Once again we were treated to an intriguing race as Formula 1 reconvened in Sochi for the third running of the Russian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton was unable to make any inroads into team-mate Nico Rosberg’s lead in the drivers’ championship, as the German cruised to his fourth victory of the season and seventh in succession.
Meanwhile Sebastian Vettel crashed out of the race with a volley of expletives, after being tapped by Daniil Kvyat at both Turns 2 and 3.
With the paddock full of topics to discuss, Grand Prix Times’ Andy Young takes a look at five talking points from the Russian Grand Prix.
1. Could Hamilton have caught Rosberg and snatched victory?
Despite starting just tenth after suffering a repeat power unit issue during qualifying, Hamilton wasted no time in scything through the top 10 in his quest to salvage a decent result in Russia.
After the carnage of the opening lap, where Kvyat, Vettel and Ricciardo all made contact ahead, Hamilton soon found himself in fifth and well within reach of the top three as an early safety car was deployed.
As the race progressed, Hamilton cut his way past Raikkonen and Bottas in the pits, before closing on race leader Rosberg.
By lap 36 Hamilton had whittled Rosberg’s lead down to just seven seconds, as the German began to pick his way through lapped traffic.
However, Hamilton’s pursuit of Rosberg was dealt a blow several laps later when rising water pressure forced him to back off and settle for second position.
But could Hamilton have actually caught and then overtaken Rosberg for the lead?
The data shows that Hamilton was catching Rosberg, therefore it is entirely feasible he could have caught his team-mate and presented us with a mouthwatering battle for the lead.
However, Rosberg was losing time due to lapped traffic, something which would’ve then slowed Hamilton down and allowed Rosberg to open up the gap once again when Hamilton met the traffic himself.
Also Rosberg was on tyres that were four laps fresher than Hamilton’s, which would’ve played right into his hands had Hamilton been able to continue closing the gap.
Hamilton is notoriously harsher on his rear tyres and the necessity to keep pushing to catch Rosberg whilst lapping other drivers would certainly have ramped up the tyre wear.
Overall, it would’ve been a tall order for Hamilton to catch and pass Rosberg for the lead, water pressure issue or not.
2. Was Kvyat’s penalty sufficient?
There’s no denying that Kvyat’s collision with Vettel at Turn 2 at the start of the Russian Grand Prix was the most careless act of his short F1 career.
In front of his home fans, Kvyat completely misjudged his braking point for Turn 2 and speared into the rear of Vettel's Ferrari.
As the field negotiated the fast left-hander at Turn 3, Kvyat punted Vettel once again as the German slowed in the middle of the track with a puncture.
Vettel slammed into the wall and was out of the Russian GP.
Although Kvyat and Ricciardo managed to limp back to the pits for repairs, their races were ruined as well thanks to the Russian’s antics.
The race stewards then dished out a 10 second stop/go penalty to Kvyat, which he dutifully served straightaway.
However, after the race many fans took to social media to voice their own opinion on Kvyat’s start, with some even stating that he should have been struck with a race ban!
Some called for Kvyat to receive a grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix, which in all honestly is a fair shout.
After all, his stop/go penalty in Russia was issued after he had already ruined his own race, negatting the effect.
Either way, Kvyat will rue his mistake at Turn 2, especially as drivers such as Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen continue to impress for Toro Rosso.
However, at this stage all Kvyat needs is the support and encouragement from his team to improve and progress as a driver, so the mistakes such as those made in Russia are not repeated.
3. Both McLarens in the points – but are recurring visits to the top 10 realistic?
For the first time since the Hungarian Grand Prix last season, McLaren securesd a double-points finish in Russia, with Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button coming home eighth and tenth respectively.
As F1 prepares to return to Europe in several weeks for the Spanish Grand Prix, two-time world champion Alonso has stated that McLaren must now make finishing within the points a regular target.
But are regular points finishes a realistic target for a McLaren team still struggling to remain competitive alongside the likes of Force India and Haas?
Whilst you would naturally expect a team with the stature of McLaren to easily finish regularly in the points, their Honda engine is still woefully uncompetitive in comparison to their immediate midfield rivals.
Still McLaren have yet to progress through to the top 10 shootout in qualifying with Honda power, a distinct symbol of their current position in the midfield.
Ideally points finishes for both Button and Alonso are a must from now on, but realistically such a feat on a recurring basis could prove tricky with their current form.
4. Excellent Magnussen gives Renault first points of 2016
After a tough start to the season for Renault, Kevin Magnussen finally scored the team's first points of the season in Russia, despite being eliminated in the first round of qualifying alongside team-mate Jolyon Palmer.
But after the carnage at Turn 2 at the start of the race, Magnussen found himself go from 17th to 11th.
From there, he steadily rose even higher, eventually finishing a competitive seventh and bagging six vital points for Renault, not to mention clinching F1's official driver of the day honours.
Meanwhile, team-mate Palmer suffered a frustrating race, finishing down in 13th.
Seeing as Renault now finally have points on the board, the pressure has certainly been raised on Sauber, who are now one of only two teams without a point to their name, the other being Manor.
Whilst some could quite rightfully argue that the pressure is equally on Manor, Sauber are currently in a state of financial flux, and with Marcus Ericsson qualifying plum last for the race, Renault’s first points of the season should act as a wake-up call for Sauber.
5. Pirelli have brought the ultra-soft compound to Sochi
Pirelli introduced a fifth dty tyre compound to its collection for 2016, with its new ultra-soft pink-banded tyre set to be used on street circuits such as Monaco and Singapore.
However, with Pirelli’s new tyre regulations for race weekends, which allow teams to select three different compounds for each race, one must ask why the Italian tyre supplier didn't bring the new ultra-soft compound to Russia instead of the more conservative mediums.
Right from the start of the weekend, it quickly became clear that tyre wear would be virtually non-existent due to the Sochi circuit’s smooth asphalt.
This is no surprise to the F1 paddock, with Pirelli bringing its medium and soft compounds for the inaugural race in 2014 before then dropping a scale and taking the soft and super-soft compound a year later.
With the lack of degradation at Sochi, surely the logical option would’ve been to nominate the ultra-soft, super-soft and soft compounds for this year’s race.
In doing so there would’ve been that tantalising option for drivers to utilise the as-of-yet unknown entity of the ultra-soft compound, whilst knowing fully well that the other two compounds would be perfectly fine degradation-wise.
Given that a conservative one-stop strategy was the way to go in 2016, don't be surprised if the purple-marked super-soft tyre is on the plane for next year's Russian GP.
