Russian Grand Prix: Bottas forced to give win to Hamilton

Instead 'victory' at Sochi Autodrom went to Hamilton who now extends his lead in the championship to 50 points on a day in which Bottas was the sacrificial lamb as the Finn played the wingman role to perfection.

Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff radioed Bottas afterwards: "Valtteri this is Toto. Difficult day for you and a difficult day for us. Let's discuss it afterwards when we come together and we'll explain things."

It was a bitter end to a race in which Mercedes were simply on another planet, in another league to their rivals as the engine crew at Brixworth have clearly got the order to dial up the engine and Russia was the result.

Bottas and Hamilton roared off the line with Vettel stalking, but the two Silver Arrows were in command from lap one and remained that way until lap 30 when the call came to allow Hamilton past. And that was that as Wolff's finger on the 'Tactics' button changed the course of the 'race' because he could...

No wonder Hamilton was in no mood to celebrate as he savoured probably the least deserved victory of his illustrious career.

He said after, "It's actually quite a difficult day because Valtteri did a fantastic job all weekend and he was a real gentleman to let me by. He's now not fighting for the championship, where we are."

"It's been such a great weekend for the team. they've done such an exceptional job to have this advantage over Ferrari. To have a one-two, usually we'd just be elated but I can understand how difficult it was for Valtteri and really he deserved to win."

"Championship wise, as a team we are trying to win both so today it was a real team effort. Whilst it doesn't feel spectacular, I know he's going to do well in races to come," added Hamilton after claiming his 70th career win, and the 170th for Mercedes in F1.

For Bottas, what would have been his first win of the season and his fourth career win, wasn't, which is a shame considering he beat his teammate fair-and-square in qualifying and was leading a Mercedes 1-2 in the race with Vettel way out of the picture when he got the dreaded call.

Mr Wingman said after the race, "A difficult day. A good result for us as a team and we got maximum points but personally, it was quite a difficult race. We always go through all the scenarios."

"Lewis is fighting for the championship and we are fighting for the constructors', so we always have a plan - but it's always difficult to predict what's going to happen in the race. It is what it is," added the Finn.

Ferrari had no answer in qualifying and in the race it was the same story. Although Vettel emerged ahead of Hamilton after the first pitstops, it did not take long for the #44 Mercedes to blast past, the Ferrari visibly outpaced.

Vettel summed up, "I think everybody had more or less the same pace. I tried my best to put pressure on Valtteri but I couldn't get close enough. It was a good race, I think we were closer today but obviously not the result that we want."

Kimi Raikkonen had a lonely afternoon in fifth, ending the race 15 seconds adrifty of his Ferrari teammate.

Both Red Bulls started from the wrong end of the grid, from there Max Verstappen delivered a stonking drive through the field to claim fifth place. The Dutchman our 'Man of the Match' in Sochi for his performance on the day.

Teammate Daniel Ricciardo also recovered well but nothing compared to his teammate, in the end the Australian was a distant sixth.

The 'Battle for Best of the Rest' was a riveting contest with several drivers in contention, once again it was the excellent Charles Leclerc who shone in the midfield for Sauber, keeping at bay Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and Esteban Ocon in the Force India who were eighth and ninth respectively.

Sergio Perez made it two Force Indias in the points by finishing tenth.

When the lights when out at the race start, Bottas held his advantage and took the lead ahead of Hamilton. Vettel made an excellent start and drew level with Hamilton, but the Briton quickly picked up a tow from Bottas’ car and managed to hold onto P2 ahead of the German and Räikkönen.

It was Red Bull, however, who made the biggest gains in the opening laps, with Verstappen making a stunning start to rise from P19 on the grid to 13th place at the end of the first lap. The Dutchman’s charge up the order continued and by lap eight he was powering past Leclerc, to claim a remarkable fifth place.

Ricciardo was also making progress, though his fight was made more complicated by front wing damage picked up when he hit debris on the opening lap. By lap 10, however, the Australian had climbed from P18 on the grid to P10.

Bottas now led Hamilton by eight-tenths of a second, with Vettel 2.8 off the lead. Bottas pitted on lap 12 and then on lap 13 Vettel then made his single pit stop on lap 13, looking to undercut Hamilton.

The Ferrari driver took on soft tyres in a 2.8s stop and rejoined behind Bottas. Ahead on track, Hamilton was encountering traffic and losing time. Mercedes reacted and pitted the championship leader. Hamilton emerged alongside the quicker Vettel and the German swept past.

Vettel’s advantage didn’t last long. Hamilton was quickly on the attack and on lap 15 made a move in Turn 2. Vettel defended aggressively and blocked the pass, but Hamilton was immediately on the offensive again and in Turn 4 he dived down the inside and stole the place once more.

When Räikkönen became the last of the lead drivers to pit, on lap 18, Verstappen took the lead. The Dutchman's pace on his starting soft tyres, while solid, served to back up the cars immediately behind and second-placed Bottas began to come under pressure from Hamilton. Crucially, Vettel now began to close on Hamilton.

The threat from Ferrari again forced Mercedes to react, and Bottas was told to let Hamilton past. On lap 42 the Finn obliged and as Max continued to lead, the Finn became the third-placed bulwark between the title leader and Vettel.

With Hamilton now in control, the only question was where would Red Bull finish. Having gone deep into the race on starting soft tyres, the team was now targeting aggressive finishes from its drivers on softer compound tyres.

Ricciardo pitted on lap 39 to take on ultrasoft tyres, as well as a new nosecone to replace one damaged at the start of the race. He rejoined in P6. Verstappen then made his stop on lap 43, also for ultrasofts, and he rejoined in P5, 14s behind Räikkönen.

The expected pace advantage from the ultrasofts didn’t materialise, however, neither Red Bull driver couldn’t find the pace needed to reel in Räikkönen.

On lap 53, then, Hamilton took his 70th career win ahead of Bottas with Vettel taking third place. Räikkönen held onto fourth place, while Verstappen and Ricciardo took fifth and sixth place respectively.

Seventh place went Leclerc with Magnussen in eighth. The final two points places were occupied by the Force India’s of Ocon and Perez.

Adios!