Morning After: The Moment Arrives for Bottas

Suffice to say, 2018 has not been a particularly great year for Valtteri. Taking three wins in his first season with Mercedes last year, the Finn is yet to add to his tally in 2018. Maybe that changes on Sunday.

Certainly it's his best chance since nearly three months ago, when he was last on pole in Austria, and even more so here, it seems like the stars have aligned for him. Lewis Hamilton, his would-be tormentor, couldn't hold it together through Turn 7 and starts behind him, while Ferrari apparently had their pace confiscated by Vladimir Putin's security team.

All the Finn has to do now is hold his place off the line, and at a place where he's bested Hamilton before (and indeed, had slightly better long-run pace on Friday), he should be able to take the victory.

Of course, there's a lot that can happen between now and the end of the race (fingers crossed Toto doesn't pull any shenanigans), and it would be unrealistic to say one victory changes the dynamic within his team, but there's no denying Valtteri

needs this. If only for his own confidence, a win would do wonders here.

Daniil Kvyat's return to Toro Rosso has to go down as one of the more bizarre stories in recent memory. Tossed aside in 2017, Red Bull could hardly have made their discontent with him more apparent if they'd left him on an actual trash heap, and yet here we are again.

Personally, I doubt this moves him any closer to an eventual return to the senior team – he just happens to be one of their few drivers with a super license.

With the Red Bulls taking grid penalties, it will be worth keeping an eye on the Saubers and Force Indias on Sunday. With all four cars starting in the top ten, this could be their biggest points haul of the season, at a time when they desperately need it.

Naughty stuff from Max Verstappen, who took on a three-place grid drop (I'm sure he'll notice) for ignoring yellow flags. More importantly, he takes another two penalty points on his super license, moving his current total to seven. Even with one point coming off soon in Austin, he'll be half-way to a suspension for the foreseeable future, as his next points don't drop until China next year.

THE QUICKEST ONE-STOPPER: 1 stint on ultrasoft for 15 laps + 1 stint on soft to the flag

VERY CLOSE ONE-STOPPER: 1 stint on hypersoft for 9 laps + 1 stint on soft

SLOWER TWO-STOPPER: 1 stint on hypersoft for 7 laps + 2 stints on soft (23+23 laps each) or