Formula 1 2018 Russian Grand Prix

Having started from pole, Bottas was running second and on course to win when the yet-to-stop Max Verstappen pitted, but was asked to let Hamilton past midway through the race to alleviate the world championship leader's rear-tyre blistering problems and protect him from Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Despite admitting the call "doesn't feel right", team boss Wolff defended the decision to ... ...

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The Japanese manufacturer introduced its latest specification in Friday practice at Sochi to the delight of its Toro Rosso team, but reverted to an older spec for the rest of the weekend. This was a precautionary measure after Honda discovered some "unsuitable behaviour" when the engine was run on track. It is confident it will be able to re-introduce the upgraded engine, penalty-free, for ... ...

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From the back of the grid, the Dutchman was up to 13th place by the end of the first lap, and he continued to make progress from there. After the frontrunners stopped for new tyres, he subsequently led for many laps before his own late stop dropped him back to fifth. "They were mega," Horner said of Verstappen's early laps. "His 21st birthday today and he drove like a veteran. "By the ... ...

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Mercedes told net race leader Bottas to let Hamilton by before mid-distance, citing a blister on Hamilton's left-rear tyre and the proximity of his title rival Sebastian Vettel as the reason for the move. It claimed it had not anticipated that situation arising and Bottas suggested the problem was "maybe down to communications during the race and also before the race". Asked by ... ...

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Vettel leapfrogged Hamilton for second place by making an earlier pitstop, but quickly came under pressure from the championship leader. He blocked Hamilton's initial attack at Turn 2 - in what the Briton described as a “double move” that was investigated by the stewards but resulted in no further action. Vettel, who said he “had no intention to irritate” his rival at Turn 2, was ... ...

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The two Toro Rosso drivers qualified near the rear of the field after grid penalties, and reverted to an older spec engine ahead of Saturday. Both drivers lasted just four laps in the race before the pair spun out and returned to the garage in retirement. Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost says the incident was related to a piston as the brakes reached hot temperatures. "It was a ... ...

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Hamilton dropped behind Vettel due to a Mercedes error leaving him out too long in his first stint but caught his championship rival and attacked on the run down to Turn 2. Vettel moved to the right once and then moved further across, prompting an investigation that ended in no action being taken. "It was quite frustrating once I came out behind both of them [Vettel and early race leader ... ...

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A revised format discussed at the recent Strategy Group meeting would see four cars eliminated in Q1, Q2 and Q3, leaving just eight for a final shoot-out in a new Q4 session. The general idea is that it would create more uncertainty because the top runners would have to get everything right three times just to get into the final session, increasing the chances of unexpected results. It could ... ...

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HAMILTON’S GIFT Second place Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG F1, and Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1, on the podium Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images Lewis Hamilton found himself struggling to work out how he should feel after the Russian Grand Prix – where another win helped extend his championship advantage. For although Russia was a great weekend for Mercedes ... ...

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Brown had originally planned to miss the Suzuka race so he could experience his first Bathurst 1000, a decision inspired by his part-ownership of the Walkinshaw Andretti United Supercars squad. Having made those plans public during the Australian GP back in March things have since changed for the McLaren boss, and he is set to head to Japan rather than Mount Panorama. A McLaren spokesperson ... ...

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Wolff said he distracted chief strategist James Vowles at a vital moment and caused Lewis Hamilton to pit a lap later than what would have been the optimum time. Race leader Valtteri Bottas pitted on lap 12, but instead of bringing Hamilton in on the next lap, the team left him out. Sebastian Vettel was told by Ferrari to do the opposite to what Hamilton did, staying out if the Mercedes ... ...

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Sainz and Sirotkin made contact on the opening lap of the Sochi race when the Russian found himself with nowhere to go in his run up to Turn 2, where he was sandwiched between the Renault and the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. Sirotkin ended up hitting the right side of Sainz's car, causing heavy damage to the sidepod and the floor. Sainz continued in the race but struggled for pace, running ... ...

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The world championship leader was gifted victory at Sochi on Sunday after teammate Valtteri Bottas was ordered to move aside for him. The controversial move left Hamilton feeling deflated after the race, as he made clear that neither in pre-race discussions nor over the radio had he wanted Bottas to give up the win for him. “There was obviously a team call,” said Hamilton, whose win has ... ...

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The Toro Rosso driver said debris from Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull was flicked up in front of him at the start, hitting his helmet and landing in the cockpit of his car. “I think Daniel lost a piece of carbon, which went straight into my visor, so this was really really scary,” Gasly told reporters after the race. “I thought it was going through and straight into my eye, and finally ... ...

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Hamilton inherited victory at Sochi when Mercedes told Bottas, who was on course for his first win of the season, to let the championship leader past. Victory for Hamilton, combined with Bottas keeping Vettel at bay for the rest of the race, means Vettel trails the Mercedes driver by 50 points with five races to go. Vettel said: "Well done to both of them, they played together as a team very ... ...

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The Dutchman pulled off a brilliant charge from the back of the grid to lead much of the race at Sochi, as he ran an extended stint on soft tyres. Having left his switch to ultrasofts until just 12 laps from the end, a series of quick laps would have been enough to put him on to the tail of the Ferrari cars ahead of him. But his Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealed after the race that the ... ...

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Ocon and teammate Sergio Perez were stuck behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen when Perez asked to be let through to attack the Dane, with Force India giving Ocon a set number of laps to make a pass before he had to move over. The Frenchman couldn't make the overtake and allowed Perez ahead, but the latter could make no progress either - so eventually the cars swapped back, coming home ninth and ... ...

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Pole-sitter and early race leader Valtteri Bottas was ordered to move aside for teammate Lewis Hamilton after the first round of pitstops at Sochi, as Mercedes grew concerned about the threat from the pursuing Sebastian Vettel. Wolff was clearly far from happy about the difficult call, and said that the team would need to reflect on things after encountering a situation that had not come up in ... ...

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Hamilton had shadowed Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the early stages of the race, but the pair were asked to swap positions after the pitstops amid concerns that Hamilton could be exposed to title rival Sebastian Vettel. With Mercedes not interested in re-swapping the places late on, it meant Hamilton finished ahead of Bottas to extend his title advantage over Vettel to 50 ... ...

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Bottas led from pole and was running in the de facto race lead, behind the long-running Max Verstappen, when he was told to let Hamilton past to protect him from Vettel. Hamilton's eighth victory of the season means his lead over Vettel is now 50 points with five races to go and 125 points up for grabs after Bottas, who sacrificed a first win of 2018 for his teammate, restricted the Ferrari ... ...

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The two-time F1 champion is leaving grand prix racing at the end of 2018 but is yet to firm up his programme for next season beyond the remaining races of his World Endurance Championship superseason with Toyota. A move to IndyCar was expected to facilitate his goal of winning the Indianapolis 500 to complete the unofficial triple crown of motorsport, but that has become complicated, and ... ...

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Kvyat had been brought into the main team in 2015 but was then moved back from RBR to Toro Rosso after the 2016 Russian Grand Prix to make way for Max Verstappen. He subsequently struggled to make an impact as part of the junior team, and was dropped late last season. However, after a year as a Ferrari test and simulator driver, he will return to Toro Rosso in 2019. Along with Helmut ... ...

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The Japanese manufacturer introduced its second upgrade of the season in Russia on Friday, and although it has reverted to an older specification for the rest of the weekend that update has been hailed as a significant step forward.  “Honda is making big steps forward,” Tost told Motorsport.com. “Yesterday [Friday] we had the new spec in the car and it was really fantastic.” Asked ... ...

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Alonso went into qualifying with a grid penalty because of engine component changes and claimed his only intention in Q1 was to set a time within F1's 107% rule. The second part of qualifying featured zero running from the Red Bulls and Pierre Gasly's Toro Rosso because they too had grid penalties for engine changes, while the Renaults also chose not to set a time to give them 11th and 12th on ... ...

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With five drivers known to be taking engine penalties and thus unlikely to run in Q2, Renault realised that it might be able to guarantee 11th and 12th places – and thus have the advantage of a free choice of tyres for the start. Renault has in general been harder on its tyres than rivals this year, and the team wanted to avoid the requirement to start on the hypersofts. When three of the ... ...

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The Red Bull driver was already last on the provisional starting grid for the Sochi race, having taken new engine components and a fresh gearbox this weekend. However, he has been given another three-place grid penalty and two licence penalty points for failing to slow down for yellow flags when Sergey Sirotkin spun his Williams in Q1. The verdict from the stewards said: "The driver admitted ... ...

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Under current regulations, the grid order for drivers with engine penalties is decided by the order in which new elements are first used on track. Alonso, who has replaced his engine and will start from the back of the grid, will line up 16th thanks to Lando Norris - driving the Spaniard's car in FP1 - being first in the queue to leave the pits ahead of the start of the first session of the ... ...

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Bottas took his second top grid spot of the season at Sochi on Saturday, with teammate Lewis Hamilton helping secure a front row lock out for Mercedes. With Hamilton pushing to extend his points advantage over Sebastian Vettel, there would be clear benefits to telling Bottas to play a supporting role on Sunday. But with Bottas having dug deep to secure pole, Wolff admits that it may be hard ... ...

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Ahead of this year's Russian Grand Prix, a small stretch by the start-finish line was resurfacing and the same was done just before Turn 1 and on the approach to Turn 8. The front row of the grid will be occupied by Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton on Sunday and they will be completely on the new surface. Third-place starter Vettel's front wheels will be on the newly-laid ... ...

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Hamilton had led Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in all three practice sessions of the weekend, as well as the first two qualifying segments. However, he was left 0.004s down on Bottas after the opening runs of the Q3 pole shoot-out, with the time gained on the Finn in sectors one and three not enough to make up for the quarter-second loss in the middle part of the lap. Hamilton was once ... ...

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Bottas held a slender advantage over teammate Lewis Hamilton of just 0.004s after the first runs in Q3, with everyone using the hypersoft Pirellis. But on the second run, Hamilton was forced to abort his lap after setting the fastest time in the opening sector thanks to running wide in the middle sector. This gave Bottas a clear run to post a 1m31.387s lap to take pole by ... ...

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The sport's chiefs attempted to tidy up the grid penalty rules last winter following growing annoyance at the raft of engine and gearbox penalties being handed out. For this year, rather than the slots at the back of the grid being decided by the number of penalties each driver is given, it is settled by the order that new elements are first used on track. That led to a bizarre situation ... ...

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Ricciardo’s move to Renault opened up a seat at the main Red Bull team, which was subsequently handed to Pierre Gasly, in turn freeing up a slot at STR that has now been confirmed as Kvyat’s. Marko says that he had stayed in touch with Kvyat after the Russian was dropped by Red Bull and took up a new role as a Ferrari test and simulator driver. “We have been in contact,” Marko told ... ...

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Ricciardo’s move to Renault opened up a seat at the main Red Bull team, which was subsequently handed to Pierre Gasly, in turn freeing up a slot at STR that has now been confirmed as Kvyat’s. Marko says that he had stayed in touch with Kvyat after the Russian was dropped by Red Bull and took up a new role as a Ferrari test and simulator driver. “We have been in contact,” Marko told ... ...

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On Saturday, Daniil Kvyat was officially announced as Pierre Gasly's replacement at Toro Rosso, leaving the seat currently occupied by Brendon Hartley yet to be confirmed. Wehrlein has ensured that he is a possible option for Toro Rosso by cutting his ties with Mercedes and making himself a free agent. He is understood to have met Marko in Graz last week. Marko admitted that Wehrlein's ... ...

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Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas finished 1-2, while Ferrari was struggling for outright pace, with Sebastian Vettel third ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel's best time was 0.600s off the quickest time set by Hamilton. The pace of Mercedes and Hamilton in particular – 0.254s ahead of Bottas – bodes well for qualifying which takes place in Sochi later this ... ...

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The Japanese manufacturer introduced the update at the Sochi event to prepare the new engine ahead of Honda’s home grand prix next week. It was lauded by Toro Rosso after Friday practice but it was then decided to go back to the old spec. This is because Honda believes there is more calibration work to do and the engine can be better matched to the chassis. The manufacturer insists the ... ...

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The current Silverstone factory dates back to the early years of Jordan, when staffing levels were much lower. The main challenge the team now faces is that around 100 aerodynamicists are based in offices at its old wind tunnel site some seven miles away from the main base, even though that tunnel is no longer used. There are also plans to bring more manufacturing in-house, which will ... ...

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The Red Bull driver's comments, made on Dutch television, continue a war of words with the Renault chief in the build-up to Sunday's Russian Grand Prix. That started when Verstappen claimed Renault's upgraded Spec C engine would not perform as well at high-altitude later in the year, requiring Red Bull to take another Spec B and grid penalties in Russia. Abiteboul hit back by saying ... ...

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