Russian GP: ten talking points from a weekend of F1

Lewis Hamilton took a huge step towards securing his third world title by claiming the chequered flag after teammate Nico Rosberg retired from the lead early on with a throttle pedal failure.

The Brit now leads the championship by 66 points, with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second place owing to his fellow countryman’s reliability problems in recent grands prix.

Asked if the championship was now beyond him with four races to go, Rosberg replied: "I don't know. It has made it more difficult, of course. But I am never going to win it anyway with such normal things like that [the throttle] breaking.”

Lewis meanwhile refused to count his chickens, saying: "I've never felt it's ever been done and dusted. There are still a lot of points available.

"I'm going to take my time and, at the next race, work as hard as ever."

Meanwhile, Mercedes wrapped up the constructors title in Russia for the second year in succession after initially appearing to fall short due to Rosberg’s retirement on lap 8.

However, Kimi Raikkonen’s demotion to eighth place for causing a last lap collision with Valtteri Bottas ensured that Ferrari can no longer catch the Mercs in the standings.

“We had already packed the championship T-shirts into their boxes to ship them back home!” laughed team boss Toto Wolff. “Now of course we are super happy about being forced to take them out.

“We wear them with great pride. It is a fantastic achievement for the team and all its employees in Brackley and Brixworth.”

The biggest surprise of the race was a third place finish for Force India, as Sergio Perez nursed a set of tyres around the Olympic Park circuit for more than 40 laps to pull off a risky one-stop strategy.

“The call to pit under the safety car turned out to be very good because it gave us track position ahead of all the battles,” said the 25-year-old. “It's a very special result and one that fills me with expectation ahead of the races in Austin and especially Mexico City.”

The podium place looked to have gone as Perez was finally overtaken by Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen on the final lap, but a dramatic collision between the two Finns handed Sergio a reprieve.

Bottas was furious with the Ferrari driver, asking “What the **** did he do?” over the radio, although Kimi was far from apologetic after the race.

“It is an unfortunate thing for us and for them,” said the 2007 champion. “Nobody wants to have an accident even if it’s part of racing. It’s really a shame, but my move was based on a good chance and not something completely crazy.”

As well as the accident on the final lap, the Russian crowd was, um, treated to several other incidents which shook up the running order as the race unfolded.

Romain Grosjean admitted “I won't be able to run a marathon tomorrow but I'm good,” after a spectacular spin into the wall on Turn 3, while a mistake by Nico Hulkenberg forced himself and Marcus Ericsson out of the race after shortly after lights out.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz ended up being the most familiar with Sochi’s barriers though, as the Spaniard retired with brake failure just hours after being discharged from hospital following a 46G crash during practice on Saturday.

"Being fully honest, in the first 10 laps, behind the safety car, doing so many 'esses' [warming the tyres] I was feeling a bit dizzy,” said the 21-year-old.

"I don't know if it was just mental because I was thinking about the accident, or if I was just feeling dizzy. But after lap 10 it went off and I could push normally without problems."

Losing the likes of Rosberg and Bottas meant there were more points up for grabs for those starting in the middle of the pack, especially as a stewards inquiry handed Kimi Raikkonen a retrospective 30-second penalty after the race.

Felipe Massa drove solidly to finish fourth after qualifying 15^th, while Felipe Nasr got the most out of his Sauber to finish sixth after starting 12^th on the grid.

“It was an intense race from the beginning to the end,” said Nasr. “The pace of the car was quite competitive, especially on the supersoft tyres, and we were temporarily able to keep ahead of some strong competitors.

“These are the opportunities we cannot miss, and I am glad we extracted the maximum today.”

Among the more clenchworthy (it’ll catch on) moments of the grand prix occurred on lap 48, as Sebastian Vettel came within inches of striking a marshal who had run onto the track to retrieve the remnants of Carlos Sainz’s rear wing.

The Ferrari driver tactfully described him as a “brave Russian” on the team radio, although near-misses in the past have rarely been described in quite so passive terms.

Elsewhere there were more wincebringing (it’ll catch on as well) scenes in the aftermath of Romain Grosjean’s accident at Turn 3.

Track officials were forced to hastily repair the heavily impacted Tecpro barriers that were damaged by the Lotus, eventually using duct tape to hold it all together.

Fernando had begun the weekend in high spirits after McLaren celebrated his 250^th F1 race with specially made ‘Spanish Samurai’ bandanas, although things ended badly as a five-second penalty for abusing track limits left him out of the points.

Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen was the beneficiary of the ruling, meaning all of the teams except Manor-Marussia scored points in Sochi.

McLaren-Honda’s consolation was that Jenson Button added to their championship tally after crossing the line in ninth.

"Both cars finished at a circuit where we didn't expect much, so that is a good result,” said the Spaniard before hearing of his demotion. “Hopefully, we can find more performance in the USA."

Russia’s street circuit in Sochi is known for its lack of grip having only been introduced to the F1 calendar last year, although it was slippier still during the first practice session after a cleaning vehicle somehow spilled diesel across several corners of the track.

Nobody noticed until an hour and a half before the shakedown was due to begin, and a combination of absorbent material and power washers failed to fully rectify the problem.

Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat – who went on to finish his home grand prix strongly in fifth – said: "In Singapore there was a drunk man on track, so these things can happen anywhere.

The Russian added: "It spoiled FP1 because it was the only dry session and it would have helped the teams to get references.”

F1 chief Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that Pirelli will continue to supply the sport with tyres for a further three years, with Michelin missing out after their bid failed.

Although the deal has yet to be officially ratified, the 84-year-old made a point of shaking hands with Pirelli president Marco Tronchetti Provera live on TV minutes before the race began.

“They do a good job for us,” said Bernie. “They do exactly what we want them to. We don’t need to change.”

Attentions will now surely be focussed on keeping Red Bull in the sport, after Mercedes and Ferrari both refused to supply them with 2016 spec engines next year.

“If you look at it sensibly, they have a choice: what’s on offer, or they stop,” reasoned Ecclestone. “I don’t want them to stop. I honestly think any of the engine suppliers would be okay for them.”

After Stetsons were introduced to the podium at the US Grand Prix some years ago, Russia has followed suit by offering Ushankas to the top three drivers.

The headwear – also referred to as ‘ear hats’ in some places – was waiting for Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez in the drivers’ room shortly before the podium ceremony in Sochi.

“Hey, I like this hat man!” exclaimed the race winner, before Perez concurred: “It’s good, huh?”

TopGear looks forward to bowler hats at Silverstone in 2016.