Those who hoped that the 2015 Russian Grand Prix would provide more drama than the average Formula One race, were in luck yesterday as the entire afternoon proved eventful for pretty much every single team on the grid.

This should have been Nico Rosberg’s race to lose. He started from pole, he was the quickest during qualifying, and he was doing a fine job staying ahead of his teammate before retiring with throttle issues on lap 7.

It was quite the blow for the German driver as Mercedes have said that he’s now faced with no choice but to look forward to the 2016 season – Lewis Hamilton is most likely to be crowned champion (again) at the end of this year.

Sebastian Vettel finished right behind Hamilton (our race winner), while Force India’s Sergio Perez took third place, benefiting from Kimi Raikkonen taking out Bottas during a heated final-lap battle which only went on to add to the excitement at Sochi.

Bottas was heard over team radio saying “What the **** did he do?” after Raikkonen misjudged the situation and was subsequently penalized for it by having 30 seconds added to his race time. What this meant was that Mercedes-AMG Petronas could start celebrating yet another constructors title – which they did as soon as word came in about Kimi’s sentence.

The race also featured two safety car deployments, a bunch of notable DNF’s (Rosberg, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Grosjean) as well as a surprise from McLaren as Jenson Button finished P9.

Next up on the calendar is the 2015 United States Grand Prix on October 25th.

10 Remarks About the Russian GP

– Not exactly the best way for Mercedes to clinch their constructors title, but everyone knew it was coming so overall this wasn’t a surprise. They have the best engine and overall the best car as well.

– How many disappointments can Nico Rosberg take? You can’t help but feel his cars have always proven to be slightly less reliable than Hamilton’s. Not trying to start any conspiracy theories, but still we would have loved to see a closer fight between the two. Nico proved last year that he can be just as fast as Lewis.

– Vettel ran a solid race, being quicker than his teammate and earning himself a 2nd place finish – which also led him to take 2nd place away from Rosberg in the constructors championship. While Raikkonen was complaining over team radio about his lack of straight line speed, Vettel was already focused on battling Bottas for the podium.

– Hurray for Force India! They had a bad start to the race as Hulkenberg spun in T2 on the opening lap, but Perez managed to nurse his car to a well-deserved 3rd place finish after Raikkonen decided to make his move on Bottas. By the way, the Force India looked really quick out there, and for the better part of the race, Perez kept well ahead of Ricciardo, Bottas and Raikkonen.

– Speaking of Williams, yes, of course they deserved a podium as well. Bottas was arguably just as solid as Vettel in terms of consistency, but sadly for him he had to retire. Now he’ll have to work even harder to finish the year ahead of Raikkonen as 12 points separate them in the standings, while at the same time fighting off Massa who’s just 2 points behind.

– In his home Grand Prix, Red Bull‘s Daniil Kvyat is now ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in the drivers standings! The young Russian now has 76 points to Ricciardo’s 73 and he’s looking better and better. Remember when I called him inconsistent and unimpressive during the first couple of races? Eating my words as we speak.

– Grosjean’s crash was a weird one in Turn 3. At first we weren’t sure what happened exactly, but it seems that he got on the marbles ever so slightly – which was enough to get him to lose control of his Lotus.

– If not for the generally lackluster performance this year, McLaren bosses may have had a word with Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard did not respect track limits in T16, leading to a direct 5-second penalty. If that wouldn’t happen, the team would have had both drivers in the points at Sochi.

– Another really strong drive from Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen as he made his way from the back of the field to finishing 10th – though aided by Alonso’s penalty.

– Sauber’s Felipe Nasr also looked strong, as his P6 finish puts the team even further ahead of McLaren in the constructors standings, and just 11 points shy of Toro Rosso.

Sochi Race Results

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
3. Sergio Perez, Force India
4. Felipe Massa, Williams
5. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull
6. Felipe Nasr, Sauber
7. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus
8. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari
9. Jenson Button, McLaren
10. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso
11. Fernando Alonso, McLaren
12. Roberto Merhi, Marussia
13. Will Stevens, Marussia