With Hamilton 40 points ahead and the title slipping through Vettel’s fingers, Ferrari needed a race victory now more than ever to revive their hopes of challenging for the title. However, with an undefeated record at the Russian Grand Prix, Ferrari had their work cut out for them to challenge Mercedes at the FORMULA 1 2018 VTB RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX.
At the start of the race, Valtteri Bottas got away well. His teammate Lewis Hamilton got a lot of wheel spin as he pulled away from his grid slot, leaving him vulnerable to Sebastian Vettel behind. Vettel pulled up alongside Hamilton around turn one, but Bottas cut to the inside of the turn, giving his teammate a slipstream that allowed Hamilton to maintain his P2 position.
Both Red Bull drivers fought their way through the grid, having started at the rear of the grid for power unit penalties. Max Verstappen was making a quicker recovery, having made up an amazing six positions on the opening lap and finding himself up to the top five on lap 8. Daniel Ricciardo was not advanced as rapidly as his teammate, but he was in the top ten shortly after Verstappen’s entry into the top five.
It was not a good day for the Toro Rosso. Pierre Gasly had a horrific start off the grid, forcing Verstappen to dodge to the middle of the track to avoid collecting the driver from the sister team. Just six laps in, Gasly’s car spun around violently under braking, looking almost like someone had pulled the handbrake. This prompted the team to retire both cars, citing a mechanical issue.
Meanwhile, as the pit window opened for drivers running the ultrasoft and hypersoft tyres, Bottas continued to lead his teammate by over 1.3 seconds. Vettel followed behind with a gap of about 1.7 seconds separating him from Hamilton.
Bottas was the first of the leading cars to pit for fresh tyres, switching to the soft compound tyres on lap 13. Ferrari didn’t follow him into the pits. However, Vettel pitted the following lap for the softs, coming out well behind Bottas. Hamilton reacted the lap after Vettel, approaching slow traffic and starting to see a small performance decrease. This cost Mercedes dearly, coming out of the pit side-by-side with the Ferrari of Vettel, but losing out to Vettel on the outside of turn one.
With his tyres, more or less, up to temperature and some assistance with the DRS, Hamilton was able to challenge Vettel on lap 16. With DRS down the main straight, the gap closed quickly and the faster Hamilton had a look on the inside of Vettel on the exit of turn one. Vettel moved over to the inside of the straight, blocking Hamilton, who nearly ran into the rear of the Ferrari. The move was blocked, but Hamilton was able to stay close enough to dive up the inside of Vettel in turn four, taking (effectively) P2.
The stewards reviewed Vettel for moving more than once to defend his position, a maneuver that is against the regulations. However, no further action was taken by the stewards.
As the leaders approached the slower Stoffel Vandoorne ahead, Verstappen and Bottas lost a little time, allowing Hamilton to close the gap to his teammate within DRS zone on lap 23. However, the traffic cleared and pace went back to normal. However, two laps later, the call came over the Mercedes team radio. Bottas slowed dramatically into turn 13, allowing his teammate to overtake him and make his way into P2 to chase down the leading Red Bull of Verstappen, who still had not pitted by that point.
Daniel Ricciardo was the first of the two Red Bull drivers to pit on lap 40, changing to the ultrasoft compound tyre and replacing his front wing, which may have been damaged near the start of the race and would explain the Australian’s performance deficit compared to his teammate.
Hamilton pushed hard to get close to the slower Verstappen and attempting make an overtake on the inside of the corner, but he was unsuccessful. Hamilton then immediately dropped back outside of the DRS zone, waiting for Verstappen to finally make his pitstop for new tyres. With ten laps remaining in the race, Verstappen was called into the pits for new ultrasoft tyres (not the predicted hypersoft tyres) and released Hamilton into the lead of the race.
Vettel was creating the opportunity for a late race challenge for P2 from Bottas, but he was caught when trying to lap Kevin Magnussen. This lost him a lot of time and nullified any chance of Vettel advancing up a step on the podium.
Meanwhile, Hamilton lead the way for a Mercedes 1-2 finish, preserving the team’s undefeated history at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. Vettel cruised home in P3, while the undoubted Driver of the Day was Verstappen for his spectacular race through the field. With yet another race victory in 2018, Hamilton increased his World Drivers’ Championship lead by 10 points, growing it to 50 points over Vettel.
Above results table does not include any post-race penalties
