Russian F1 Grand Prix 2016 Results: Winner, Standings, Highlights and Reaction

It’s four wins from four races for Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg in the 2016 Formula One season, as he romped to victory at the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday. 

The German was superb throughout, as he preserved a comfortable lead to the chasing pack after an eventful start. Team-mate Lewis Hamilton recovered from 10th to finish in second place, while Kimi Raikkonen was third for Ferrari. The result in Sochi leaves Rosberg a whopping 42 points clear at the top of the standings.

Sebastian Vettel endured a day to forget in his Ferrari, as he was forced to retire on the first lap following contact with a familiar foe.

Here are the race results in full, per the F1 Twitter account:

These are the updated driver standings following Rosberg's triumph:

Position	Driver	Nationality	Car	Points
1	NICO ROSBERG	GER	MERCEDES	100
2	LEWIS HAMILTON	GBR	MERCEDES	57
3	KIMI RAIKKONEN	FIN	FERRARI	43
4	DANIEL RICCIARDO	AUS	RED BULL RACING	36
5	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	GER	FERRARI	33
6	FELIPE MASSA	BRA	WILLIAMS	32
7	ROMAIN GROSJEAN	FRA	HAAS	22
8	DANIIL KVYAT	RUS	RED BULL RACING	21
9	VALTTERI BOTTAS	FIN	WILLIAMS	19
10	MAX VERSTAPPEN	NED	TORO ROSSO	13
11	FERNANDO ALONSO	ESP	MCLAREN	8
12	KEVIN MAGNUSSEN	DEN	RENAULT	6
13	NICO HULKENBERG	GER	FORCE INDIA	6
14	CARLOS SAINZ	ESP	TORO ROSSO	4
15	SERGIO PEREZ	MEX	FORCE INDIA	2
16	JENSON BUTTON	GBR	MCLAREN	1
17	STOFFEL VANDOORNE	BEL	MCLAREN	1

The day marked the 22-year anniversary of Ayrton Senna’s death, and a lot of the drivers paid their own personal tributes prior to the action starting. Hamilton posted the following on his Twitter feed:

"

Remembering the greatest on this May 1st 2016. 22 years. You will be my inspiration today, as you have always been. pic.twitter.com/OwJw1073Bq

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) May 1, 2016"

With Vettel and Hamilton down the field on the grid, the start was always going to be congested. But it was a little too chaotic for the former, as for the second time in as many races he was involved in a tangle with Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat on the opening lap.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

After he was given a couple of nudges through the first braking zone, the Ferrari man was unable to steer clear of trouble, picking up a puncture and spinning into the barrier. The team radio picked up just how frustrated the German was after coming into contact with Kvyat again, per F1 journalist Gianlu D'Alessandro *warning, expletive language*:

As we can see here courtesy of Grand Prix Diary, at least Vettel was able to drive something after his crash:

"I don't dislike him," said Vettel afterwards of Kvyat, per BBC Sport. "I think he did a mistake two weeks ago, and I think he did a mistake today."

The incident brought out a virtual safety car and when the action resumed, Hamilton, who had already moved up the field early on, set about getting a podium spot secured as soon as possible.

YURI KADOBNOV/Getty Images

First the Brit darted down the inside of Kimi Raikkonen to take third spot and then after some patient driving behind the Williams of Bottas, was able to edge in front to grab second position. It was brilliant work from the reigning world champion, but amid the frantic start, Rosberg was well down the road.

And as we can see here courtesy of the Mercedes Twitter feed, with the track clear in front of the Silver Arrows, there was very little between the duo as they moved onto the soft tyre compound:

Meanwhile, after being overtaken on track by Hamilton, Bottas was bumped back down into fourth place as Ferrari worked an undercut with Raikkonen’s pit-stop. From there the Finn was able to pull away.

Kevin Magnussen was performing brilliantly in the Renault, tussling in the top 10. F1 journalist James Allen was particularly impressed with the efforts of the Dane:

The race did threaten to come alive at one stage, as Hamilton pushed hard to close the 12-second gap up front. When Rosberg hit traffic, he lost five seconds to his team-mate and excitement levels rose. But with clear air in front of him again, the German, almost casually, set a new lap record to build the lead up again.

When it was revealed Hamilton was suffering with a water-pressure problem, the race for first was effectively over, with Rosberg able to enjoy his seventh race win in succession in the latter stages.

Mark Thompson/Getty Images

"It's been an awesome weekend, the car has been fantastic. Very, very happy" said the Mercedes man afterwards, per BBC Sport, who has now won seven races in succession. He even had some kind words for his team-mate. "A great job for Lewis to come up to second so quickly from 10th."

Although Hamilton did lose more ground in the quest to defend his world title, he’ll be delighted to have made it all the way up to second in Sochi. Barring an incident involving his team-mate, this was realistically the best he could hope for and he’ll be keen to secure a first win of the season in Spain next time out.