberg had made a mistake, but with Bottas cruising past him from third, Rosberg’s car grinds to a near halt, as he limps into the pits and gets out of the car.

Rosberg retires and makes way for Hamilton.
Rosberg retires and makes way for Hamilton. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

Updated

Lap 6: The two Ferrari’s are really going at it in fourth and fifth: Vettel going nose to nose around turn 12 but unable to pip Raikkonen. No team orders, good to see both cars going full throttle.

Raikkonen o leads teammate Vettel.
Raikkonen o leads teammate Vettel. Photograph: Luca Bruno/AP

Updated

Lap 5: Ricciardo has also jumped a couple of places to eighth. That’s a good start for the Red Bulls, with Kvyat just ahead of him in seventh. Sainz, who started at the back of the grid is up into 14th.

Lap 4: Rosberg tells Mercedes that the electronic pedal that he uses for the throttle is broken. It doesn’t appear to be impairing the race leader though, but the German is obviously worried about that pedal sticking.

Lap 3: And we’re back racing again! Bottas relaims third, the Mercedes horsepower really flexed its muscles there with some straight line speed, simply cruising back past Raikkonen’s Ferrari on the back straight. We’re still a couple of laps away from drivers being able to use the DRS here.

Lap 2: Verstappen also clipped Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson but it looks as though he’s just suffered some tyre damage. He’s able to limp round to the pits and will join the race again. Elsewhere in the pack, the big winners from that start are Raikkonen, who jumped from fifth to third, and home favourite Kvyat who has moved up four places to seventh!

Updated

Lap 1: Rosberg hangs on at the first corner and blocks off his team-mate on the second corner. Hamilton got himself slightly ahead but had the outside line and couldn’t get past. The safety car is out! Nico Hulkenberg and Marcus Ericsson collided and the former spun out.

Ericsson and Perez crash during the start.
Ericsson and Perez crash during the start. Photograph: Valdrin Xhemaj/EPA

Updated

LIGHTS OUT

And we’re off!

Rosberg leads the pack at the start.
Rosberg leads the pack at the start. Photograph: Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

The drivers are out on their formation lap as Vladimir Putin takes his seat in the stands.

Nearly everyone is on the supersoft tyres from the start, only Felipe Massa, Marcus Ericsson, Fernando Alonso and Pastor Maldonado are the the soft tyres.

Let’s give it up for Valtteri Bottas, who starts today third on the grid. That’s fantastic from the Williams man, he loves this circuit: also holding the race lap record – 1:40.896secs last year.

We’re a few minutes away from the start then. Bernie Ecclestone confirmed earlier that Pirelli will extend their tyre contract.

Bernie Ecclestone
Bernie gets in the mood. Photograph: Sutton Images/Corbis

Updated

Does the holding image above remind you a little bit of Dismaland?

Banksy's Dismaland in Weston-Super-Mare
Banksy’s Dismaland in Weston-Super-Mare Photograph: Alicia Canter for the Guardian

Anyway, expect today’s race to be a one-stop race for most of the drivers. There are a lot of people, as ever, in the stands, F1 is a very popular sport in these quarters, despite it being a relatively new circuit. This is just the second time we have raced in Sochi.

Home favourite Daniil Kvyat is all the way back in 11th, just behind his team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. It’s a disappointing start for Red Bull. “No massive plan for today,” says Ricciardo. That’s encouraging then Dan.

Also disappointing for Fernando Alonso, this is his 250th race today, but he starts in 16th.

Updated

Preamble

Hello, and welcome to the Russian Grand Prix!

Nico Rosberg is on pole, with his team-mate and champion elect Lewis Hamilton behind him. The German drove majestically well yesterday in qualifying but it may be a case of too little too late.

Rosberg trails Hamilton by 48 points for the world championship and even a win at the five remaining races would not be enough to secure the title. He also needs Hamilton to suffer a DNF or finish outside the points – even Rosberg’s most enthusiastic supporters surely won’t expect their man to usurp the Brit come the end of the season.

For all the jostling at the top of the field, it is the man at the back of the grid that made all the headlines yesterday, nearly for the wrong reasons. Carlos Sainz lost control of his Toro Rosso yesterday, travelling at at least 180mph, and careered head on into the barriers during qualifying. He was airlifted to hospital, but remarkably has been declared fit to race today. Phew.

Today’s grid

1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas Williams
4. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari
5. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
6. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
7. Sergio Perez Force India
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus
9. Max Verstappen Toro Rosso
10. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
11. Daniil Kvyat Red Bull
12. Felipe Nasr Sauber
13. Jenson Button McLaren
14. Pastor Maldonado Lotus
15. Felipe Massa Williams
16. Fernando Alonso McLaren
17. Marcus Ericsson Sauber
18. Will Stevens Manor Marussia
19. Roberto Merhi Manor Marussia
DNP Carlos Sainz Jr Toro Rosso

Lights out: 12pm BST

Updated

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