F1 Russian GP Live Updates - race day
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The times among the top six are pretty like-for-like, all in the low 1m41s.
Russell, Albon and Norris are fighting tooth and nail for 16th place. These three are great mates and would have dreamed of racing each other in F1, but probably not for the minor places.
"Where is that in the rulebook?", Hamilton enquires, upon being told about his time penalties. Whether he can serve both in one pitstop is unknown, and Mercedes will be leafing through said rulebook.
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Perez is now under investigation for failing to follow race director's instructions - so that might be a case of avoiding the T2 bollards.
Home favourite Kvyat has climbed into the points positions by taking 10th off of Grosjean. Further back Raikkonen - officially the most experienced F1 driver in history now - powers around the outside of the least experienced driver on the grid Latifi to take 14th place.
Radio Comms
"I have no rear grip, it's insane," Verstappen reports. He's dropped 1.5s off Bottas now, and it might give Ocon a chance to challenge.
Okay, make that 1.9s. Hamilton's attempting to build a gap to give himself a penalty buffer.
With Bottas just 1.2s behind at this juncture, this plays into his hands somewhat.
The first lap incident at Turn 4 which saw Stroll drop out of this race after contact with Leclerc has been noted by the race officials but, currently, no investigation is pending.
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And another five second penalty for Hamilton, having violated two rules.
Norris gets ahead of Albon in the fight for P17 along the back straight - neither would have been expecting to battle for that position at the start of this race.
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Hamilton has a five-second penalty for a practice start infringement.
Hamilton stretches out a lead, setting a 1m40.056s to gap Bottas by 1.4s after the first restart lap.
All drivers are much more behaved with this restart as everyone holds station. The F1 field is already quite stretched out at the end of lap six.
Green flag
Here we go again - the race is back underway!
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Ah, finally we see what caused Stroll's off. He banged wheels with Leclerc which sent the Racing Point driver around and into the wall. The onboard footage from Stroll's car did hint at contact from behind.
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And indeed, the safety car is coming in at the end of this lap.
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Track is clear, according to race control. We'll expect the safety car to come in soon.
That frantic opening lap has been a massive win for the Haas pair with Magnussen up to ninth and team-mate Grosjean 10th.
It’s been a nightmare opening lap for McLaren, as Norris, who avoided contact with the crashing Sainz, is in last place and reporting a mechanical issue with his car.
Ricciardo got passed by Verstappen into turn 4, and then the Australian went too deep into turn 7 and lost a place to Ocon. So that clears that one up.
Stroll appeared to get a nudge from the driver behind him which sent him into a spin and into the wall.
Crash
Replays show Sainz just completely misjudged the Turn 2 run-off chicane and clatters the wall with his left-front. That's his race over.
Ricciardo had got past Verstappen after the Red Bull driver went through the Turn 2 bollards, but must have lost ground somewhere down the line.
Stroll is also out of this race after crashing on the first lap in a separate incident to Sainz.
Safety car
We do have a safety car.
Ricciardo then dropped behind Verstappen and Ocon, presumably getting a bit tangled up in those opening corners.
Yellow flag
It is a messy start at the exit of Turn 2 as both McLarens are involved in a clash, with Sainz hitting the wall in the run-off area.
Very good starts from Bottas and Ricciardo, the latter surging up to third! Bottas challenged for the lead but had to give it up having got off line.
Lights green
The 2020 Russian Grand Prix is go!
The drivers line up, ready for the start...
Green flag
The formation lap is underway.
Crucially, that's Verstappen and Bottas on the mediums. Verstappen took a big risk in aborting a soft-tyre lap in Q2 having been on the cusp of the drop zone, but it's paid off.
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Tyre info: we've got Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Sainz, Ocon, Norris, Gasly and Albon on softs. Kvyat and Raikkonen on hard tyres, and the rest on mediums.
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Five minute klaxon! We're almost ready to go at Sochi.
Sun
It's quite warm out there - an air temp of 29 degrees C. Track temp is at 41 degrees, humidity is at 53%. Risk of rain is at...0%.
Autosport
There's the trophy, made up of three Sochi outlines holding up the cup. One Sochi is probably enough...
Did the race announcer say "Chase Careman", or is it just me?
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
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