Engineer to Fernando Alonso: "OK Fernando, we have been given a warning about cutting the apex of Turn 16. The FIA have warned us so we have to be careful there."

Sebastian Vettel's latest lap is half a second faster than Valtteri Bottas's. Meanwhile Carlos Sainz is under investigation for crossing the pit exit line and he gets a five second time penalty.

Wow that gap is getting bigger and bigger at the front, with Lewis Hamilton now seven seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas, whose attention will surely now be switching to Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari is 1.6s down the road from the Williams.

Sarah Elizabeth: Nico sounds so sad, he deserved to have a proper race. Sort out the reliability issues Mercedes and make it FAIR.

Mike Lloyd: Nice to see the new style safety barriers still require gaffer tape to repair them.

Did Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel touch? If not, they were racing as close as you physically can without actually making contact.

Ben Baker: This year's Russian Grand Prix has been more exciting in the first 20 laps than the whole of last year's race!

Charli: Love Sainz! We need more drivers like him.

Paul Simeons: Great racing from Daniel Ricciardo as usual!

Max Verstappen, who is currently 12th: "The tyres are no good anymore."

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton is going about working up his advantage at the front again after the latest safety car appearance. He leads Valtteri Bottas by 3.7s.

How's Carlos Sainz getting on after his dramatic crash in practice yesterday? Very well is the answer, he is up to 11th and is involved in a thrilling tussle with Daniel Ricciardo in a battle for 10th, one that the Red Bull comes out on top of.

Image source, BBc

Mercedes' Nico Rosberg speaking to BBC F1's Lee McKenzie after a throttle problem forced his retirement:

"F1 is pretty incredible sometimes how tough it is. After a great start, leaidng the race and feeling confident. Straight after the safety car the pedal broke. It was quite dangerous. Definitely not a nice way to end the day.

"The championship is more difficult of course but I am never going to win a championship like that when normal things break.

"But I will come back, keep pushing, keep attacking and try to win in Texas."

Tense racing between Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, the two battling wheel-to-wheel. Raikkonen runs wide at Turn 2 and Vettel is into third.

The safety car comes in on this lap. Valtteri Bottas is a bit too eager to get the jump on Lewis Hamilton at the restart, coming close to running his Williams into the back of the Mercedes. He backs off.

The safety car is still out as marshals continue to work on clearing up the debris where Romain Grosjean crashed, a bit of duct tape getting plastered over the damaged barrier.

Dazzla: That shunt looks frightening when played in real time.

Ian Scamans: Did Grosjean have a puncture or broken suspension? The car was looking low, leaning towards the right rear before he lost it.

John Horne: Wow so much happening in this great Russian GP. Shame about Nico.Glad Grosjean is OK after crash. Plus two SCs.