It was a dramatic race, with plenty of incidents. Here's what some of this year's grid had to say after the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom. Lewis Hamilton:
"It's just an amazing feeling today. I have a huge admiration for this team. Driving the car through that race, it just felt so good and this is what I've always dreamed of having. Even though you're in the front, it's still a hard race to stay in the zone and not make mistakes.
"We were only doing a one-stop, so you're trying not to lock up and damage the tyres. I felt like it was a big challenge today. It's a shame I didn't get to race with Nico, which I was really excited about. I'm glad my car made it as the rear wing was getting a bit loose towards the end, so I had to stay off the kerbs and try not to damage the car. I've got to enjoy what's going on now and cherish the moment; there are still lots of points available this year.
"To get the Constructors' Championship feels very special and a great feeling to be a part of this and to have contributed to the team's success. It's really an amazing feeling and I'm very proud of them up there on the podium, to see all their smiling faces. I feel like a small part in the chain of many people; I'm proud of that part and I look forward to seeing the whole team tomorrow at the factory. I knew the guys were going to do a good job this year but they've done an even better job this year than last, which is phenomenal."
"I think we squeezed everything out of it today and ten points at the end of such a complicated race is a very good achievement, so we have to be satisfied with these points. With hindsight, you could say we could have run a slightly better strategy, but you can never be completely sure how these things will turn out and you never stop learning in this respect.
"It was nice to see all the people that came here to support me today, it’s a great feeling and hopefully it will continue and get better and better. I could also see that other drivers had their fans in the crowd as well which was nice, it’s a true passion and it looks like in Russia the sport is growing a lot and many people are coming which is great to see. I’m already looking forward to Austin because I think it should suit us a little bit better and I’m looking forward to those high speed corners."
Valtteri Bottas:
"It was quite a strange race with lots of accidents and safety cars, and we managed to do a very good job as a team to give me a good shot at the podium. I was running in P3 on the last lap and then I was hit from behind in Turn 4 and that was it.
"It’s difficult to describe the disappointment because the team has worked so hard all week to get a good result, and then the result we feel like we deserved was lost with only one lap remaining. It’s a tough end to the weekend."
Kimi Raikkonen:
"All through the race the car was behaving well, especially after the pit stop, but then I was stuck behind other cars and had no speed on the straight, so it was hard to get past. In the final stages, I tried to overtake Valtteri in the same place I had passed him earlier in the race, I had a good run in turn 3 and in the next one there would have been enough space, so I decided to go for it.
"I don’t know if he was not expecting me at all or if he did not see me, but once I decided to go there was no way I could back off. I tried to turn inside as much as I could, but there was no way to go and in the end we collided. It is an unfortunate thing for us and for them, nobody want to have an accident even if it’s part of racing. It’s really a shame, but my move was based on a good chance and not something completely crazy."
"Today, we did everything right, did the best we could, and we took home some points. I was a sitting duck for the first couple of laps: I couldn’t really fight off the people behind, my deployment was cutting off at the end of the straights, so it was very easy for people to overtake.
"That was tricky: they were trying to pass me into Turn 13, which is a pretty scary place, especially when you don’t have DRS and can’t gauge the closing speed of the cars behind. Still, it wasn’t bad. I was racing Fernando for the whole race, which was all I could really do, as all the other cars were quicker.
"We haven’t made massive progress with the car’s performance, but we did lots of interesting things with the set-up this weekend. We’ll analyse those and see whether they paid off or not."
Sergio Perez:
"It feels great to be back on the podium and to be able to celebrate with my team. I have been enjoying my time with the team so much and this is a great reward for all the work we have put in together. The call to pit under the safety car turned out to be very good because it gave us track position ahead of all the battles.
"With one lap to go, when Valtteri (Bottas) and Kimi (Raikkonen) passed me, it felt like this result had been taken from us: I was obviously disappointed but I also knew I had given all I could during the race. There was no more I could do because I had been on the same tyres for more than 40 laps.
"When I finally managed to get back into third it was just an amazing feeling. I am happy I was able to share this second podium with my team. It's a very special result and one that fills me with expectation ahead of the races in Austin and especially Mexico City."
Carlos Sainz Jr:
"What a disappointing way to end what was being such a good race! But I have to say that I’m happy I could race after what happened yesterday. Today’s was a good performance in difficult conditions. I started from P20, pushed hard and suddenly I found myself in P7… We could’ve even ended in P6!
"Towards the end of the race I was warned to look after my brakes as the temperatures were very high and I was managing to do that while still racing at a good pace. Unfortunately, with only eight laps to go the brakes said ‘enough’ at Turn 13 and that was the end of my race. I have to be thankful to the whole team, they did a great job for me to be racing out there today after yesterday’s crash. The car was in perfect conditions. Now I will certainly get some rest during the next couple of days!"
"I lost the rear end in a very high speed corner going through turn three and couldn’t recover it. We don’t know exactly why yet. We need to check what has happened – was it a driver error or something technical? - we’ll see. I feel sorry for the guys because there will be a lot of work to repair the car.
"I feel okay physically and I’ll certainly be a bit sore tomorrow morning, but I’ll be completely fine again after a couple of days. We lost some good points today but let’s understand what happened and look forward to the next race."
Roberto Merhi:
"I’m really pleased with my race today. Everything went well for me through the weekend and finishing ahead is a nice way to end things on my return to the cockpit here in Sochi. It hasn’t been an easy weekend on the track. It seems that there was something happening every session and this made it difficult to find a good rhythm to prepare for today.
"Anyway, the race went well and it was very straightforward for me; pretty as much as we planned. Now I’m looking forward to my final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, but I’ll be on hand with the team at the next three rounds also."
Felipe Nasr:
"I am very satisfied with the result today. It was an intense race from the beginning to the end. The pace of the car was quite competitive, especially on the supersoft tyres, and we were temporarily able to keep ahead of some strong competitors.
"The balance of the car with the soft tyres was not as good as with the supersofts. Nevertheless, well done to the team, those points are for all of them. They all did a great job. These are the opportunites we cannot miss, and I am glad we extracted the maximum today."
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