Lewis Hamilton cruises to Russian GP win, Rosberg recovers to second

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has won his 31st career win and taken another step closer to his second world championship after claiming his fourth consecutive victory in F1’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

Hamilton’s team-mate and nearest challenger Nico Rosberg recovered to second after being forced during the first lap, while Valtteri Bottas of Williams took the third place on the medium.

McLaren’s Jenson Button and Kevin Magnusses finished in fourth and fifth respectively, while Fernando Alonso finished sixth.

The Mercedes one-two finish has sealed Mercedes their first Constructors’ Championship.

The Mercedes duo had started on the grid alongside each other, but Rosberg made an explosive and aggressive start, pushing past Hamilton in the opening turn. However, Rosberg locked up both his front brakes in a big cloud of smoke, and sent the German straight on the through the run-off area.

Although briefly ahead, Rosberg was immediately ordered to change his tyres immediately after a resultant flat-stop caused major tyre vibrations.

Rosberg drove brilliantly to make his way from the back of the field to finish in second, not making another stop over the course of what was a rather dull race with little real opportunity for overtaking or spectacle.

Despite these heroics, Rosberg missed the chance to close up to within three points of his team-mate in the drivers’ championship and now trails Hamilton by 17 points with three races left.

Despite those heroics, Rosberg's second place will ultimately be a huge disappointment considering the manner in which he undermined his brilliant start with a rookie mistake and missed the chance to close up to within three points of his team-mate in the drivers' championship.

Given that double points are offer in that final race in Abu Dhabi, however, there is still every reason to believe that the title race will go down to the wire.

Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Riccardio and Sebastian Vettel finished eight and ninth, while Ferrari driver Kimi Raikonnen and Force India’s Perez completed the top ten.