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2018 Russian Grand Prix

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2018 Russian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Sochi Autodrom
Layout of the Sochi Autodrom
Race details[1]
Date 30 September 2018
Official name Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix
Location Sochi Autodrom,
Adlersky City District, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.848 km (3.634 miles)
Distance 53 laps, 309.745 km (192.467 miles)
Weather Cloudy
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:31.387
Fastest lap
Driver Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
Time 1:35.861 on lap 50
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Mercedes
Third
Ferrari
Lap leaders

The 2018 Russian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 2018 at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia.[1] The race was the 16th round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 7th running of the Russian Grand Prix and the 5th time the race had been held in Sochi.[2][3][4]

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton entered the round with a 40-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the Drivers' Championship. In the World Constructors' Championship, Mercedes led Ferrari by 37 points.[5] The race was one of controversy, as Mercedes enacted team orders to swap their two drivers, handing Lewis Hamilton the win and Valtteri Bottas would move to 2nd place for the race finish.[6] The race result sparked discussion regarding the future of team orders in the sport, and some even going as to call for an outright ban on the practice.[7]

Report

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Background

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The race was moved from its April date to September to fill the vacancy of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which was discontinued at the end of the 2017 Formula One season.[8][9] During the weekend, the first DRS zone was extended by 100 meters so that the beginning of the DRS zone started 95 meters before turn 1.[10]

Practice

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Artem Markelov replaced Carlos Sainz Jr. at Renault during the first practice session.

Qualifying

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Bottas took pole ahead of Hamilton ahead of Vettel with a Q2 exit for Red Bull Racing drivers of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. It was Red Bull's last double elimination until the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.

Race

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At the start, Sebastian Vettel got a better start than Lewis Hamilton but there was no room to overtake heading into turn one.[11] On lap 4, both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley suffered brake failures which forced both to retire; they were the only retirements of the race.[12] Later on lap 14, Hamilton made his one and only pitstop of the race, putting him behind Vettel.[11] Two laps later, Hamilton made a move on Vettel at turn 3 and passed him into fourth place into turn 4.[11]

The most notable moment of the race came on lap 26, when Mercedes asked Valtteri Bottas to let Hamilton through into second at turn 13, gifting the Briton the race win.[11] Max Verstappen, who led the race since lap 19, came in for his pitstop on lap 42.[11][13] Hamilton won the race for the third time in his career, with Bottas second and Vettel completing the podium in third place.[3][14] As a consequence, Hamilton extended his lead over Vettel in the championship to 50 points.[15]

Classification

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Qualifying

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:32.964 1:32.744 1:31.387 1
2 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.410 1:32.595 1:31.532 2
3 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.476 1:33.045 1:31.943 3
4 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:33.341 1:33.065 1:32.237 4
5 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:34.078 1:33.747 1:33.181 5
6 31 France Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1:34.290 1:33.596 1:33.413 6
7 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.924 1:33.488 1:33.419 7
8 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:34.084 1:33.923 1:33.563 8
9 8 France Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:34.022 1:33.517 1:33.704 9
10 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:34.170 1:33.995 1:35.196 10
11 33 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:33.048 No time 191
12 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:33.247 No time 182
13 10 France Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:34.383 No time 173
14 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:34.626 No time 11
15 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:34.655 No time 12
16 28 New Zealand Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:35.037 204
17 14 Spain Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1:35.504 165
18 35 Russia Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1:35.612 13
19 2 Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1:35.977 156
20 18 Canada Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1:36.437 14
107% time: 1:38.878
Source:[16]
Notes
  • ^1 – Max Verstappen received a 43-place grid penalty: 35 places for exceeding his quota of power unit elements, 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change and 3 places for a yellow flag infringement in qualifying.[17]
  • ^2 – Daniel Ricciardo received a 40-place grid penalty: 35 places for exceeding his quota of power unit elements and 5 places for an unscheduled gearbox change.[17]
  • ^3 – Pierre Gasly received a 35-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[18]
  • ^4 – Brendon Hartley received a 40-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[18]
  • ^5 – Fernando Alonso received a 30-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.[18]
  • ^6 – Stoffel Vandoorne received a 5-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.[19]

Despite receiving no penalties, both of the Renault drivers elected not to run any laps on Q2 due to them automatically receiving places 11 and 12. They were then able to start the race on fresh tyres of their choice.[20]

Race

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Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:27:25.181 2 25
2 77 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 +2.545 1 18
3 5 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 53 +7.487 3 15
4 7 Finland Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +16.543 4 12
5 33 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 53 +31.016 19 10
6 3 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 53 +1:20.451 18 8
7 16 Monaco Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 53 +1:38.390 7 6
8 20 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 5 4
9 31 France Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 6 2
10 11 Mexico Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 8 1
11 8 France Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 9
12 27 Germany Nico Hülkenberg Renault 52 +1 lap 12
13 9 Sweden Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 10
14 14 Spain Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 52 +1 lap 16
15 18 Canada Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 14
16 2 Belgium Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 51 +2 laps 15
17 55 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 51 +2 laps 11
18 35 Russia Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 51 +2 laps 13
Ret 10 France Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 4 Brakes 17
Ret 28 New Zealand Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 4 Brakes 20
Source:[12]

Championship standings after the race

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  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
  • Bold text and an asterisk indicates competitors who still had a theoretical chance of becoming World Champion.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Russia". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Grand Prix Winners 1895–1916". www.kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Russia 2018". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Grands Prix – Russia". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. ^ "Singapore 2018 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  6. ^ Richards, Giles (30 September 2018). "Lewis Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix but is unhappy with team orders". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Opinion: Why Mercedes used team orders – and why they were right to do so". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Советник Козака: перенос Гран-при России "Формулы-1" на осень сделан в интересах зрителей". ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Malaysian Grand Prix: A final farewell to the Sepang circuit". BBC Sport. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  10. ^ "First DRS zone in Sochi extended". F1Today.net. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Report: Hamilton takes victory in Russia as Bottas moves aside". Formula1.com. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Russia 2018 – Laps led". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Sochi". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  15. ^ a b c "Russia 2018 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
  17. ^ a b "Verstappen hit with further grid drop for yellow flag breach". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  18. ^ a b c "Red Bulls, Toro Rossos and Alonso set for Russia grid penalties for changing multiple power unit elements". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Vandoorne hit with Sochi grid penalty after gearbox change". Crash. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  20. ^ "F1: Renault on not appearing in Q2 for qualifying in the 2018 Russian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.


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