Lewis scored his 70th career victory today in Formula One - his eighth of the 2018 season and third at the Sochi Autodrom. Valtteri finished the race in P2 - taking his 20th podium finish with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
Today's result marks the fifth consecutive victory in Russia for Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, making it the joint-longest winning streak at a race alongside the British and Italian Grand Prix.
Lewis (306 points) leads the Drivers' Championship by 50 points from Sebastian Vettel (256 points) with Valtteri (189 points) in P3. Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (495 points) leads Ferrari (442 points) by 53 points in the Constructors' Championship.
James Allison, Technical Director, accepted the Constructors' trophy on behalf of the team.
Toto Wolff: We are all racers at heart and what we want to see is out and out racing and may the quickest man win. But then we are a bunch of rational guys - we discuss things in the morning and then everything is different in the race. This is what happened today. We should be over the moon with a 1-2 and fundamentally we are. But we also feel that it went against Valtteri - it would have been a race win for him and we changed it. Valtteri is such a tremendous team player, but it's deflating for a driver and deflating for a team. We discussed who to pit first and then we did it with Vatteri because that would protect his win. It was one lap too late with Lewis and he lost the position to Sebastian. This triggered this mess because Lewis came out behind Sebastian and then needed to attack. That caused the blister and we needed to protect when Sebastian was all over Lewis on damaged tyres. Lewis was far back, but when we told Valtteri to switch position at Turn 13, he did it immediately. This is who you want to have within the team because you need to rely on these guys in the same way they rely on us. This is what makes it feel even worse. But there is a harsh reality also that on such a day you can extend the lead by several points more in a Championship that has been very tough and very difficult at times. Sometimes you have to take it and this is what we did today. We finished 1-2, we have a 50 point advantage and that feels good on a day that has otherwise been very difficult.
James Allison: After the margin of yesterday's Qualifying that was a really, really tough race. The pace of the Ferrari put us under pressure all the way through the first stint and we rather fumbled things as a consequence, allowing us to lose the place to Sebastian at the first stop. Lewis spared our blushes with a beautiful overtaking move and put thing back on an even keel for us. But a little later in the race we got into a degree of difficulty once again when Lewis followed Valtteri quite closely from behind, damaging his rear tyres. At that point we were fearful of losing a position to a hard-charging Vettel. With Valtteri in front and on rubber that was working well, we took the very difficult decision to allow Lewis to go in front and have a car with good rubber protecting the 1-2 that would come our way if we would just look after the tyres to the finish. And that's what happened in the end, we managed to get the 1-2, but it was a desperately difficult day for Valtteri. He took this disappointment like a Trojan, but I could see standing next to him on the podium looking into his eyes that it was hurting him. Valtteri is a brilliant teammate and a racer of real quality who had the pace to win today and who will have much better days ahead - and here's to that!
"Right from Friday, the Sochi weekend was rather a difficult one for us. Despite all our efforts to find the ideal set-up, neither on Saturday nor in the race were we competitive enough to worry our closest rivals. Compared to the way we performed at other circuits, something was missing here and so we were unable to reduce the points gap. On paper, the next race in Japan should have very similar characteristics to the one at Silverstone, so in Suzuka, we will get a more precise indication as to the potential of our car. If it goes well, we will know that, despite the difficult situation in terms of the classification, we still have the right weapons with which to fight all the way to the very end."
Christian Horner: "A fantastic drive from Max today on his 21st birthday; it was a really mature performance and getting into the top six in the first seven laps was phenomenal to watch. Max then led the race for a large percentage of the Grand Prix but of course we had to make the mandatory pit stop, which we did with ten laps to go, putting him out of touch with the leaders. With the Ultrasoft tyres being quite fragile he was unable to take the fight to Ferrari in the closing stages, bringing his car home in fifth place. Daniel unfortunately incurred front wing damage on the first lap, losing him front downforce, which he had to manage throughout the first part of the race. He was still able to make his way into the top six and once he was clear of Leclerc the Team was able to do a fast nose change and get him back out on track in sixth position. Finishing fifth and sixth behind Ferrari and Mercedes was the optimum we could have achieved from the back of the grid today, but it has been very encouraging to see the strong pace of the RB14 all weekend."
Otmar Szafnauer: "Both cars home safely in the points today, but we ended the day a little frustrated that we weren't able to demonstrate the true pace of the car. We lost out to Leclerc on lap one and spent the rest of the afternoon trying to find a way past Magnussen. Despite a pace advantage we couldn't make a move stick and had to settle for ninth and tenth places. Both our cars were running line astern for almost the entire afternoon and we swapped the cars around to give each driver a chance to get ahead of the Haas. In the end we didn't have enough advantage in the parts of the lap where it mattered to get ahead. We've added a few more points to our tally and shown good pace across the weekend so I think we can be just as competitive next weekend in Suzuka."
Lance Stroll finished 15th and Sergey Sirotkin 18th in the Russian Grand Prix. Both cars started on the ultrasoft Pirelli tyre, with Sergey P13 and Lance P14 on the grid. Sergey was unfortunate to get squeezed into turn one, losing several positions on the opening lap meanwhile Lance maintained position. Both cars pitted for the soft tyre, with Lance boxing on lap seven and Sergey on lap 10. Sergey struggled to make progress after receiving blue flags for the leaders each time he gained on Vandoorne ahead in P17.
Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: Overall, it was a really frustrating afternoon. We're obviously not racing where we'd like to race. We had the pace to beat both McLaren's, but we were caught out by the severe graining on our ultrasoft tyre. This happened to McLaren as well, but they reacted better to it than we did. Consequently, we were fighting one on one with McLarens all afternoon and were unable to overtake whilst in their wake. Otherwise, we would have been able to improve our finishing positions, most of all for Sergey, who wouldn't have finished so far down in his home race. We got two cars home, and we will keep learning and keep moving forwards.
Renault Sport Formula One Team fell short of its ambitions in the VTB Russian Grand Prix with Nico Hulkenberg taking twelfth and Carlos Sainz nursing his crash-damaged car to seventeenth at the Sochi Autodrom today.
Running an alternate strategy to the cars ahead, both drivers made good headway early in the race on the Soft tyres, however Carlos was hampered by early contact damage to the floor and sidepod vane on the right-hand side of his car, meaning he dropped back through the race. Nico ran as high as seventh, however he finished two-places shy of the points. The team remain in fourth position in the Constructors' Championship.
Nico started from P12 on new Pirelli Soft (yellow) tyres, pitting on lap 35 for a new set of Ultrasoft (purple) tyres. Carlos started from P11 on new Soft tyres, pitting on lap 32 for a new set of Ultrasoft tyres.
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal: "It was a disappointing race for us. It's clear we made the correct decision in qualifying yesterday as it offered the best strategy for the Grand Prix today, racing in seventh place before our stop and clearly in contention for points. Unfortunately we weren't able to capitalise on the full benefits. Carlos suffered from contact early in the race and the damage cost him a second per lap thereafter. Nico's strategy looked to be working with a similar race pace to our direct competitors, but our race, and in particular the last stint, was compromised by excessive fuel management earlier in the race. Overall a weekend to put behind us; we knew we would struggle here and we gave it our best so we move on to Japan."
Franz Tost (Team Principal): "It was a frustrating Sunday for Toro Rosso as both cars had to retire. For whatever reason we ended up with very hot front brakes and one piston in the calipers got stuck. This caused the overheating of the brake fluid and a long pedal. Therefore, we called the drivers to come to the garage. Obviously, being in Parc Fermé conditions, we didn't change anything from yesterday, so we need to investigate further what the reason is. The positive side of this weekend is Honda's new upgraded engine which is a big improvement. Now we are focussing on preparing everything for Suzuka where we hopefully will have a much better race."
Toyoharu Tanabe (Honda F1 Technical Director): "After everyone at Toro Rosso and Honda worked so hard all weekend, it was very disappointing to have both cars retire with a technical problem after only a handful of laps. Now, we are all focussed on the Japanese Grand Prix, as we will be on track at Suzuka this Friday. We look forward to a better weekend in front of our home fans."
Haas F1 Team inched four points closer to fourth-place Renault in the constructors' standings as driver Kevin Magnussen delivered a solid eighth-place finish in the Russian Grand Prix Sunday at Sochi Autodrom. Teammate Romain Grosjean finished just outside the points in 11th.
The American squad remains fifth in the constructors' ranks, but cut the gap to Renault to 11 points after Magnussen secured his ninth points-paying drive in this year's FIA Formula One World Championship. Haas F1 Team also extended its advantage over sixth-place McLaren to 22 points.
Magnussen began the 53-lap race around the 5.848-kilometer (3.634-mile), 18-turn circuit in the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics from fifth in the 20-car field. He retained the spot through the always dicey opening lap, but on the second tour, Charles Leclerc wheeled his Sauber past Magnussen in the sweeping turn three. Grosjean, meanwhile, held steady in ninth.
The always strong Max Verstappen, who had started 19th as a grid penalty put him near the back, was roaring his way toward the front. On just the third lap, he powered his Red Bull by Grosjean to take ninth and then grabbed sixth from Magnussen on lap six.
This put the Haas F1 Team drivers in seventh and 10th, respectively, with the Force India duo of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez in between in eighth and ninth place.
Both Magnussen and Grosjean started on the Pirelli P Zero Pink hypersoft tire, which is the fastest tire in Pirelli's lineup, but comes with a very limited lifespan in terms of performance.
This was on display on lap eight when Grosjean lost two positions - 10th to Sauber's Marcus Ericsson and then 11th to Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, who joined teammate Verstappen at the back of the grid due to a penalty and was emulating his drive forward.
Haas F1 Team's decision to pit Grosjean at the end of the lap was an easy one. Grosjean swapped the hypersofts he used in qualifying and subsequently started the race with for a new set of Yellow softs that would carry him to the finish. This dropped him to 16th.
Magnussen was on the same pit strategy as his teammate. He made his scheduled stop on lap nine, jettisoning the hypersoft rubber for new softs. Magnussen returned to the track in 13th.
As pit stops cycled through, Magnussen and Grosjean climbed back to their eventual finishing positions of eighth and 11th, respectively, with the Force India duo of Ocon and Perez staying between the Haas F1 Team pilots.
Magnussen is seventh in the driver's championship with 53 points and Grosjean is 14th with 27 points.
Only five races remain, with the next event being the Japanese Grand Prix Oct. 7 at Suzuka Circuit.
Guenther Steiner: "Again, we score points. We keep on adding to our account. Both drivers did a very good job today. We almost finished in the same positions where we started, counting out the two Red Bulls, who we knew would be coming through the field. With nobody going out ahead of us at the front, that's the best we can finish, or almost the best. Leclerc did a great job, as well. Overall, it's been a good weekend. We're always thereabouts to score points, and we did today."
Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finished 14th and 16th in today's Russian Grand Prix, both completing one-stop races and adopting identical tyre strategies, starting on the Ultrasoft compound before an early switch to the Soft.
For both drivers, the race was a somewhat lonely affair: without the necessary performance in the car, there were few overtaking opportunities, and both drivers ran relatively solitary races to the chequer.
Gil de Ferran, Sporting Director: "We tried everything we could to maximise our finishing positions with both cars today. During the race, we pushed just in case the tyres started behaving in some unexpected way and we could look for an opportunity over the others.
"Unfortunately, our pace just wasn't strong enough this weekend for us to bring home any points.
"Nonetheless, we're still looking forward to next weekend. The guys in the garage have a lot of work to do to get everything ready for the Japanese Grand Prix, so I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their efforts. The whole team has done a great job operationally all weekend. Suzuka can't come soon enough!"
The race at the Sochi Autodrom saw Charles Leclerc score six more points for the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team, crossing the finishing line in 7th place after delivering a very solid performance. Marcus Ericsson, who finished in 13th place, also had a consistent and strong pace, but struggled to advance due to traffic. Both drivers made their start, respectively in P7 and P10, on hypersoft tyres. They began the race on a one-stop strategy, but with Ericsson the team opted to go for a second pitstop, changing to the ultrasoft compound, in an attempt to gain pace and move up the order. With impressive overtakes by Charles Leclerc in the Grand Prix, and an overall positive weekend in Russia to look back on, the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team heads to Japan feeling confident of their potential to finish the last few races of the 2018 season on a high.
The Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team currently holds 9th place in the Constructors' Championship. Charles Leclerc is in 15th (21 points), and Marcus Ericsson in 18th (6 points) in the Drivers' Championship.
Frederic Vasseur, Team Principal: "It was a great event for us. We had good starting positions, and both drivers did a consistent job throughout the race. Charles showed some impressive overtakes in the opening laps of the race, and delivered when it was important. He was strong in managing his tyres and overall had a very strong race. Marcus gave a consistent performance, and had a good pace, especially at the start of the race. Unfortunately, he got stuck behind another car and could not move forward. It is a good sign for us as a team to have one of our cars finish in 7th place in a smooth race. We have to continue pushing and we will see what is possible in Japan."
The top four finishers at the Russian Grand Prix used the same ultrasoft-soft strategy, having also occupied the first four places on the grid.
By contrast, Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fifth from the very back of the grid after using an alternative soft-ultrasoft strategy and leading for a large part of the race.
Some graining was seen on the ultrasoft, also due to weather that was a bit cooler than previous days, with some rain falling before the start of the race (which nonetheless remained dry from start to finish).
All three compounds were used, in track temperatures of around 30 degrees centigrade.
Lewis Hamilton won the race using one pit stop, going from ultrasoft to soft on lap 14, as we expected. The top four followed the same strategy, ahead of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo who started on soft. The highest-classified driver to start the race on hypersoft was Sauber's Charles Leclerc in seventh.
Mario Isola: "There were no real surprises during this race, with the top four drivers carrying out the strategy that we predicted to be theoretically quickest, but we saw a brilliant drive from Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who used an alternative strategy to move up into the top six from the back of the grid. Tyre degradation was very low, which allowed for some long stints on the soft. Generally speaking, the tyre performance on these fastest-ever Formula 1 cars was exactly in line with our expectations, with a new race lap record set at the very end by Valtteri Bottas on the soft."
