F1 Pickings

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel says he can still win the title despite falling 50 points behind rival Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes.

Toto Wolff has taken responsibility for the chain of events that were to eventually lead to the need for team orders at Sochi today.

Brown had originally planned to miss the Suzuka race so he could experience his first Bathurst 1000, a decision inspired by his part-ownership of the Walkinshaw Andretti United Supercars squad. Having made those plans public during the Australian GP back in March things have since changed for the McLaren boss, and he is set to head to Japan rather than Mount Panorama. A McLaren spokesperson ... ... Keep reading

Everything you need to know about the VTB Russian Grand Prix... all the details, stats, pictures and quotes.

Lewis Hamilton says winning the Russian Grand Prix thanks to team orders left him feeling "the most conflicted I have ever been".

Today's post-race press conference with Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel.

We finished 1-2, we have a 50 point advantage and that feels good on a day that has otherwise been very difficult.

Toto Wolff took responsibility for Mercedes pitting Lewis Hamilton later than planned in the Russian GP that exposed him to Sebastian Vettel, as he had distracted chief strategist James Vowles

Wolff said he distracted chief strategist James Vowles at a vital moment and caused Lewis Hamilton to pit a lap later than what would have been the optimum time. Race leader Valtteri Bottas pitted on lap 12, but instead of bringing Hamilton in on the next lap, the team left him out. Sebastian Vettel was told by Ferrari to do the opposite to what Hamilton did, staying out if the Mercedes ... ... Keep reading

It was a great event for us.

Renault driver Carlos Sainz blamed Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin for the clash that ended his hopes of a good result in Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix

Sainz and Sirotkin made contact on the opening lap of the Sochi race when the Russian found himself with nowhere to go in his run up to Turn 2, where he was sandwiched between the Renault and the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson. Sirotkin ended up hitting the right side of Sainz's car, causing heavy damage to the sidepod and the floor. Sainz continued in the race but struggled for pace, running ... ... Keep reading

Despite all our efforts to find the ideal set-up, neither on Saturday nor in the race were we competitive enough to worry our closest rivals.

Sebastian Vettel has defended Mercedes' tactics in the Russian Grand Prix, calling the rival Formula 1 team's decision to move Valtteri Bottas aside for Lewis Hamilton a "no-brainer"

Formula 1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton says he never asked for, and never wanted, the use of team orders in the Russian Grand Prix to help him win the race

Lewis Hamilton admits that winning Russian Grand Prix leaves him with conflicting emotions.

The world championship leader was gifted victory at Sochi on Sunday after teammate Valtteri Bottas was ordered to move aside for him. The controversial move left Hamilton feeling deflated after the race, as he made clear that neither in pre-race discussions nor over the radio had he wanted Bottas to give up the win for him. “There was obviously a team call,” said Hamilton, whose win has ... ... Keep reading

Pierre Gasly says a piece of debris got past the halo on his Formula 1 car and hit his visor on the opening lap of the Russian Grand Prix

Hamilton inherited victory at Sochi when Mercedes told Bottas, who was on course for his first win of the season, to let the championship leader past. Victory for Hamilton, combined with Bottas keeping Vettel at bay for the rest of the race, means Vettel trails the Mercedes driver by 50 points with five races to go. Vettel said: "Well done to both of them, they played together as a team very ... ... Keep reading

The Toro Rosso driver said debris from Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull was flicked up in front of him at the start, hitting his helmet and landing in the cockpit of his car. “I think Daniel lost a piece of carbon, which went straight into my visor, so this was really really scary,” Gasly told reporters after the race. “I thought it was going through and straight into my eye, and finally ... ... Keep reading

Red Bull's Max Verstappen abandoned the chance of a late-race surge on new tyres in Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix to save his engine for the remainder of 2018

The Dutchman pulled off a brilliant charge from the back of the grid to lead much of the race at Sochi, as he ran an extended stint on soft tyres. Having left his switch to ultrasofts until just 12 laps from the end, a series of quick laps would have been enough to put him on to the tail of the Ferrari cars ahead of him. But his Red Bull boss Christian Horner revealed after the race that the ... ... Keep reading

Toto Wolff admits that harsh reality was behind today's team orders decision.

Valtteri Bottas dutifully played the team game by handing the Russian Grand Prix win to his championship-contending team-mate Lewis Hamilton to allow the Briton to add another seven points to his lead in the drivers’ standings. Instead of the 43 it would have been if he had come home second behind Bottas, it swelled to […]

Esteban Ocon believes Force India needs to review its approach to Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix, after a decision to swap its cars around failed to gain it any places

Ocon and teammate Sergio Perez were stuck behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen when Perez asked to be let through to attack the Dane, with Force India giving Ocon a set number of laps to make a pass before he had to move over. The Frenchman couldn't make the overtake and allowed Perez ahead, but the latter could make no progress either - so eventually the cars swapped back, coming home ninth and ... ... Keep reading

Toto Wolff says Mercedes faced a scenario that it had not predicted ahead of Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix as he explained the reasons behind its team orders swap

Pole-sitter and early race leader Valtteri Bottas was ordered to move aside for teammate Lewis Hamilton after the first round of pitstops at Sochi, as Mercedes grew concerned about the threat from the pursuing Sebastian Vettel. Wolff was clearly far from happy about the difficult call, and said that the team would need to reflect on things after encountering a situation that had not come up in ... ... Keep reading

Lewis Hamilton extends championship lead as he wins in Russia courtesy of wingman Valtteri Bottas being told to move aside.

Lewis Hamilton admitted that his Russian Grand Prix win felt far from "spectacular" after being gifted victory through team orders issued by his Mercedes Formula 1 team

The world championship leader had shadowed Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the early stages of the race, but the pair were asked to swap positions after the pitstops amid concerns that Hamilton could be exposed to title rival Sebastian Vettel. With Mercedes not interested in re-swapping the places late on, it meant Hamilton finished ahead of Bottas to extend his title advantage over Vettel ... ... Keep reading

Full result of the VTB Russian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton wins Russian GP following team orders for his team-mate Valtteri Bottas and a clever on-track pass on Sebastian Vettel.

Lewis Hamilton extended his Formula 1 title advantage over Sebastian Vettel with victory in the Russian Grand Prix after Mercedes ordered Valtteri Bottas to move aside

Bottas led from pole and was running in the de facto race lead, behind the long-running Max Verstappen, when he was told to let Hamilton past to protect him from Vettel. Hamilton's eighth victory of the season means his lead over Vettel is now 50 points with five races to go and 125 points up for grabs after Bottas, who sacrificed a first win of 2018 for his teammate, restricted the Ferrari ... ... Keep reading

The two-time F1 champion is leaving grand prix racing at the end of 2018 but is yet to firm up his programme for next season beyond the remaining races of his World Endurance Championship superseason with Toyota. A move to IndyCar was expected to facilitate his goal of winning the Indianapolis 500 to complete the unofficial triple crown of motorsport, but that has become complicated, and ... ... Keep reading

Fernando Alonso says rallying will not play a part in his post-Formula 1 career because he accepts "I don't have the talent to do that"

Kvyat had been brought into the main team in 2015 but was then moved back from RBR to Toro Rosso after the 2016 Russian Grand Prix to make way for Max Verstappen. He subsequently struggled to make an impact as part of the junior team, and was dropped late last season. However, after a year as a Ferrari test and simulator driver, he will return to Toro Rosso in 2019. Along with Helmut ... ... Keep reading

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits he would not enjoy watching Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton race each other in Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix

Amended starting grid for the VTB Russian Grand Prix after penalties applied.

Honda's latest Formula 1 upgrade has moved it ahead of Renault in the engine pecking order, according to Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost

The Japanese manufacturer introduced its second upgrade of the season in Russia on Friday, and although it has reverted to an older specification for the rest of the weekend that update has been hailed as a significant step forward.  “Honda is making big steps forward,” Tost told Motorsport.com. “Yesterday [Friday] we had the new spec in the car and it was really fantastic.” Asked ... ... Keep reading

Christian Horner believes Daniil Kvyat had not dealt with his demotion from Red Bull to Toro Rosso when he was dropped from its Formula line-up in 2017

As Ferrari sees its hopes of the title(s) slipping away, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone suggests the team is too Italian.

Max Verstappen has been handed a 3-place grid penalty following an incident during Q1 this afternoon.

... ... Keep reading

Mercedes new aero package shocks Ferrari, but all is not lost in Russia - there's a first corner, and some politics, to navigate.

Alonso went into qualifying with a grid penalty because of engine component changes and claimed his only intention in Q1 was to set a time within F1's 107% rule. The second part of qualifying featured zero running from the Red Bulls and Pierre Gasly's Toro Rosso because they too had grid penalties for engine changes, while the Renaults also chose not to set a time to give them 11th and 12th on ... ... Keep reading

This is not an easy place to overtake, but tomorrow we'll do our best and see what happens.

In the lead up to qualifying we felt we had the fourth fastest car, but we didn't quite maximise our performance when it mattered.

Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul has defended the team's "awkward" tactical decision to sit out Q2 to claim 11th and 12th places on the grid for Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix

We can be happy and proud with the pace today, it's the achievement of a lot of hard work over the past weeks.

Fernando Alonso believes the Russian Grand Prix's Formula 2 support race was "the most fun part of the day" for fans after Formula 1 qualifying featured "nonsense" and "boring" segments

Today's post-race press conference with Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

With five drivers known to be taking engine penalties and thus unlikely to run in Q2, Renault realised that it might be able to guarantee 11th and 12th places – and thus have the advantage of a free choice of tyres for the start. Renault has in general been harder on its tyres than rivals this year, and the team wanted to avoid the requirement to start on the hypersofts. When three of the ... ... Keep reading

It was pleasing to see that we had more pace than expected in qualifying and looking at the times, had we chosen to run to the end of the session, we were on track to challenge Ferrari.

We've seen an exceptionally close midfield here and we weren't able to be at the front of this battle on qualifying pace.

Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson finished qualifying in Q3, and will start tomorrow's race from P7 and P10.

We are looking forward to fight in the midfield, especially against the cars that will have to start on the softest tyre.

Strategy was clearly at the forefront of qualifying, so we're going to see an interesting situation tomorrow with the top four cars starting on the ultrasoft tyre.

We knew this was going to be a difficult weekend for us, but we're not hiding the fact that qualifying was a disappointing result.

Our race pace has been a bit stronger relatively than our qualifying pace so we still see some opportunity for a better outcome tomorrow.

It was a good result today.

The Red Bull driver was already last on the provisional starting grid for the Sochi race, having taken new engine components and a fresh gearbox this weekend. However, he has been given another three-place grid penalty and two licence penalty points for failing to slow down for yellow flags when Sergey Sirotkin spun his Williams in Q1. The verdict from the stewards said: "The driver admitted ... ... Keep reading

Max Verstappen has been punished for a yellow flag infringement during Russian Grand Prix Formula 1 qualifying, increasing his grid penalty for the weekend

Fernando Alonso says McLaren's smart tactic in first practice for the Russian Grand Prix was the "biggest gain" of the weekend for him

Under current regulations, the grid order for drivers with engine penalties is decided by the order in which new elements are first used on track. Alonso, who has replaced his engine and will start from the back of the grid, will line up 16th thanks to Lando Norris - driving the Spaniard's car in FP1 - being first in the queue to leave the pits ahead of the start of the first session of the ... ... Keep reading

Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff says Valtteri Bottas's pole position means it will now be "difficult" to impose team orders in the Russian Grand Prix

Bottas took his second top grid spot of the season at Sochi on Saturday, with teammate Lewis Hamilton helping secure a front row lock out for Mercedes. With Hamilton pushing to extend his points advantage over Sebastian Vettel, there would be clear benefits to telling Bottas to play a supporting role on Sunday. But with Bottas having dug deep to secure pole, Wolff admits that it may be hard ... ... Keep reading

Ahead of this year's Russian Grand Prix, a small stretch by the start-finish line was resurfacing and the same was done just before Turn 1 and on the approach to Turn 8. The front row of the grid will be occupied by Mercedes drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton on Sunday and they will be completely on the new surface. Third-place starter Vettel's front wheels will be on the newly-laid ... ... Keep reading

Sebastian Vettel says it is wrong that the Sochi circuit has been partially resurfaced in a way that means the first three Formula 1 grid slots are positioned on newer asphalt

Lewis Hamilton says he had been "slacking" in the Sochi Autodrom's second sector during Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix qualifying, which contributed to his error in the decisive final lap

Hamilton had led Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in all three practice sessions of the weekend, as well as the first two qualifying segments. However, he was left 0.004s down on Bottas after the opening runs of the Q3 pole shoot-out, with the time gained on the Finn in sectors one and three not enough to make up for the quarter-second loss in the middle part of the lap. Hamilton was once ... ... Keep reading

With a healthy points lead for Lewis Hamilton over his F1 title rival, Sebastian Vettel, Mercedes can afford to let Valtteri Bottas win the Russian Grand Prix, after securing a dramatic pole position in Sochi today. But if the healthy pace advantage demonstrated by Mercedes so far this weekend translates into a comfortable one-two scenario, […]

2017 Russian Grand Prix winner Valtteri Bottas pulls out all the stops to snatch Sochi pole from his Mercedes teammate.

Valtteri Bottas claimed his first Formula 1 pole position in almost three months in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix, leading a Mercedes lockout of the front row

Full times from today's qualifying session for the VTB Russian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas takes pole position for Sunday's Russian GP, with Hamilton second.

Bottas held a slender advantage over teammate Lewis Hamilton of just 0.004s after the first runs in Q1, with everyone using the hypersoft Pirellis. But on the second run, Hamilton was forced to abort his lap after setting the fastest time in the opening sector thanks to running wide in the middle sector. This gave Bottas a clear run to post a 1m31.387s lap to take pole by ... ... Keep reading

The sport's chiefs attempted to tidy up the grid penalty rules last winter following growing annoyance at the raft of engine and gearbox penalties being handed out. For this year, rather than the slots at the back of the grid being decided by the number of penalties each driver is given, it is settled by the order that new elements are first used on track. That led to a bizarre situation ... ... Keep reading

Ricciardo’s move to Renault opened up a seat at the main Red Bull team, which was subsequently handed to Pierre Gasly, in turn freeing up a slot at STR that has now been confirmed as Kvyat’s. Marko says that he had stayed in touch with Kvyat after the Russian was dropped by Red Bull and took up a new role as a Ferrari test and simulator driver. “We have been in contact,” Marko told ... ... Keep reading

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko says that he learned of Daniel Ricciardo's decision to join Renault when Daniil Kvyat called him about it

Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko admits that Pascal Wehrlein is on a "long list" of candidates for the second Toro Rosso seat in the 2019 Formula 1 season

On Saturday, Daniil Kvyat was officially announced as Pierre Gasly's replacement at Toro Rosso, leaving the seat currently occupied by Brendon Hartley yet to be confirmed. Wehrlein has ensured that he is a possible option for Toro Rosso by cutting his ties with Mercedes and making himself a free agent. He is understood to have met Marko in Graz last week. Marko admitted that Wehrlein's ... ... Keep reading

Lewis Hamilton exerted his dominance over the field with the fastest time for the final Formula 1 practice session for this weekend's Russian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton quickest in final practice session as Ferrari struggles, Sebastian Vettel finishing 0.6s adrift of the world champion.

Full times from the final free practice session for the VTB Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton and his teammate Valtteri Bottas finished 1-2, while Ferrari was struggling for outright pace, with Sebastian Vettel third ahead of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen. Vettel's best time was 0.600s off the quickest time set by Hamilton. The pace of Mercedes and Hamilton in particular – 0.254s ahead of Bottas – bodes well for qualifying which takes place in Sochi later this ... ... Keep reading

Toro Rosso have confirmed that Daniil Kvyat will race for the team in 2019, giving the Russian driver his third stint with Red Bull junior team. Having been dropped from the team around twelve months ago in favour of trialling Formula One returnee Brendon Hartley, Kvyat has been given another opportunity to revive his Formula […]

Honda has reverted to its previous specification of Formula 1 engine despite a positive response to the upgrade in Russian Grand Prix practice

The Japanese manufacturer introduced the update at the Sochi event to prepare the new engine ahead of Honda’s home grand prix next week. It was lauded by Toro Rosso after Friday practice but it was then decided to go back to the old spec. This is because Honda believes there is more calibration work to do and the engine can be better matched to the chassis. The manufacturer insists the ... ... Keep reading

The Renault Formula 1 team will use a new floor over the rest of the Russian Grand Prix weekend, marking the last of its planned major car updates this season

Force India's new owners plan to build a new factory for the team, either by more than tripling the size of its current site, or by moving to a new location

The current Silverstone factory dates back to the early years of Jordan, when staffing levels were much lower. The main challenge the team now faces is that around 100 aerodynamicists are based in offices at its old wind tunnel site some seven miles away from the main base, even though that tunnel is no longer used. There are also plans to bring more manufacturing in-house, which will ... ... Keep reading

The Red Bull driver's comments, made on Dutch television, continue a war of words with the Renault chief in the build-up to Sunday's Russian Grand Prix. That started when Verstappen claimed Renault's upgraded Spec C engine would not perform as well at high-altitude later in the year, requiring Red Bull to take another Spec B and grid penalties in Russia. Abiteboul hit back by saying ... ... Keep reading

Max Verstappen claims Renault would "already be world champions" if Formula 1 boss Cyril Abiteboul was not "moaning about me all the time"

Force India will help Esteban Ocon "find something", Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff not worried by Mercedes-Benz management changes, plus more.

Toro Rosso has confirmed that Daniil Kvyat will replace Pierre Gasly in 2019.

Daniil Kvyat is to make a remarkable return to Red Bull's junior team a year after being dropped from the drinks company's driver roster.

Daniil Kvyat's return to the Toro Rosso Formula 1 team for the 2019 season has been confirmed

Daniil Kvyat is to make a remarkable return to Red Bull's junior team a year after being dropped from the drinks company's driver roster.

As reported by Motorsport.com, Kvyat had emerged as a surprise favourite to land a drive at the team that dropped him late last year.  This will be Kvyat’s third spell at Toro Rosso, the Russian having raced for the team in 2014 and then again from early-2016 after being demoted from the senior Red Bull team.  He was dropped from Red Bull after the 2017 United States Grand Prix and ... ... Keep reading

Kevin Magnussen has revealed that his new contract with Haas is for 2019 and 2020.

... ... Keep reading

Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Brendon Hartley says "everyone is quite excited about the step" Honda has made with its latest engine upgrade at the Russian Grand Prix

Honda has introduced an upgrade for the race at Sochi and while little information has been disclosed, it is known to be mainly around the internal combustion engine again. Hartley’s teammate Pierre Gasly set the eighth-fastest time in free practice at a track where Honda has struggled in recent years. “We definitely had a step in performance and it was a really, really promising day ... ... Keep reading

It's been a learning day today for us.

Force India boss Otmar Szafnauer says he'd be happy to retain Esteban Ocon in a Formula 1 reserve and simulator driver role in 2019

Valtteri Bottas does not believe Ferrari's deficit to Mercedes in Friday practice for Formula 1's Russian Grand Prix is "real"

The Frenchman is currently without a race seat for next year due to the imminent arrival of Lance Stroll at the Silverstone outfit, and his last remaining option is Williams. Retaining his links with Force India would at least allow him to stay in touch with developments, although he could also perform a similar role with the works Mercedes team. "Hopefully he'll find something else," said ... ... Keep reading

Bottas was second to Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in second practice, the faster of the two Friday sessions, whereas Ferrari ended the day behind not only the Silver Arrows but also Red Bull. Mercedes has won every Russian GP since the power-sensitive Sochi track joined the F1 calendar in 2014 - but it was expected to face a stern challenge from Ferrari this weekend given the gains the ... ... Keep reading

The team looks forward to tomorrow, keeping in mind that a good qualifying is essential for the outcome of the race.

Kevin Magnussen has revealed his new deal with the Haas Formula 1 team runs through to the end of the 2020 season

The 25-year-old Dane, who joined the American outfit from Renault before the start of the 2017 campaign, has been the outfit's top performer this year, scoring 49 points to teammate Romain Grosjean's 27. Haas announced an unchanged line-up for 2019 earlier on Friday, and Magnussen has now confirmed he is signed on for the season after as well. “I’m extremely happy to continue with Haas ... ... Keep reading

We want to put both cars on the front row tomorrow; we don't know yet what will happen, but we'll try to do our best as pole is the best place to start from.

With the track always evolving so quickly, it's not easy to draw any firm conclusions.

We worked through a comprehensive aero and mechanical test programme, and evaluated some new parts on the cars.

Russia has never been our strongest circuit but today there are some good signs.

Both cars were struggling to get the most out of the tyres, but we have found something which should help with that and in the end.

Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari’s hopes of being able to strike back against championship leaders Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes were dealt a blow due to the pace advantage shown by the Silver Arrows in practice. Already faced with the task of mounting the biggest championship comeback of his career, Ferrari will have a tough night ahead […]

It was announced this week that long-time racing supporter Dieter Zetsche is to be replaced as chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG. Head of Mercedes-Benz cars Ula Kallenius, will replace him. After taking some time out in 2021, Zetsche will become chairman of the supervisory board of Daimler. Kallenius is well known in the F1 paddock, with his many previous roles within the ... ... Keep reading

Today's press conference with Cyril Abiteboul, Mario Isola, Otmar Szafnauer and Toto Wolff.

Lewis Hamilton heads a Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Russian Grand Prix, as title rival Sebastian Vettel struggles.

Lewis Hamilton insists senior management changes at Mercedes-Benz will not affect the company's commit to its Formula 1 programme, with Toto Wolff suggesting it actually ensures "stability"

Renault says Max Verstappen should focus on his car instead of judging Red Bull's switch to an older-specification engine, as it claims his Formula 1 team lobbied for the swap

Mercedes headed the second Formula 1 practice session for this weekend's Russian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton quicker than his team-mate Valtteri Bottas by two tenths of a second

Their quickest laps, set on the hypersoft tyres, were both set half an hour into the session during the team's qualifying simulation runs. Bottas went fastest before he was beaten by his Mercedes teammate, who circulated the 5.8km circuit 0.199s quicker. The Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo were next up on the timesheets in Sochi, the pair both 0.4s off the best time of ... ... Keep reading

Verstappen said in Russia this week that Red Bull's penalty-inducing switch to a new Spec B is because Renault's Spec C cannot be run at high altitude in Mexico and Brazil. Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul said this change was agreed as part of an engine plan Red Bull requested, and also denied the latest-spec engine would suffer any more than would be normal for those races. "I think that ... ... Keep reading

"We've got some catching up to do," admits Sebastian Vettel as title rival Lewis Hamilton sets the pace in FP2 in Russia.

Full times from today's second free practice session for the VTB Russian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton heads a Mercedes one-two in second practice at the Russian Grand Prix, as title rival Sebastian Vettel struggles.