2018 Russian Grand Prix

Last updated
2018 Russian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 21 in the 2018 Formula One World Championship
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Circuit Sochi.svg
Layout of the Sochi Autodrom
Race details [1]
Date30 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 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
Time 1:35.861 on lap 50
Podium
First
 Mercedes
Second
 Mercedes
Third
 Ferrari
Lap leaders
  • 2018 Russian Grand Prix

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]

Contents

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

Background

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

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

Qualifying

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

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

Qualifying

Pos.No.DriverConstructorQualifying timesFinal
grid
Q1Q2Q3
177 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:32.9641:32.7441:31.3871
244 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.4101:32.5951:31.5322
35 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.4761:33.0451:31.9433
47 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:33.3411:33.0651:32.2374
520 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:34.0781:33.7471:33.1815
631 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1:34.2901:33.5961:33.4136
716 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 1:33.9241:33.4881:33.4197
811 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:34.0841:33.9231:33.5638
98 Flag of France.svg Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:34.0221:33.5171:33.7049
109 Flag of Sweden.svg Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:34.1701:33.9951:35.19610
1133 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:33.048No time19 1
123 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:33.247No time18 2
1310 Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:34.383No time17 3
1455 Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 1:34.626No time11
1527 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:34.655No time12
1628 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:35.03720 4
1714 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 1:35.50416 5
1835 Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 1:35.61213
192 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 1:35.97715 6
2018 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1:36.43714
107% time: 1:38.878
Source: [16]
Notes

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

Pos.No.DriverConstructorLapsTime/RetiredGridPoints
144 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 531:27:25.181225
277 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53+2.545118
35 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 53+7.487315
47 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53+16.543412
533 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 53+31.0161910
63 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 53+1:20.451188
716 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Sauber-Ferrari 53+1:38.39076
820 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 52+1 lap54
931 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 52+1 lap62
1011 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 52+1 lap81
118 Flag of France.svg Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 52+1 lap9
1227 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Renault 52+1 lap12
139 Flag of Sweden.svg Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 52+1 lap10
1414 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso McLaren-Renault 52+1 lap16
1518 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 52+1 lap14
162 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Renault 51+2 laps15
1755 Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Sainz Jr. Renault 51+2 laps11
1835 Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Sirotkin Williams-Mercedes 51+2 laps13
Ret10 Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 4Brakes17
Ret28 Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 4Brakes20
Source: [12]

Championship standings after the race

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 4 5 "Report: Hamilton takes victory in Russia as Bottas moves aside". Formula1.com. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  12. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 "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. 1 2 "Verstappen hit with further grid drop for yellow flag breach". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  18. 1 2 3 "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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