Time for Daniil Kvyat to get a time out.

Romain Grosjean was made to sit out of F1 for a race in 2012 for similar stupidity. Kvyat hit Vettel's Ferrari twice, possibly three times in the space of two turns at the Russian GP in Sochi. It looked like a drunken Russian dash cam video, one contact is a mistake that can happen, two is sheer stupidity.

Imagine the crash if the Toro Rosso on the right had not managed to avoid the out of control Russian. Still think putting a windscreen on cars is the most important safety priority?

Time for Danil to get a time out.

Ballet Russes

Free Practice  for the 2016 Russian GP in Sochi showed a Hamilton intent on breaking Rosberg streak while his teammate was confident enough not to do any qualifying simulations but instead concentrating on race prep.

Vettel was second fastest but the usual half second or so behind and victim of an electrical issue with sidelined him for half the session.

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP	LAPS
1	44	LEWIS HAMILTON	MERCEDES	1:37.583		30
2	5	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	FERRARI	1:38.235	+0.652s	10
3	6	NICO ROSBERG	MERCEDES	1:38.450	+0.867s	37
4	7	KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN	FERRARI	1:38.793	+1.210s	35
5	3	DANIEL RICCIARDO	RED BULL RACING	1:39.084	+1.501s	34
6	77	VALTTERI  BOTTAS	WILLIAMS	1:39.185	+1.602s	42
7	26	DANIIL KVYAT	RED BULL RACING	1:39.193	+1.610s	32
8	22	JENSON BUTTON	MCLAREN	1:39.196	+1.613s	31
9	19	FELIPE MASSA	WILLIAMS	1:39.289	+1.706s	38
10	14	FERNANDO ALONSO	MCLAREN	1:39.400	+1.817s	30
11	55	CARLOS SAINZ	TORO ROSSO	1:39.465	+1.882s	37
12	33	MAX VERSTAPPEN	TORO ROSSO	1:39.501	+1.918s	30
13	27	NICO HULKENBERG	FORCE INDIA	1:39.795	+2.212s	31
14	11	SERGIO PEREZ	FORCE INDIA	1:39.867	+2.284s	38
15	20	KEVIN MAGNUSSEN	RENAULT	1:40.193	+2.610s	41
16	8	ROMAIN GROSJEAN	HAAS	1:40.260	+2.677s	24
17	21	ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ	HAAS	1:40.508	+2.925s	26
18	30	JOLYON PALMER	RENAULT	1:40.688	+3.105s	37
19	12	FELIPE NASR	SAUBER	1:40.740	+3.157s	31
20	88	RIO HARYANTO	MANOR	1:41.080	+3.497s	38
21	94	PASCAL WEHRLEIN	MANOR	1:41.148	+3.565s	23
22	9	MARCUS ERICSSON	SAUBER	1:41.652	+4.069s	29

You be the Steward: Russian GP edition.

Can we say right off the bat, Kimi deserved a medal?

Yes, if you go by the letter of the regulations then perhaps you can declare Raikkonen "at fault" but for the love of...   when was the last time you saw an F1 driver go for a podium position on the last lap of a Grand Prix?

And you go penalize him?    Perkele!.

To the specifics:   If you are going to believe Bottas' declarations he did not know Raikkonen was there and did not expect him to go for it then then that means Valterri has no business receiving all the hype.    It may well be the case, clearly Bottas turns into the apex leaving the already committed Raikkonen no room.  

Hamilton in a class of his own at Sochi Snoozefest.

Hamilton cruises to victory as Rosberg's title hopes fade in a cloud of Pirelli smoke.

F1 journo super excited by race. via WTF1

Let's be honest, the most entertaining thing about the inaugural Russian GP on the Sochi Autodrom was following Twitter feeds making fun of Putin and Bernie.

Fernando Alonso's sybilline declarations post race were far more interesting than following Hamiltons "brilliant" drive cruise from flag to flag.

The Sochi track might most charitably be described as horrid.   It may have presented some challenges to the drivers but the spectating was just painful, it was almost impossible to distinguish which corner was which as cars raced in that concrete lined gulag.

Sutton Images via Twitter

It might have been more interesting had Nico not gone up in Pirelli smoke in the first turn. This forced him into an immediate pitstop to get rid of his now square tires.    That he was then able to go from DFL to 2nd using the same tires for 52 laps is just a measure of Mercedes's superiority over the field.

Barring an unlikely string of mechanical failures on Lewis' car, Nico can kiss the championship goodbye at this point.   Mercedes decided it would side with Hamilton after the incident at Spa and since then it's been one mistake after another for Rosberg.

Williams looked close-ish but it really was not, Hamilton was just cruising.

Toro Rosso only did well early on because they had no gas in the cars.   The plan to have Vladimir Putin take his shirt off mid race and ride a bear across the track causing a safety car and precipitating a Kvyat win, sadly did not pan out.

After the race Putin seemed very interested in how much weight Lewis loses during a race.

Alonso kept things interesting, albeit outside the car, telling SkySports Ferrari si the team that he loves and that when the dust settles "you will say it was obvious he would do that".  Later he told NBC's Will Buxton that he will not be in a Mercedes powered car next year.

Obviously, Fernando is a master level troller of the media.