Summary

  • Rosberg wins, Hamilton 2nd, Raikkonen 3rd

  • Vettel crashes out on lap 1 after being hit twice by Kvyat

  • Hulkenberg, Haryanto, Verstappen out

Live Reporting

  1. Go! Go! Go!

    SochiGetty Images

    Lights are out and the 2016 Russian Grand Prix.

    Will it be as exciting as the rollercoaster that looms over the Sochi circuit?

    Here's hoping...

  2. Jack Nicholls
    Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

    I'm expecting Lewis to make a lot of places early in this race. It's when he gets to the Ferraris that he'll hit problems.

  3. We're in formation on the grid...

  4. Tom Clarkson
    BBC Radio 5 live commentator

    Lewis Hamilton could easily finish on the podium this afternoon. I think he is going to give us something to talk about.

  5. Jack Nicholls
    Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

    "The start is going to be absolutely vital - it's an awful long way down to the first corner."

  6. Get Involved - #bbcf1

    Phil Slocombe: Lewis will carve through the field and podium it today; if Nico hits a problem, Lewis could win it.

  7. The cars are off and warming up. Most are on the super softs. The Hulk, Gutierrez and Ericsson are the only ones on softs.

  8. 'I don't have friends, I work in F1'

    Poor Christian Horner, married to a Spice Girl but his job as Red Bull's team principal precludes him from having any friends, apparently.

    Watch him getting up close and personal with BBC Radio 5 live's Tom Clarkson...

    Russian Grand Prix: Up close and personal with Christian Horner

  9. BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

    Hmmm. I have a notepad and a cheese sandwich.

    Listen live on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra right now...

  10. 'Vettel will respect Kvyat now'

    Jack Nicholls
    Radio 5 live Formula 1 commentator

    It was important that Daniil Kvyat put down a marker with Sebastian Vettel, going to wheel-to-wheel with him in China. I think Vettel will respect him now.

  11. 'We should be quicker than cars around us'

    Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel qualified second but has to start seventh after a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

    However, the German remains optimistic he can make some progress back towards the front.

    "I think we can have a good race from where we are," he said.

    "We should be a bit quicker than the cars around us."

    Sebastian Vettelepa

  12. Hamilton 'chilled' & 'motivated'

    Lewis HamiltonGetty Images

    Speaking on the drivers' parade, down-on-his-luck Lewis Hamilton said he is feeling "pretty chilled" despite more misfortune in qualifying leaving him 10th on the grid.

    "There are a lot of opportunities and I am going to go out there and give it everything I've got," he said.

    "Never in my whole life have I struggled for motivation so that's not in question."

  13. Unfamiliar territory for Hamilton?

    Lewis HamiltonAP

    Lewis Hamilton has only been out-pointed by a team-mate once in his entire F1 career - in 2011 to Jenson Button.

    So he'll be feeling like he's behind the eight ball with his current 36-point deficit to Nico Rosberg.

  14. What the papers say

    Mail on Sunday

    "Going, going, almost gone", says the Mail on Sunday of Lewis Hamilton's world championship chances. 

    They add: "Like his Mercedes, the defence of Hamilton's world title is in pieces."

    This is the third grand prix in Sochi and they conclude: "Hamilton has won the two previous races in Russia but will have to do it the hard way if he is to complete the hat-trick."

    Mail on Sunday F1 reportMail on Sunday

  15. Weather update

  16. 'First lap the danger for Hamilton'

    Asked about what Lewis Hamilton can do from 10th on the grid, Mercedes' non-executive chairman Niki Lauda tells Radio 5 live's Jennie Gow: "If he can get around the first lap without anything happening, then I think he can drive up to the podium.

    "The real danger for him is the first lap."

  17. 'Finally I can drive the car again'

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    Jolyon PalmerGetty Images

    Eighteenth on the grid does not sound like much of a cause for celebration, but for Jolyon Palmer it certainly was on Saturday. 

    The Englishman has been struggling since China with snap oversteer and could not work out what was wrong. But a new floor fitted overnight before qualifying has solved the problem and Palmer was just 0.1secs behind team-mate Kevin Magnussen. 

    "Finally I can drive the car again," Palmer said. "We're not, as a team, super-quick but at least I'm having the same feedback as Kev now. We're lapping within a tenth. It's normal.

    "Pre-season and in Melbourne, we were both talking about having a consistent car that was quite nice to drive but we needed more downforce. The last couple of weekends I've not felt that and suddenly I've had this snappy oversteer as I turn in. It's back to how it was before and it feels nice to drive.”  

  18. Looks a bit cheap that ring buddy. I guess the tickets cost a packet.

  19. Contrasting numbers

    Rosberg.

    Nico is flying at the moment.

    While Lewis is stuck in a rut...

    Hamilton.

  20. An unwanted achievement

    Sir StirlingGetty Images

    Here's one for you. Nico Rosberg's victory in China last week saw him surpass Sir Stirling Moss's tally of 16 race victories.

    That means Rosberg is now the most successful man to have never won a world championship.

    Is this the year to break his duck and put that moniker back to to Sir Stirling?

    On a side not, I read this week that Moss believes Seb Vettel will win year's title. I'm a bit worried about Sir Stirling.