2018 Russian Grand Prix, Bottas on the podium, dailycarblog.com
Mercedes Enforce Team Orders As Lewis Hamilton Is Gifted Russian Grand Prix
Formula One

Like a bailiff enforcing, a court order Mercedes F1 enforced pragmatism to allow Lewis Hamilton to win the 2018 Russian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas had the measure of his illustrious teammate all weekend. But when push finally came to shove, it was Bottas who was elbowed out of an almost certainly comfortable win.

Mercedes turned up at the Russian Grand Prix with a performance advantage. The W09 looked fast from the beginning of the weekend and it showed in qualifying. It was a front-row lockout with Bottas edging out Hamilton. Vettel could do little else but settle for third, a best of the rest grid start albeit half a second behind. Not a deal breaker but not ideal. Ideally, Vettel needed to win the Russian Grand Prix to prevent Lewis Hamilton from increasing his lead further still. A half-a-second deficit in F1 is what a mile is to a lightyear. However, the Ferrari’s do perform better during the race. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, race start, dailycarblog.com And yet the race itself was largely devoid of action, processional with the exception of a few key moments. Bottas made a perfect start, but the long straight leading to the first corner leaves the leading car vulnerable to being slipped-streamed. And so it was, Bottas had to raise his defenses as Hamilton attacked into the first corner. Bottas won that fight which then left his teammate vulnerable to attack from Vettel. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Hamilton fights with Bottas, dailycarblog.com However, Hamilton was never under any real threat from the Ferrari and the top three positions remained unchanged. Except for Verstappen, starting at the back of the grid due to penalties, the Dutch driver sythed his way through the field. He was in 10th place after 4 laps, fifth after 8 laps. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Max Verstappen, dailycarblog.com Meanwhile, the battle for the lead turned into a lift and coast session. Conserving tyres and engine to run as long as possible until the first round of pit stops. This is where Ferrari employed the undercut to get ahead of Hamilton. And it worked. Combined with Vettel’s quick pace on new rubber and Hamilton being hampered by traffic Vettel was ahead. However, Hamilton fought back and regained second place in a tight but all too short battle with Vettel. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Hamilton vs Vettel dailycarblog.com Vettel didn’t give his position away he made Hamilton work for it. But ultimately the quicker speed of the Mercedes would have eventually found a way past. From there on it seemed as though Bottas would secure a well-deserved victory, his first of the season. However, Mercedes had different ideas. Team orders were employed on lap 25 and Bottas dutifully moved aside to allow Hamilton into the lead. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Bottas easily leads, dailycarblog.com Thereafter it was another processional, lift-and-coast finish to the chequered flag. Ferrari and Vettel had no answer and trailed home in third. It isn’t a great way to win and Hamilton acknowledged so. However, Mercedes have one eye and both hands on the drivers and constructors championship. Hamiltons enforced win at the Russian Grand Prix is a win for team pragmatism if nothing else. It also ensures Mercedes and Hamilton have enough of a margin to cover any unforeseen loss of points. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, very glum Hamilton dailycarblog.com Hamilton now has a 50 point lead over Vettel with 5 races to go. Many are saying the Russian Grand Prix all but secured Hamilton’s 5th world drivers title. However, the truth is that Mercedes’ performance surge over their rivals is the true turning point. The fixed Russian Grand Prix result is merely what it is. A fixed result. 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Sochi Autodrom, Sochi | Results:
Pos No Driver Car Laps Time/Retired PTS
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:27:25.181 25
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 +2.545s 18
3 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 53 +7.487s 15
4 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 53 +16.543s 12
5 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 53 +31.016s 10
6 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing TAG Heuer 53 +80.451s 8
7 16 Charles Leclerc Sauber Ferrari 53 +98.390s 6
8 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 52 +1 lap 4
9 31 Esteban Ocon Force India Mercedes 52 +1 lap 2
10 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes 52 +1 lap 1
11 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 52 +1 lap 0
12 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 52 +1 lap 0
13 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari 52 +1 lap 0
14 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Renault 52 +1 lap 0
15 18 Lance Stroll Williams Mercedes 52 +1 lap 0
16 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren Renault 51 +2 laps 0
17 55 Carlos Sainz Renault 51 +2 laps 0
18 35 Sergey Sirotkin Williams Mercedes 51 +2 laps 0
NC 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 4 DNF 0
NC 28 Brendon Hartley Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 4 DNF 0
 
 2018 Russian Grand Prix, Bottas on the podium, dailycarblog.com
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