The race was moved from its April date to September to fill the vacancy of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which was discontinued at the end of the 2017 Formula One season.89 During the weekend, the first DRS zone was extended by 100 meters so that the beginning of the DRS zone started 95 meters before turn 1.10
Artem Markelov replaced Carlos Sainz Jr. at Renault during the first practice session.
Bottas took pole ahead of Hamilton ahead of Vettel with a Q2 exit for Red Bull Racing drivers of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo. It was Red Bull's last double elimination until the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix.
At the start, Sebastian Vettel got a better start than Lewis Hamilton but there was no room to overtake heading into turn one.11 On lap 4, both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley suffered brake failures which forced both to retire; they were the only retirements of the race.12 Later on lap 14, Hamilton made his one and only pitstop of the race, putting him behind Vettel.13 Two laps later, Hamilton made a move on Vettel at turn 3 and passed him into fourth place into turn 4.14
The most notable moment of the race came on lap 26, when Mercedes asked Valtteri Bottas to let Hamilton through into second at turn 13, gifting the Briton the race win.15 Max Verstappen, who led the race since lap 19, came in for his pitstop on lap 42.1617 Hamilton won the race for the third time in his career, with Bottas second and Vettel completing the podium in third place.1819 As a consequence, Hamilton extended his lead over Vettel in the championship to 50 points.20
Despite receiving no penalties, both of the Renault drivers elected not to run any laps on Q2 due to them automatically receiving places 11 and 12. They were then able to start the race on fresh tyres of their choice.28
"Russia". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 28 September 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2018/Russia.html ↩
"Grand Prix Winners 1895–1916". www.kolumbus.fi. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20090413060254/http://www.kolumbus.fi/leif.snellman/gpw1.htm ↩
"Russia 2018". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.statsf1.com/en/2018/russie.aspx ↩
"Grands Prix – Russia". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.statsf1.com/en/grand-prix-russia.aspx ↩
"Singapore 2018 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2018. https://www.statsf1.com/en/2018/singapour/championnat.aspx ↩
Richards, Giles (30 September 2018). "Lewis Hamilton wins Russian Grand Prix but is unhappy with team orders". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/30/lewis-hamilton-wins-russian-grand-prix-mercedes-team-orders-sebastian-vettel ↩
"Opinion: Why Mercedes used team orders – and why they were right to do so". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.opinion-why-mercedes-used-team-orders-and-why-they-were-right-to-do-so.1VZaX1iWz284gcGia6mmC6.html ↩
"Советник Козака: перенос Гран-при России "Формулы-1" на осень сделан в интересах зрителей". ТАСС (in Russian). Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://tass.ru/sport/4349444 ↩
"Malaysian Grand Prix: A final farewell to the Sepang circuit". BBC Sport. 26 September 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/41401009 ↩
"First DRS zone in Sochi extended". F1Today.net. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.f1today.net/en/news/f1/241621/first-drs-zone-in-sochi-extended ↩
"Report: Hamilton takes victory in Russia as Bottas moves aside". Formula1.com. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.report-hamilton-takes-victory-in-russia-as-bottas-moves-aside.1vnirRZFxCsqcwOmgmeuS4.html ↩
"Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/994/russia/race-result.html ↩
"Russia 2018 – Laps led". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.statsf1.com/en/2018/russie/en-tete.aspx ↩
"Sochi". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.statsf1.com/en/circuit-sochi.aspx ↩
"Russia 2018 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.statsf1.com/en/2018/russie/championnat.aspx ↩
"Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. 29 September 2018. Retrieved 29 September 2018. https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2018/races/994/russia/qualifying.html ↩
"Verstappen hit with further grid drop for yellow flag breach". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.verstappen-hit-with-further-grid-drop-for-yellow-flag-breach.1qY5fgpWrW4U0aQIQcKSgo.html ↩
"Red Bulls, Toro Rossos and Alonso set for Russia grid penalties for changing multiple power unit elements". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.red-bulls-toro-rossos-and-alonso-to-start-russia-race-from-back-of-the-grid.313MzJAMxqaEQGygqoOWeg.html ↩
"Vandoorne hit with Sochi grid penalty after gearbox change". Crash. 30 September 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.crash.net/f1/news/906488/1/vandoorne-hit-sochi-grid-penalty-after-gearbox-change ↩
"F1: Renault on not appearing in Q2 for qualifying in the 2018 Russian Grand Prix". Formula1.com. Retrieved 11 January 2019. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.renault-explain-their-q2-no-show-in-russia.6vZv81vhReSOiU6Y2uccGq.html ↩