Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix - As it happened
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Updated 27/09/2020 at 13:12 GMT
Live updates of the Russian Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton targets a win that would equal Michael Schumacher's all-time record. Graham Ruthven brings you lap-by-lap and incident-by-incident coverage of all the action at the Sochi Autodrom.
Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) à la lutte avec son coéquipier Valtteri Bottas lors du GP de Russie
Image credit: Getty Images
Bottas wins the Russian GP!
It's a second race victory of the 2020 season for Bottas and he reignites his championship chances with Mercedes teammate Hamilton finishing third! Verstappen splits the two Silver Arrows, with Perez in fourth and Ricciardo in fifth. Leclerc takes home the Ferrari in sixth, which considering how Vettel's afternoon went is not a terrible result at all.
53/53 - Last lap!
Bottas to see it out! This will be a very pleasing victory for Bottas! He has had it tough this season, spending so many races in the shadow of his Mercedes teammate, but once Hamilton served his time penalty there was little doubt over who was going to take the chequered flag.
51/53 - Gasly fastest lap!
With Bottas all but confirmed as the race winner, the scrap is on to claim the fastest lap bonus point. Gasly sets a new fastest lap, but no! Bottas claims it back! Norris is also on fresh tyres and pushing his car to get close to that mark as well.
49/53 - Lando out of the points
Albon gets past Norris! The McLaren has done such a long stint on these tyres, but the gamble hasn't really paid off, with Norris locking up and allowing Albon past him. McLaren are now pitting him, but should they have done that earlier? Norris now going for the fastest lap bonus point.
48/53 - Gasly past Norris!
Norris is an excellent defensive driver, but he is really struggling for grip. Gasly gets past the McLaren into P9, but now Norris has Albon all over the back of him and the Red Bull is on fresher tyres.
47/53 - Gasly into P10!
Gasly is back up into the points! This is a very entertaining scuffle between Norris, Albon and Gasly! Albon looked to have the racing line on Norris, but then dropped back from the McLaren and that opened the door for Gasly to pass teh Red Bull and Albon is back out of the points again!
46/53 - Gasly on a mission
"Okay Pierre, let's go get what we deserve" comes the message across the AlphaTauri team radio to the Monza winner. Gasly, Albon and Norris are in a train as they fight for points! Three drivers, two places. Who is going to miss out?
44/53 - Albon into the points
Albon is up into P10! It's been a difficult race for the young Thai, but Albon passes Giovinazzi and is now up into the points! He now has Norris and Kvyat in his sights. This could still be a good race for the Red Bull understudy.
41/53 - Vettel struggling
Vettel is down in a lowly 15th and is struggling badly for straightline speed. This is getting a bit embarressing for the former world champion. He has two Ferrari customer cars ahead of him, but Vettel just can't get past Grosjean and Giovinazzi. Yikes. Leclerc, on the other hand, is up in P6.
40/53 - Hamilton in the hunt
Bottas has a 21-second lead over his Mercedes teammate, but Hamilton is in the podium places and is only 10 seconds behind Verstappen. He stands a good chance of catching the Red Bull and after that... will Mercedes let the two teammates race each other? Come on, Toto. Don't deny us it!
36/53 - Bottas in the zone
Another fastest lap! Bottas just can't be caught at the moment. He has clear air and no traffic ahead of him, he's in the best car on the grid and is at a circuit where he has always achieved good results over the course of his career. Is this one in the bag for Bottas?
35/53 - Gasly past Raikkonen
Gasly up into ninth! The AlphaTauri had DRS on the Alfa Romeo and in the end it was no contest as Gasly moves past Raikkonen. The former world champion did an excellent job of keeping him at arm's length for so long and is still on course to pick up a point.
32/53 - Ricciardo told of penalty
"Okay, I'll drive faster. I'll make up for it," Ricciardo says over the Renault team radio when informed of the five-second penalty he has been handed. The Australian has 10 seconds to make up on Perez, but has only a five-second advantage over Leclerc behind him. That has to be his biggest concern right now.
31/53 - Ferrari strategy!
Renault couldn't get Ocon out in front of Leclerc and Ferrari can be pleased with how they used Vettel to protect Leclerc, holding up Ocon. The two Ferrari drivers working together? Never head of such a thing.
28/53 - Ricciardo time penalty!
Five-second time penalty! Indeed, as we expected might happen, Ricciardo has been handed a time penalty by the stewards for going over the kerbs into turn two. He should have gone around the bollard chicane there. What a blunder by the Australian as Ocon let him past.
27/53 - Bottas box, box!
A 2.7-second pit stop from Bottas! The race leader is brought in for a fresh set of tyres and is out ahead of Leclerc as the race leader. The Finn is in a very good position to see this out and claim his second race victory of the 2020 season. He has a 15-second lead over his teammate Hamilton in P5.
24/53 - Renault switch!
Ricciardo past Ocon! Renault give team orders to Ocon to let Ricciardo past him as it's the Australian who has the greater race pace. But could Ricciardo face a time penalty? He passed Ocon into turn two and on the outside. Shouldn't he have gone round the bollard chicane?
24/53 - Hamilton unhappy... again
Not for the first time this afternoon, Hamilton is complaining over the Mercedes team radio. He is very frustrated. He believes he was brought in too early and is questioning the team strategy. He might have a point. Winning the race from this position is going to be very tough.
23/53 - Fastest lap(s)!
Bottas has clear air in front of him as the race leader and is making the most of that. The Finn usually does well at this circuit and is setting fastest lap after fastest lap. He has a lead of around eight seconds over Verstappen.
21/53 - Box, box!
A lot of drivers are being brought into the pits as we get to the end of the first pit window. Bottas is currently leading the race. Behind him, Verstappen. Then Leclerc. Then Kvyat. Then Hamilton.
19/53 - Hamilton unhappy
Hamilton has been on the Mercedes team radio asking why he had to serve the time penalty in the pitlane rather than just having his time docked at the end of the race. The world championship leader is now up to P7 after passing Grosjean, Ocon and Vettel. He's a man on a mission. Can he still win this?
18/53 - Update on Sainz
It's good news on the condition of Sainz after that crash on the first lap. Thankfully, McLaren say the Spaniard has been assessed and is now back with the rest of the team. It was quite a heavy collision with the barrier.
17/53 - Hamilton pits!
Hamilton into the pits! The race leader comes in and he's going to serve his 10-second penalty in the pitlane! It's a good stop from Mercedes. Where will Hamilton come out? He's out ahead of Ricciardo and that has to be considered a relative success! That worked as well as they could have hoped!
15/53 - Perez past Ricciardo!
Very nice move! Perez gently squeezed Ricciardo on to the dusty part of the track, the Racing Point made the move down the inside and was able to claim P5 from the Australian despite the Renault having superior straight line speed. Brilliant racing from Perez!
13/53 - Russell lock up
Albon and Norris get past Russell after he locks up and loses the racing line, allowing his team mates to pass him with relative ease. That was fun while it lasted, but the McLaren and the Red Bull have now have their sights set on making their way through the pack.
11/53 - Battle of Britain!
Albon, Norris and Russell racing! Rather unusually, all three young British drivers (okay, so Albon is technically Thai despite being born in London) are at the back of the pack and they are having fun racing against each other! Russell is managing to stay ahead of both Albon in P17 and Norris in P18 at the moment.
10/53 - Recap
10 laps gone of the Russian GP, it's probably a good time to recap the current standings... 1) Hamilton 2) Bottas 3) Verstappen 4) Ocon 5) Ricciardo 6) Perez 7) Gasly 8) Leclerc 9) Magnussen 10) Kvyat 11) Grosjean 12) Giovinazzi 13) Vettel 14) Raikkonen 15) Latifi 16) Russell 17) Norris 18) Albon OUT - Stroll, Sainz
8/53 - TWO penalties!
This is weird! It now appears Hamilton has had a SECOND time penalty meted out to him. The world championship now has two five-second penalties against his name. So 10 seconds in total. That could make things interesting.
7/53 - Time penalty!
Five-second time penalty for Hamilton! The stewards have finally reached a decision on Hamilton's practice start outside of the designated area and the world championship leader will have five seconds deducted from his finishing time.
6/53 - Racing!
The safety car comes in! Hamilton restarts well. Ocon is one to watch. The Renault has excellent straight line speed, so you would expect Ocon to be all over the back of Verstappen.
4/53 - Still under the safety car
We're still picking the bones out of the first lap after all the incidents. Sainz hit the barrier after entering the bollard chicane far too fast. There was a lot of debris on the track and that is taking some time to clear up.
2/53 - Safety car!
The safety car is out, which is hardly unusual for this circuit, as the marshalls recover Stroll's car in the barrier. Sainz has also retired from the race after a bad start.
1/53 - Lights out!
What a start! Bottas has a real look at Hamilton, with the Finn ahead of his teammate heading into turn two, but Hamilton manages to keep hold of the position! There have incidents in the midfield and at the back of the pack! Sainz went through the bollards after going wide and Stroll is in the barrier!
12:10 - Formation lap
The drivers are away on their formation lap around the circuit at Sochi... and Hamilton is still on pole. It might be the case that Mercedes need to explain themselves after the race. It seems Hamilton was told over the team radio that he was free to perform a practice start outside of the designated area.
12:05 - No news
Still waiting for word from the stewards on whether any action will be taken against Hamilton for performing that practice start outside of the designated area. No news is probably good news for the world championship leader...
12:00 - All about the start
"It's going to require an awesome start," says Hamilton when asked what his race strategy will be as he starts on the soft tyres. Verstappen also agrees that the stretch into turn two will be "massive." There is a lot riding on this start for a number of drivers.
11:55 - Uncertainty
There are a lot of nervous looks around the Mercedes garage and around Hamilton's car on the grid. We have yet to hear anything from the stewards on whether they will be taking action against Hamilton for his practice start outside of the designated area.
11:50 - Hamilton under investigation!
This is interesting. The stewards are looking at Hamilton for performing a practice start outside the designated area. Replays show that he was quite a bit outside of the designated area. What happened there? Could the world championship leader be handed a penalty here that shifts him off pole position?
11:45 - Midfield battle
While we are all hoping for an exciting race at the head of the pack, there is a lot to hold the interest in the midfield. Sergio Perez leads the midfield behind the usual front three. Daniel Ricciardo will fancy his chances from P5. The Australian has been in good form recently. Can he get that first podium finish as a Renault driver?
11:40 - Verstappen's chances
Verstappen will have the best look at Hamilton heading into turn one. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has been speaking to Sky Sports... "First of all, unlike the last two starts, I’m hoping he gets a decent start this week ... the Honda guys have been working really hard on that. But it’s the dirty side of the grid, so the most important thing for him is to get in that tow as quickly as he can, behind Lewis. And then Lewis is starting, if you like, on the less preferable tyre. So it will be fascinating to see how that plays out."
11:35 - It's race day!
Good morning and welcome to Eurosport's LIVE coverage of the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi! Lewis Hamilton is on pole and can match Michaek Schumacher's long-standing record of 91 race victories by taking the chequered flag this afternoon. But it won't be easy for the world championship leader, with a difficult qualifying meaning he is on soft tyres from the start!
Max Verstappen is in P2 with Valtteri Bottas in P3. He usually does well on this track. Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi have both taken grid penalties for gearbox changes.
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