Bottas obeys team order to hand Hamilton 50-point lead

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A Mercedes team order and an obedient Valtteri Bottas helped Lewis Hamilton win the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi on Sunday in a Mercedes one-two that powered the Formula One world champion closer to his fifth world title.

The victory was a landmark 70th for the Brit, who is well on his way to a fifth title and is now 21 wins behind the all-time record of 91 held by seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.

Hamilton's closest rival Sebastian Vettel finished third for Ferrari with Bottas, who led from pole position but was told to let Hamilton through after 25 of the 53 laps, taking second place.

Mercedes' Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas (R) and Mercedes' British driver Lewis Hamilton steer their cars during the Formula One Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom circuit in Sochi, Russia, on September 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

Champions Mercedes remain unbeaten in Russia, Sunday being their fifth win in Sochi since the Olympic Park circuit first appeared on the calendar in 2014. Hamilton has now won eight races this season.

An elated Hamilton remarked after his victory, "Yeah, I mean Valtteri did a fantastic job all weekend and he was a real gentleman to let me by and obviously he's not fighting for the championship where we are and it's been such a great weekend for the team."

"The team have done such an exceptional job to have this advantage on Ferrari and have a one-two, usually you would just be elated but I can understand how difficult it was for Valtteri but really he did a fantastic job today and deserved to win.

"But championship-wise, as a team we're trying to win both championships and I think today it was a real team effort."

Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas celebrate on the podium during the Russia Formula One Grand Prix at Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia, on September 30, 2018. /VCG Photo

Meanwhile, Bottas mentioned, "Win or lose, it's now (about) fighting for the championship and we are fighting for the constructors and so we always have a plan, but yeah it's always difficult to predict what's going to happen in the race, how it's going to go but it is what it is."

Former world champion Vettel said, "Obviously Valtteri as soon as he saw that I was behind, he backed off and I think lost one and a half seconds to make me run probably into him which I didn't mind initially because I thought I can sneak DRS.

"But yeah, I had a tiny lock up there and then as I said the last two corners weren't particularly difficult so Lewis was close and he was on really new tires and mine were just a lap old but not new. So anyways, it's a good race, I think we were closer today but obviously not the result we wanted."

(With input from agencies)