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Formula 1

Hamilton closer to clinch second consecutive world title

British won the Russian GP in a race where Mercedes were crowned champions

Vettel and Perez joined Hamilton on the podium

Mercedes returned to the field in the Russian Grand Prix and has clinched the manufacturer's world championship title. Lewis Hamilton dominated the race at the Circuit of Sochi and got even closer to revalidate the world champion title after Nico Rosberg was forced to retire. Vettel took his Ferrari to second place in Russia and Sergio Perez pulled his Force India to the lowest step of the podium.

Starting from pole position, Rosberg managed to remain in the race leadership after the start despite Hamilton's pressure. However problems with the throttle pedal that arose after the entry of the safety car, due to collision Hulkenberg and Ericsson, began to affect the pace of the German who started to make some driving mistakes, eventually retiring in the pitstop.

With only 100 points in dispute until the end of the season, Rosberg got further behind Hamilton in the world championship standings, placing the British even closer to the title with 73 points ahead of his teammate. After the end of the race Mercedes was just three points away to win the manufacturer's title. However, a penalty to Kimi Raikkonen because of collision with Valteri Bottas eventually withdrew six points from Ferrari and handed the world championship to the German team.

With the second place achieved in Russia, Sebastian Vettel managed to climb to second place in the Drivers' standings, overtaking Nico Rosberg.

Sergio Perez achieved Force India's third-ever podium, taking advantage of the second safety car to go to the pits and opting for a longer stint with soft tires. The Mexican driver was overtaken by Bottas and Raikkonen in the closing stages of the race, but the two eventually got involved in an accident handing him the lowest step of the podium.

With Bottas off and Raikkonen losing positions, Felipe Massa took fourth place for Williams and Daniil Kvyat fifth for Red Bull. Felipe Nasr for Sauber was sixth ahead of Lotus' Pastor Maldonado. Despite Kimi Raikkonen's penalty, he still managed to finish in the scoring places, with an eighth place.

McLaren was about to get both cars in the scoring positions for the first time this season, however, problems in the brakes ended up forcing Alonso's retirement. Still Jenson Button took some points with ninth place, ahead of Max Verstappen of Toro Rosso.

Now check the Drivers' and Manufacturers' standings.

Results Russian Grand Prix
Pos	Driver	Car	Gap
1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1h37m11.024s
2	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	5.953s
3	Sergio Perez	Force India/Mercedes	28.918s
4	Felipe Massa	Williams/Mercedes	38.831s
5	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull/Renault	47.566s
6	Felipe Nasr	Sauber/Ferrari	56.508s
7	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus/Mercedes	1m01.088s
8	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1m12.358s
9	Jenson Button	McLaren/Honda	1m19.467s
10	Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso/Renault	1m28.424s
11	Fernando Alonso	McLaren/Honda	1m31.210s
12	Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes	Collision
13	Roberto Merhi	Marussia/Ferrari	1 Lap
14	Will Stevens	Marussia/Ferrari	2 Laps
15	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault	Suspension
-	Carlos Sainz	Toro Rosso/Renault	Brakes
-	Romain Grosjean	Lotus/Mercedes	Spun off
-	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	Throttle
-	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes	Collision