Lewis Hamilton will have to wait to match Michael Schumacher’s race win record as he lost out to his teammate after receiving two controversial time penalties for pre-race incidents. It was a straight forward win for Bottas and a well-received second place by Max Verstappen.
Lewis’ frustrating afternoon
The main challenge that faced Hamilton at the start was somehow finding a way to counteract the slipstream and defend his lead going in to turn two, the first real corner on the circuit. However as lights-out drew closer, the stewards put the Mercedes driver under investigation for ‘executing practice starts in undesignated areas of the pit-lane’.
It appeared that Hamilton had performed two practice starts past the pit-lane exit after his team gave him permission to do so following the pole sitter's requests, claiming there was "too much rubber" in the designated area.
There was confusion as Hamilton never received a penalty before the race and remained on pole at the start, with uncertainties of what punishments were in place for such infringements.
Unfortunately for him, these questions were answered a few laps in and after defending his lead so well on the first lap, Hamilton received two separate five second time penalties, handing him a crushing total of ten seconds to serve on his next pit-stop. Hamilton served his penalty, losing around 40 seconds and from there his race became all about damage limitation but he managed to recover to third by the end of the race.
On top of the time penalties, Hamilton received two points on his Super License, one for each infringement, but they were later rescinded by the FIA after a post-race review. Questions were raised to the severity of the penalties, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff claiming them to be ‘very harsh’.
Hamilton was also not impressed, exclaiming his frustration in a post-race interview with Sky Sports F1:
“I need to go back and check the rule book, I’m pretty sure no-one’s ever got two five second penalties for something so ridiculous before.
“They’re very excessive, they’re trying to stop me but it’s ok, I just need to keep my head down and stay focused”.
Strong words from the Brit who after another miscommunication between himself and his team seems to have lost the race win this weekend.
More first lap crashes
Like Mugello there was drama on the first lap, two separate incidents resulted in Carlos Sainz and Lance Stroll crashing out before the end of lap one.
Firstly, Sainz was one of the few drivers who out-braked themselves on the approach to turn two and went wide, forcing him to dart left and go through the bollard as the regulations state (more on that later). In what was a complete lapse of judgement, Sainz went through the bollards too quick at the wrong angle and whacked the barrier on his left side, pulverising his front-left wheel and suspension. He then bounced back across the track but luckily everyone managed to avoid making contact with the stricken McLaren, his teammate Lando Norris running over some debris for good measure.
A safety car wasn’t far away however as contact further up the field between Stroll and Charles Leclerc spun the Racing Point around, sending him backwards into the barrier at turn five. Leclerc was fighting through the field but pushed just too far, catching some understeer on the inside which sent him into Stroll. The stewards deemed it a racing incident with no penalties given, something Stroll disagreed with post-race.
He told Sky Sports F1: “I can’t believe he’s not been given a penalty, I gave him plenty of space and he still took me out.”
Need for a change in regulations?
Throughout the race there were multiple incidents which raised controversy over the FIA’s regulations regarding turn two’s track limits and run off area. The regulations state that if the drivers go over track limits and gain an advantage, they have to use the run off area to the left and go through two polystyrene bollards before rejoining the track.
Sainz’s first lap incident seemed avoidable as the McLaren driver put himself and others in more danger by obeying the regulations and darting left to use the run off area at a tight angle. If he had re-joined the track without the use of the run off area, he’d have continued on with the lap without gaining much of an advantage, avoiding the race ending contact with the barrier all together.
“I don’t think that turn two should be a corner, it’s not properly designed.” Sainz exclaimed to Sky Sports F1 post-race.
Later on, Daniel Ricciardo received a five second time penalty for going off track limits at turn two and not using the run off area when the Australian went too deep into the corner whilst getting past his slowing teammate Esteban Ocon.
BBC Radio 5 live’s Jolyon Palmer expressed his frustrations during live commentary:
“It’s so frustrating, you go over the white line by mere inches and the rules then state that you have to dart left and go through the bollards to re-join, which to me seems more dangerous.”
Another incident involving the same corner occurred when Romain Grosjean used the run off area after going wide when trying to defend from Sebastian Vettel. However, Grosjean was going so fast that he misjudged the gap in the bollards and ploughed straight through them in his Haas, sending polyester scattering across the track.
This brought out a virtual safety car whilst the Marshals replaced the bollards, whilst the stewards put Grosjean under investigation for ‘failing to follow regulations’ in regards to turn two’s run off area. It wasn’t long before the race was green flagged and equally as quick before the stewards decided no further action would be taken against Grosjean, with BBC Radio 5 live’s Jack Nicholls stating “common sense had reigned supreme”.
Whatever your opinion on these regulations, it seems today they did more harm than good and were frustrating for both drivers and commentators alike.
Red Bull’s first podium
Verstappen managed to hold on to second place to split the two Mercedes and claim Red Bull’s first ever podium at Sochi.
He was overtaken by Bottas at the race-start but profited from Hamilton’s time penalties, putting himself back up to second where he stayed for the remainder of the race after expertly managing the gap back to Hamilton, who couldn’t close up on his older set of hard tyres.
A delighted Verstappen expressed his satisfaction with the result with Sky Sports F1:
“We can be very happy with that; the first stint was tricky and I struggled to keep up with the Mercedes but after the pit-stop on the hard tyre I think we were more competitive.”
It was a well-maintained drive from the Dutchman and a significantly better result compared to that of his teammate Alex Albon, who struggled with pace all weekend and had to battle hard to hold on to tenth.
He couldn’t follow-through from his pace at Mugello, failing to get near a podium position and was even beaten by the two Alpha Tauri’s.
He looked in low spirits as he had this to say to Sky Sports F1 post-race: “We did as much as we could but it was just difficult out there today”.
Bottas all fired up
Bottas’ victory means that he’s reduced the deficit between himself and Championship leader Hamilton to 44 points (ironically Lewis’ car number), something which Bottas thinks shows that “the Championship fight is not over yet”.
After a strong start to the race which saw him breeze past Verstappen and push Hamilton for first at turn two, the Fin inherited the race lead once Hamilton served his penalties. After this, Bottas controlled the pace, managing his race well and seemingly driving off into the distance on what seemed a casual Sunday drive for him.
It was a straight-forward win for Bottas but that didn’t stop him from feeling the adrenaline rush at the chequered flag, making some strong remarks on team radio.
“I think that one is for my critics, whoever it may concern **** you.” A clearly hyped up Bottas repeating his iconic line from last year’s Australian Grand Prix.
Although some may argue that being gifted the lead after Hamilton served his penalties, doesn’t really prove anything to any of his critics at all.
One thing is for sure, the Fin gave it everything at the race start and finally got aggressive with his teammate, pushing him to make some form of defence for the lead at the first corner. This proved that he’s willing to bring the fight and still push for the Championship and as the new stitching on the front of his cap says, ‘never give up.’
We hope you enjoyed this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix, we’re back in two weeks’ time for this year’s German Grand Prix at Nürburgring.