3 things we learned in the Russian Grand Prix - and 2 Red Bull theories...

As Lewis Hamilton took another leap towards the title in Sochi, an incident-filled weekend showed off F1’s safety and left more questions raised than answered on Red Bull’s future.

Barring a shock event, Lewis Hamilton will be crowned world champion this season – and after the Briton’s win in Russia even closest rivals Ferrari gave up, giving him the F1 equivalent of a golfing gimme.

“Mathematically, the race to the championship is still open but our humbleness says this is not the case,” said Ferrari boss Maurizio Arrivabene after the race, picking up his metaphorical ball.

Meanwhile, as Mercedes celebrated their constructors’ crown, Rosberg admitted it was hard to enjoy the moment and appeared resigned to it being his only title, adding: “I’m a world champion as well, so that’s a positive.”

Hamilton now has one simple mission: win the next race in the United States with Sebastian Vettel lower than second and the title is his. But ironically, given Ferrari’s current form, Hamilton may need Rosberg to keep Vettel at bay if he is to do it sooner rather than later.

How can Kimi Raikkonen claim that was a racing incident? In fact, it smacked more of desperation than desire. Formula One is all for excitement and entertainment, and everyone loves a last-lap dice. But the Finn’s lunge on compatriot Valterri Bottas was some way off being ‘on’ and sadly it robbed both of deserved points.

“My move was based on a good chance and not something completely crazy,” he claimed after the race. But then, hinting at an admission of guilt, he added: “Once I'd decided to try I cannot back off any more.”

Were it any other lap, the move would not have even been considered and it appeared that with Vettel out-racing him again, Raikkonen felt he had a point to prove.

He doesn’t - Ferrari has already committed to him for 2016 - but with the situation at Red Bull as it is he is now looking over his shoulder at Max Verstappen, who could be out of a drive if Toro Rosso pack it in, and wondering just how watertight that piece of paper he has actually is.

Carlos Sainz’s crash-defying return to the cockpit was brave. Or was it stupid? Surely the latter - and surely it should not have been allowed to happen.

Sainz was sent to hospital for a full body scan after being buried in the barriers following a 47G impact. Had it not been so far to get to the barriers, allowing him to scrub off his speed down to a relatively ‘sedate’ 93mph, it could have been much worse.

The 21-year-old was passed fit to race just hours before the start but even with the medical signals showing the all-clear, surely the mental pressure of such an incident on such a young driver is enough to make it worth the wait. It’s only one race, after all.

The fact that Sainz admitted to “feeling dizzy” in the first 10 laps raises some serious questions for similar incidents in the future.

Sure, he raced on and went from last to seventh before his brakes failed with eight laps to go, but that is the nerveless determination of a rookie. Could you imagine Alain Prost continuing to drive with similar symptoms?

Now ‘Le Professeur’ was always one to err on the side of caution, but with such a young talent, especially given the second impact concerns when Fernando Alonso had his winter testing crash, such a huge impact should have put an immediate comeback out of the question.

The engine-issues at Red Bull and Toro Rosso have left a lot of futures up in the air – but with some radical thinking, is there an alternative play in the saga? There were rumours in Russia that Toro Rosso could bed back in with Ferrari and accept use of the 2015 engine – and that could, in fact, be part of an elegant solution for Red Bull.

But could it really be feasible to keep the baby and let the bigger one go? Well, maybe.

Renault has still not confirmed a commitment to buy Lotus, and if I were Red Bull I’d be looking at a way to gazump their rivals and sell the French manufacturer my team instead. The set-up at Milton Keynes is immense; as good as if not better than that at Enstone. And despite historical ties, there is no need for Renault to go back to their previous roots if other options exist.

Red Bull would face hefty pay backs for reneging on a commitment to F1 until 2020 if they pull out – but a sale could give them a cheap way to offload the team, as long as the continued commitment to F1 via Renault was acceptable to avoid the penalties.

Then, with the increasing flexibility on customer parts, a similar cross-pollination relationship could potentially exist between Toro Rosso and Renault on the chassis side as currently does between them and Red Bull.

That way, Red Bull could continue their driver programme, keep making stars and backing them to the top, while continuing to benefit from the marketing activation they have worked so hard on for so long.

Too many bridges burned? Maybe. But is it such a crazy solution?

Now for the drivers. If Red Bull doesn’t find a solution, and does pull out of the sport, there are four top-notch F1 racers potentially out of a cockpit: Daniel Ricciardo, Daniil Kvyat, Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz.

Of all, Verstappen is probably the safest. Mercedes boss Toto Wolff met with the Dutch driver’s management team in Russia and publicly only loosely denied interest. Rosberg may be locked in for 2016, but maybe in a year’s time?

Ferrari are pecking around too, and there’s potentially a spare spot at Haas alongside Romain Grosjean where Verstappen could be placed and groomed to replace Raikkonen for 2016. Or he may be so cheap they could even slot him straight in next year.

Similar could be said of Sainz, whose heroics in Russia reminded people there is not just one but two big talents at Toro Rosso. Ricciardo, meanwhile, could happily jump into a lead works Renault seat. It is, quite possibly, his best option; even more so if, as per Hypothesis A, that seat is actually at the remains of Red Bull.

Kvyat, meanwhile, may also appeal for Renault, given his popularity in a market that car manufacturers are keen to gain more from. Again, something that would be feasible alongside Hypothesis A but, with Pastor Maldonado signed up by Lotus, potentially less doable otherwise.

It all may come to nothing. But don’t think the managers, agents and team bosses are not frantically seeking out all options they could possibly think of right now...