The race that Ferrari should have won wasily. Charles Leclerc on pole for Sundays race. On a dry Sunday race, it was Sebastian Vettel took the lead from third place with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton behind him. Ferrari opted to pit Leclerc first on lap 22, to give him the lead for later in the race. By lap 26 Vettel pitted for tyres and came back behind Leclerc while Lewis Hamilton leads. Lap 27, Vettel retired with MGU-K problems brought out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) and allowed Hamilton a free pit stop in that period and re-took the lead to the end of the race to win easily this seasons Russian Grand Prix for Lewis Hamilton's ninth race win of the season.
While, Hamilton's team-mate and Valtteri Bottas finished in second place in the other Mercedes to give the team its eighth one-two finish of the season, Bottas was four seconds behind Hamilton at the end. Meanwhile, Charles Leclerc finished in third place in the Ferrari to complete the podium, Leclerc was five seconds behind Hamilton at the end of the fifty-three lap race.
Now with five races to go, with Hamilton winning, Bottas finishing second, Charles Leclerc only managed a third place; while Max Verstappen's only managed a fourth place in Sochi despite needing an engine change forcing him to start in the middle of the gird. Lewis Hamilton has improved his lead of the F1 Drivers' Standings from sixty-five points to seventy-three points ahead of team-mate Valtteri Bottas; while Charles Leclerc is third in the standings, one hundred and seven points behind Hamilton, while Max Verstappen is fourth in the standings, one hundred and ten points behind Hamilton.
While Mercedes still leads F1 Constructors' Standings, the gap is now improved from one hundred and thirty-three points to one hundred and sixty-two points for Ferrari who are second in the Constructors' Standings with five races to go.
Mercedes could win their sixth Constructors' Championship at Suzuka. Mercedes needs to score fourteen points more than Ferrari to win the title at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Highlights of the race below, enjoy.
Rate the Teams and Drivers
Mercedes - 8
Lewis Hamilton - 9 (race win, fastest lap)
Valtteri Bottas - 8 (finished second)
Ferrari - 8
Sebastian Vettel - 8 (DNF, Power loss)
Charles Leclerc - 8 (pole, finished third)
Red Bull Racing - 9
Max Verstappen - 9 (finished fourth)
Alexander Albon - 9 (finished fifth)
Renault - 5
Daniel Ricciardo - 5 (DNF, Collision damage)
Nico Hülkenberg - 6 (finished tenth)
Haas - 6
Romain Grosjean - 6 (Collision with Hülkenberg)
Kevin Magnussen - 7 (finished ninth)
McLaren - 8
Carlos Sainz Jr. - 10 (finished sixth)
Lando Norris - 7 (finished eighth)
Racing Point - 7
Sergio Pérez- 8 (finished seventh)
Lance Stroll - 6 (finished eleventh)
Alfa Romeo - 5
Kimi Räikkönen - 5 (finished thirteenth)
Antonio Giovinazzi - 5 (finished fifteenth)
Toro Rosso - 5
Daniil Kvyat - 5 (finished twelfth)
Pierre Gasly - 5 (finished fourteenth)
Williams - 5
George Russell - 5 (DNF, Brakes)
Robert Kubica - 5 (DNF, Withdrew)
Next stop Suzuka Circuit in two weeks time for the Japanese Grand Prix.
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