2017 Russian Grand Prix: F1 Race, Qualifying & Winners

Valtteri Bottas became a Formula 1 winner with a superbly controlled drive in Russia. A lightning start carried him past both Ferraris, and he then withstood Sebastian Vettel‘s late pressure to seal a memorable first victory for Mercedes.

Result	Driver / Time	Team
Pole position	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Pole time	1:33.194
Fastest lap	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
Fastest-lap time	1:36.844 on lap 49
First	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes
Second	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari
Third	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari

Weekend Schedule

Date	Session	Local Time
28 April 2017	Practice 1	11:00 – 12:30
28 April 2017	Practice 2	15:00 – 16:30
29 April 2017	Practice 3	12:00 – 13:00
29 April 2017	Qualifying	15:00
30 April 2017	Race	15:00

All times are local. The race time is the scheduled start; weather delays and interruptions are described below.

Championship background

Sebastian Vettel arrived at round 4 leading the 2017 F1 World Championship on 68 points, with Lewis Hamilton on 61. Ferrari headed the constructors’ standings with 102 points.

Race entries

The 10 teams kept the same race line-ups for the Russian Grand Prix. Sergey Sirotkin also took part in practice.

Free Practice

Kimi Räikkönen led FP1 while Sergey Sirotkin’s Renault appearance ended almost immediately with a stoppage at Turn 2. Esteban Ocon’s engine cover then detached, forcing a red flag to clear the debris. Sebastian Vettel also spun without hitting the wall as Ferrari began the weekend with encouraging pace.

Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two in FP2 as Mercedes struggled to extract the best performance from the ultrasoft tyres. Its longer-run pace looked closer, keeping the race picture open. Romain Grosjean endured a difficult session with braking, clutch and balance complaints, plus a spin, as Haas searched for a workable setup.

Ferrari remained ahead in FP3, with Sebastian Vettel again fastest. The ultrasoft tyres required several laps to reach their best performance, making preparation important before a quick attempt. Lewis Hamilton ran wide while trying to improve, leaving Mercedes with further work to do against Ferrari’s strong single-lap pace.

Free Practice 1 Classification

2017 Russian Grand Prix FP1, 28 April 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:36.074	19
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.045s	24
3	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.607s	23
4	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.100s	19
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	+1.156s	19
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.216s	19
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+1.383s	29
8	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1.826s	29
9	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+1.870s	30
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+1.991s	28
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+2.422s	17
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.673s	23
13	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.739s	16
14	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+2.902s	17
15	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+3.084s	16
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+3.459s	17
17	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+3.467s	19
18	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	+3.657s	21
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+4.005s	20
20	46	Sergey Sirotkin	Renault	No time	2

Free Practice 2 Classification

2017 Russian Grand Prix FP2, 28 April 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:34.120	36
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.263s	36
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.670s	36
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.709s	34
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.420s	15
6	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.790s	26
7	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+2.141s	39
8	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+2.209s	38
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.386s	31
10	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.480s	38
11	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+2.534s	39
12	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.645s	27
13	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	+2.651s	22
14	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+2.919s	31
15	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+2.963s	36
16	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+3.005s	25
17	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+3.180s	35
18	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	+3.321s	30
19	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+3.627s	36
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+3.699s	29

Free Practice 3 Classification

2017 Russian Grand Prix FP3, 29 April 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time / Gap	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:34.001	17
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	+0.337s	16
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	+0.363s	20
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+0.541s	19
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	+1.451s	21
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	+1.470s	17
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	+1.661s	15
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	+1.829s	24
9	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	+2.163s	20
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	+2.555s	19
11	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	+2.648s	19
12	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	+2.675s	22
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	+2.845s	18
14	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	+2.868s	12
15	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	+2.961s	21
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	+3.163s	20
17	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	+3.181s	15
18	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	+3.502s	21
19	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	+3.656s	17
20	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	No time	4

Qualifying

Sebastian Vettel headed qualifying for Ferrari, with Kimi Räikkönen second and Valtteri Bottas third.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen gave Ferrari its first front-row lockout since the 2008 French Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton lined up immediately behind them.

Qualifying Classification

2017 Russian Grand Prix Qualifying, 29 April 2017

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	1:34.493	1:34.038	1:33.194	20
2	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:34.953	1:33.663	1:33.253	18
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:34.041	1:33.264	1:33.289	18
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.409	1:33.760	1:33.767	19
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	1:35.560	1:35.483	1:34.905	20
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	1:35.828	1:35.049	1:35.110	20
7	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:35.301	1:35.221	1:35.161	18
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	1:35.507	1:35.328	1:35.285	21
9	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	1:36.185	1:35.513	1:35.337	18
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	1:35.372	1:35.729	1:35.430	20
11	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	1:35.827	1:35.948	—	18
12	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	1:36.279	1:35.964	—	18
13	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	1:35.984	1:35.968	—	18
14	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:36.408	1:36.017	—	16
15	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	1:36.353	1:36.660	—	14
16	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	1:36.462	—	—	9
17	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	1:37.070	—	—	9
18	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	1:37.332	—	—	9
19	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	1:37.507	—	—	9
20	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	1:37.620	—	—	9

Carlos Sainz, Jr. was given a three-place grid penalty for causing an avoidable accident with Lance Stroll at the 2017 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Stoffel Vandoorne received a fifteen-place grid penalty for changing various engine components.

What happened in the 2017 Russian Grand Prix?

Fernando Alonso stopped on the formation lap, forcing an extra tour and reducing the race distance to 52 laps. When the lights finally went out, Valtteri Bottas launched from third and used the long run to Turn 2 to pass both Ferraris.

An opening-lap collision eliminated Romain Grosjean and Jolyon Palmer and brought out the safety car. Bottas retained control at the restart, while Daniel Ricciardo soon retired with overheating brakes.

Sebastian Vettel extended his first stint and attacked in the closing stages on fresher tyres. The Ferrari closed to within a second, but Bottas kept his composure through the final traffic and reached the flag just 0.617 seconds ahead.

Kimi Räikkönen completed the podium and set the fastest lap, while Lewis Hamilton endured a distant fourth place after temperature problems. Max Verstappen finished fifth, and Felipe Massa‘s late puncture cost him ground to the Force India drivers and Nico Hülkenberg.

Further down the points places, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hülkenberg, Felipe Massa and Carlos Sainz completed the scoring positions. Kimi Räikkönen set the fastest lap, but no bonus point was awarded under the 2017 rules.

After the race, Sebastian Vettel headed the drivers’ standings with 86 points, followed by Lewis Hamilton on 73. Mercedes led the constructors’ table on 136, with Ferrari on 135.

2017 Russian Grand Prix race results

The 2017 Russian Grand Prix was held on 30 April 2017, with a scheduled start of 15:00 local time.

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Laps	Time / Retired	Pts.
1	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	52	1:28:08.743	25
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	52	+0.617	18
3	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	52	+11.000	15
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	52	+36.230	12
5	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	52	+1:00.416	10
6	11	Sergio Pérez	Force India	52	+1:26.788	8
7	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	52	+1:35.004	6
8	27	Nico Hülkenberg	Renault	52	+1:36.188	4
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	51	+1 Lap	2
10	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	51	+1 Lap	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	51	+1 Lap	0
12	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	51	+1 Lap	0
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	51	+1 Lap	0
14	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	51	+1 Lap	0
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	51	+1 Lap	0
16	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	50	+2 Laps	0
Ret	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	5	Brakes	0
Ret	30	Jolyon Palmer	Renault	0	Collision	0
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Haas	0	Collision	0
DNS	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	0	Gearbox	0

2017 Russian Grand Prix Fastest Laps

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Lap	Time of Day	Time	Avg. Speed
1	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	49	16:30:02	1:36.844	217.388
2	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	49	16:29:54	1:37.312	216.343
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	49	16:29:53	1:37.367	216.221
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	45	16:24:55	1:38.232	214.317
5	26	Daniil Kvyat	Toro Rosso	50	16:33:34	1:38.300	214.168
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	18	15:38:50	1:38.398	213.955
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault	52	16:36:23	1:38.418	213.912
8	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	47	16:27:35	1:38.429	213.888
9	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	51	16:34:35	1:38.661	213.385
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Force India	50	16:33:04	1:38.745	213.203
11	55	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso	51	16:35:03	1:38.858	212.960
12	18	Lance Stroll	Williams	50	16:33:29	1:38.870	212.934
13	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	40	16:17:07	1:39.566	211.445
14	2	Stoffel Vandoorne	McLaren	47	16:29:20	1:39.790	210.971
15	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	48	16:31:02	1:39.835	210.875
16	94	Pascal Wehrlein	Sauber	37	16:12:38	1:40.922	208.604
17	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing	4	15:15:41	1:42.285	205.824

Only drivers with a recorded lap time appear. Average speeds are in km/h. No fastest-lap bonus point was awarded. Time of Day is local.

2017 Post-Race F1 Championship Standings

Championship standings after the 2017 Russian Grand Prix.

2017 Post-Race F1 Drivers’ Championship Standings

POS	Driver	Nationality	Car	PTS
1	Sebastian Vettel	German	Ferrari	86
2	Lewis Hamilton	British	Mercedes	73
3	Valtteri Bottas	Finnish	Mercedes	63
4	Kimi Räikkönen	Finnish	Ferrari	49
5	Max Verstappen	Dutch	Red Bull Racing	35
6	Daniel Ricciardo	Australian	Red Bull Racing	22
7	Sergio Pérez	Mexican	Force India	22
8	Felipe Massa	Brazilian	Williams	18
9	Carlos Sainz	Spanish	Toro Rosso	11
10	Esteban Ocon	French	Force India	9
11	Nico Hülkenberg	German	Renault	6
12	Romain Grosjean	French	Haas	4
13	Kevin Magnussen	Danish	Haas	4
14	Daniil Kvyat	Russian	Toro Rosso	2
15	Pascal Wehrlein	German	Sauber	0
16	Lance Stroll	Canadian	Williams	0
17	Antonio Giovinazzi	Italian	Sauber	0
18	Jolyon Palmer	British	Renault	0
19	Stoffel Vandoorne	Belgian	McLaren	0
20	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	McLaren	0
21	Marcus Ericsson	Swedish	Sauber	0

2017 Post-Race F1 Constructors’ Championship Standings

POS	Car	PTS
1	Mercedes	136
2	Ferrari	135
3	Red Bull Racing	57
4	Force India	31
5	Williams	18
6	Toro Rosso	13
7	Haas	8
8	Renault	6
9	Sauber	0
10	McLaren	0

2017 Formula 1 Race Calendar

Round	Grand Prix	Circuit	Date
1	2017 Australian Grand Prix	Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne	26 March
2	2017 Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit, Shanghai	9 April
3	2017 Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir	16 April
4	2017 Russian Grand Prix	Sochi Autodrom, Sochi	30 April
5	2017 Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló	14 May
6	2017 Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo	28 May
7	2017 Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, Montréal	11 June
8	2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Baku	25 June
9	2017 Austrian Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Spielberg	9 July
10	2017 British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone	16 July
11	2017 Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring, Mogyoród	30 July
12	2017 Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot	27 August
13	2017 Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza	3 September
14	2017 Singapore Grand Prix	Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore	17 September
15	2017 Malaysian Grand Prix	Sepang International Circuit, Sepang	1 October
16	2017 Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka	8 October
17	2017 United States Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas	22 October
18	2017 Mexican Grand Prix	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City	29 October
19	2017 Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace, São Paulo	12 November
20	2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi	26 November