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Well done to the Mercedes team who were crowned Constructors' World Champions 2015!
An action-packed Russian grand prix saw the Mercedes team crowned Constructors’ Champions for the 2nd consecutive year at the new Sochi Autodrom.sochi circuit
After lights-out, Nico Rosberg kept Lewis Hamilton at bay for the first few corners, then the safety car was deployed due to a crash between Nico Hulkenberg, who span, and Felipe Nasr. Shortly after, a left-rear puncture caused Max Verstappen to limp into pits for new tyres.
After the re-start, Nico Rosberg struggled with a sticky throttle, which gave him serious handling issues and he was overtaken by Hamilton and Bottas before heading back to the pit lane and eventually retiring.
On lap 12, Romain Grosjean had a huge crash in his Lotus at turn 3. It was caused by turbulent air behind a preceding McLaren, which was over-corrected and caused the frenchman to smash into the side barrier at high speed. The safety car was deployed for the second time due to debris on the track. Thankfully, Grosjean suffered no injuries.
Sebastian Vettel overtook team-mate, Raikonnen, after the restart as Raikonnen went beyond the track limits and had to give up the place.
Meanwhile, Hamilton built a lead over second-place Bottas, while Vettel closed the gap in third.
A 5-second time penalty was handed to Carlos Sainz for crossing white line on entry to pit lane.
Vettel managed to jump Bottas during the only pitstop. Bottas came out in traffic while Vettel’s stop was only 2.2 seconds.
On lap 37, Bottas tried a move on Ricciardo on the outside of turn 3, but ended up being overtaken by Raikonnen; he managed to regain the place at the next corner.
Luckless Sainz suffered a left front brake failure on lap 47, resulting in a spin and retirement.
Raikonnen finally passed Ricciardo on lap 48 to move up to 5th place and lap 49 saw Daniel Ricciardo retire due to a broken suspension.
A battle for 3rd place took place on last 2 laps. Sergio Perez, who had made an early pit stop during the first safety car period, was overtaken on the last lap by Bottas and Raikonnen. But Raikonnen subsequently crashed into Bottas and a delighted Perez regained 3rd place and his second podium of the season for the Force India team. After a stewards inquiry, Raikonnen was penalised with a 10-second time penalty and 3 points on his licence.
All in all, a thrilling race with none other than President Putin congratulating the winners on the podium! Get all the latest news plus tickets and merchandise here.
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