Valtteri Bottas in the 77 Mercedes took the win at the Russian GP, followed by the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in second place, and teammate Lewis Hamilton slipping down to third by the end of the race.
Open Stages
The drama in Russia had started early, with Hamilton in the thick of it. The Brit, who will have to wait until next time out to try and secure Michael Schumacher's record of race wins, was caught on when making a practice start.
He was deemed to have been in an illegal place, as a result claiming two five second penalties as punishment. This takes him up to 10 penalty points, of the 12 needed to gain a race ban.
When the race started it wasn't short of drama either. It was all calm until the drivers had rounded turn two. The McLaren of Carlos Sainz ran off onto the run-off area, and whilst rounding the bollards to get back onto track, clouted the left front wheel of the car onto the wall to the left of the track.
Forcing the car to spin across the track, luckily not hitting anyone on its way to a standstill, however this did result in the spaniards retirement from the race.
The first lap drama would continue shortly after at turn four. Lance Stroll would be tapped by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, sending the Canadian into a spin, eventually hitting the wall, leaving the Racing Point stricken, and bringing out the safety car.
After the restart
The race would resume a few laps later, with drivers who had been hampered by a poor start, such as Lando Norris and Alexander Albon, diving into the pits for a change of strategy and tyre during the safety car period. However it would turn into a precession soon after, something that has been rarely seen this year.
The best of the rest battle would continue however, mainly between the two Renault's of Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon, a battle that would result in the Australian being penalized.
Ocon was letting Ricciardo past, when Ricciardo locked up and took to the run off at the first corner, however he failed to use the correct procedure when coming back onto track. Thus he was hit with a five second penalty soon after.
Further down the grid, Albon and Norris were continuing their charge through the field, having run into former F2 Champion George Russell, which resulted in a 2018 reunion for the three young drivers. It was to be pretty light work for Albon and Norris to get past the Williams of Russell however.
Closing stages
Towards the end of the race however the pack had simmered down yet again, with little movement in the final few laps. It was a fairly routine win for Bottas, and a win that would have certainly given him more confidence to take the title challenge to Hamilton.
Another man who will be pleased with his performance will be Verstappen, as the Dutchman managed to split the Mercedes during qualifying and continuing the trend during the race itself.
The Next race will see Formula One return to the Nurbergring in Germany, following the race being held at the Hockenheim ring for the past few years.