It was Nico Rosberg who was victorious in today’s Russian Grand Prix, securing his fourth win in four races this season and securing seven successive victories from 2015 to 2016. Through this, Rosberg has propelled his name among the greats, becoming one of four drivers to achieve such a feat, joining the ranks of Michael Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Sebastian Vettel. Following home Rosberg was his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, securing second place for Mercedes and another 1-2 finish for the German based team. Securing his second podium finish this season was Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, finishing third and gaining 15 points.
Russian Grand Prix Makes it Four Straight Wins for Nico Rosberg
Williams drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finished in 4th and 5th place, bringing a haul of 22 points to the constructors title challenge for the team. Securing his first points of the season and his first points finish in 11 races was McLaren driver Fernando Alonso, finishing in 6th place, bringing a total of 8 championship points to the team. The Spaniard’s team mate, Jenson Button, also made it into the points, finishing in 10th place and securing 1 point- again his first of the season. This has a equated to a further 9 points to McLaren’s constructors championship, moving them into 7th place in the constructors standings.
Also securing his first points of the season was Renault’s Kevin Magnussen, finishing in 7th place, being followed by Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean in 8th, and Force India’s Sergio Perez in 9th. Jenson Button rounded up the top 10.
Today’s Russian Grand Prix however, was by no means ‘easy going’ but provided a large amount of drama in the opening stages of the race. Starting in 7th place today was Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Due to the driver being somewhat out of place due to a five-place grid penalty, the unique positioning of the four-time champion offered potential for a great race. After having reliability issues in previous races, Vettel made it to the starting line on this occasion, unlike in Bahrain. When the lights went out Vettel was off to a fantastic start, blasting past Daniel Ricciardo into turn two and gaining considerable ground in the pack but then disaster struck. Daniil Kvyat misjudged his braking zone and bumped Vettel slightly, sending the German into the side of Ricciardo.
Despite this however, Vettel continued progressing, closing in on Hamilton and Perez. However, this came to an unfortunate end with Kvyat again making contact with Vettel, this time sending the German spinning into the outside wall of turn three and putting him out of the race, crumpling the Ferrari’s suspension against the wall.
After conflict in the cool down room between Vettel and Kvyat following the Chinese Grand Prix, it can be considered that this incident may well spark a potential rivalry between the German and the Russian, perhaps emulating previous conflicts in Formula 1 such as that of Hamilton and Massa in the 2011 season. Being only in the early stages of Formula 1’s longest season in the history of the sport, it is likely that these two drivers will again come into battle with each other, with many eyes watching in curiosity as to what could happen in future races.
Four races into the season and having four wins, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg remains first in the drivers’ championship having 100 points to his title challenge. Remaining in second place is Lewis Hamilton, now being 47 points behind his team mate. Moving into the third place is Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen passing Daniel Ricciardo who slips down the table to fourth.
Driver of the Day: Lewis Hamilton – Despite not securing the all important win, it is difficult fault Hamilton’s performance today, starting in 10th place and finishing second. The Brit made some key moves on drivers such as Kimi Raikkonen and Valtteri Bottas and began closing in on Rosberg in the later stages of the race. However, Hamilton suffered a water pressure issue, causing the driver to slow down to provide effective cooling for his Mercedes power unit.
Results from the Russian GP:
- Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 25 points
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 18 points
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 15 points
- Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 12 points
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 10 points
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 8 points
- Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 6 points
- Romain Grosjean, Haas, 4 points
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 2 points
- Jenson Button, McLaren, 1 point
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 0 points
- Carlos Sainz .Jr, Toro Rosso, 0 points
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 0 points
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 0 points
- Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull Racing, 0 points
- Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 0 points
- Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 0 points
- Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 0 points
- Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, Ret
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, Ret
- Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, Ret
- Rio Haryanto, Manor, Ret
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