Sunday, April 30, 2017
Putin shares awkward conversation with Bottas and Vettel after Russian GP
But that was before the Mercedes driver had to engage in conversation with Vladimir Putin post-race along with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.
The Russian president addressed all three in a room shortly before the podium ceremony, where through a translator he expressed his happiness at seeing attendances increase for the event since its 2014 inception.
We are getting more and more fans in Formula One,’ Putin started. ‘And I already told my colleague that all the hotels are booked in Sochi for now.
Bottas briefly intervened by saying ‘build more hotels’ before the Russian president continued his point by saying: ‘But unlike other countries that have long had a scene of the F1 events, we now witness the growing number of fans.’
After
The four were soon reunited on the podium as Bottas was presented with the winners’ trophy by Putin following a race where the Finn laid down his bid for a championship challenge.
| DRIVER | TEAM | WINS | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 2 | 86 |
| 2. Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | 73 |
| 3. Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1 | 63 |
| 4. Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 0 | 49 |
Putin watched the action from inside the Sochi Autodrom as Bottas overtook both Ferraris at the start to snatch the lead before going on to control the race on the way to his maiden grand prix win.
The Finn, expected to play second fiddle to Lewis Hamilton this term, had a much more enjoyable afternoon than his team-mate who could only struggle to fourth place.
Despite finishing second, Vettel increased his lead at the top of the standings over Hamilton to 13 points after four races.
Source: Vladimir Putin speaks to Valtteri Bottas at Russian GP | Daily Mail Online
#F1: Daniel Ricciardo retires from #RussianGP 🇷🇺 after brake trouble
Australian Red Bull Racing driver Daniel Ricciardo was forced to retire from the Russian Formula One Grand Prix on the fifth lap, after noticing an apparent mechanical problem with one of his brakes.
Ricciardo told his team over the radio that his “right rear brake [was] on fire”.
Soon after, he was instructed by his team to drive slowly to the pits, where he was withdrawn from the race.
“After the safety car I looked in my mirror to see where the Force India was and I noticed that the right rear brake was on fire, I reported it to the team and they told me to bring the car back to the pits slowly,” Ricciardo said.
“Unfortunately the issue could not be fixed and I had to retire from the race.
“It’s frustrating, on a Sunday you just build up for the race and try to store up your adrenaline to use at 3pm but today it was over very quickly.
“Unfortunately I didn’t get as much of a fight as I would have liked.”
Ricciardo started from fifth position on the grid at the Sochi circuit on Sunday (local time).
It was the second grand prix of the season that the Australian had to retire from, after he also suffered mechanical problems at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Finland’s Valtteri Bottas took out the race, seizing the first F1 victory of his career after jumping both Ferraris at the start and then holding his nerve over the tense closing laps.
World championship leader Sebastian Vettel, who had started on pole position alongside Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen, extended his advantage with second place after putting Bottas under huge pressure at the finish.
Vettel crossed the line a mere 0.6 seconds behind Bottas, who joined Mercedes from Williams in January as replacement for retired 2016 champion Nico Rosberg and was finally a winner after 81 starts.
“Took quite a while, huh?,” said the Finn over the radio.
“Worth the wait.”
Raikkonen was third with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton struggling to match the leaders’ pace and finishing fourth for Mercedes.
Mosul battle ‘over in three weeks’, top commander predicts
An Iraqi commander says he expects to dislodge Islamic State (IS) from Mosul in May despite resistance from militants in the densely populated Old City district.
Key points:
- Commanders says “maximum of three weeks” before Mosul recaptured
- Islamic State has been in control of Mosul since June 2014
- UN estimates 1,500 Yazidi women and girls remain in captivity
The battle should be completed “in a maximum of three weeks”, the Iraqi army’s chief of staff, Lieutenant General Othman al-Ghanmi, was quoted as saying by state-run newspaper al-Sabah on Sunday.
A US-led international coalition is providing air and ground support for the offensive in Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq, which fell to hardline Sunni Muslim fighters in June 2014.
Islamic State has lost most of the city’s districts since the offensive began in October and is surrounded in the north-western districts, including the historic Old City centre.
The United Nations believes up to half a million people remain in the area controlled by the militants, 400,000 of whom are in the Old City with little food and water and no access to hospitals.
The militants have dug in alongside the civilians, often launching deadly counter-attacks to repel forces closing in on the Old City’s Grand al-Nuri Mosque, from where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria.
Valtteri Bottas wins first ever F1 race at #F1 #RussianGP 🇷🇺
Valtteri Bottas won the Russian Grand Prix like a rocket at the start and like a limpet at the finish. In doing so he poured a can of worms all over Lewis Hamilton’s head.
The victory was established at the first couple of corners, where the Finn charged bravely on the outside of pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel through the gentle first curve and, travelling at 220mph, was far enough in front by the tight second bend to zip across and cover the racing line.
It was a bravura display from the 27-year-old from Nastola, southern Finland, where he cuts holes in the ice to bathe in the long cold days of winter. Ice veined, one might say.
He needed those qualities as Vettel piled on the pressure towards the end, just after Vladimir Putin arrived in the sun-kissed complex. It got nervy, edgy out there on the Tarmac, but Bottas held on to win by half-a-second.
Bottas became the first Finnish grand prix winner since Kimi Raikkonen in Melbourne just over four years ago and is the ninth of his countryman ever to achieve the feat. The idea that he is a patsy at Mercedes no longer holds up to scrutiny.
Instead, it was Hamilton who finished a struggling, miserable fourth on a weekend to forget and on a day when he had several borderline fractious exchanges with his pit wall. Why was he overheating? Why this, why that? He asked for updates. Every inquiry, bar a Freedom of Information request.
Everything he tried, and he tried hard, was unavailing.
So at the end of the race – the fourth of the season – Vettel, who finished second, a place ahead of his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen, has a lead of 13 points over Hamilton in the drivers’ standings. Bottas comes next, 10 further points behind.
In truth this race on the Black Sea had languorous phases. The outcome was secured in those opening moments. But for pit stops the top four remained in their positions throughout.
Jolyon Palmer’s race ended through no fault of his own on that self-same second corner, home of drama caused by heavy braking going into the right-hander.
Romain Grosjean’s Haas caught him and Palmer then collected his destroyer as they both spun out of the race. Palmer, who started 16th after a crash in qualifying, could hardly believe luck was running so cruelly against him as he tried to salvage his weekend.
‘He jumped the kerb and ended up going into the side of me,’ said the Brit. ‘He was too ambitious. If you come in from the inside, it always bunches on the apex. I had cars outside me. I had to turn the corner and hope he used his brain.’
It was another dire day for McLaren, who seem unable to start both cars. It was Stoffel Vandoorne who missed out in Bahrain a fortnight ago, and this time Fernando Alonso conked out during the formation lap and had to walk back to the paddock.
This is beyond an embarrassment for McLaren. Heads might have to roll.
Alonso, who later watched glumly from a virtually empty McLaren hospitality area, said: ‘It’s obviously frustrating. Four races into the championship, four DNFs. This time we did not even make the start. That’s sad but there’s nothing we can do.
‘I come here, drive as fast as I can to try to help the team. We just hope the next race will be better.
‘I’m just a driver. I help the team but the team have to look at the bigger picture.’
Source: Valtteri Bottas wins first ever F1 race at Russian GP | Daily Mail Online
