Highlights of the Russian Grand Prix

By Kate Walker

Vettel retirement hands advantage to Mercedes

Disaster for Ferrari led to triumph for Mercedes, with both drivers gifted a free pit stop under the virtual safety car that was deployed when Sebastian Vettel retired through MGU-K failure on lap 28. The Russian Grand Prix had been shaping up to be a phenomenal battle between the two leading teams – and an intra-team battle at Ferrari – but the timing of the VSC handed the advantage to Mercedes, who had run their drivers long on medium tyres. Leclerc made a second stop for soft tyres under a full Safety Car two laps later, but it was too little too late from the Scuderia.

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Tyre strategy key to Sochi performance

There were battles of will aplenty between drivers and their pit walls, with teams changing their planned stop strategies on the hop. Hamilton was told that his tyre degradation was low enough that his target was now plus 15, but the Briton insisted he was already feeling the wear 18 laps in. In the end, Mercedes’ decision to start on the medium compound and then run long proved to be the successful option, but the Silver Arrows were gifted free stops under the Virtual Safety Car deployed when Vettel retired. In normal race conditions, the closing laps should have seen a three- or four-way fight between the two leading teams.

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Ferrari’s planned harmony strategy fails to pay off

Tensions at Ferrari continued apace, with the Scuderia pit wall asking their drivers to swap while the men in red fail to comply. By lap 9, plans A and B had been dropped, and the prancing horses were on plan C. Pre-race promises came to naught when Vettel proved to be faster than Leclerc in the early laps, while third-placed Hamilton was also faster than Charles.

"I respected everything; we will speak later. But now it is difficult to close the gap, obviously," said Leclerc on the Ferrari team radio, after Vettel had refused a team order to swap position with his teammate.

Leclerc’s pole gave Vettel the slipstream off the start, but the Monegasque wasn’t able to close the gap to his teammate when it counted. Vettel’s retirement prevented bigger problems, but tensions at the team will only amplify in the coming races.

Image credit: Formula 1