Race strategy was optimal - Vettel

Sebastian Vettel was runner-up today at Sochi to the man who equaled his 42 win F1 record today.

The Ferrari driver spent the first 15 laps locked in battle with Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen. After getting the measure of his team mate, he was in hot pursuit of the Williams driver when Bottas pitted shortly after the halfway mark and freed up Vettel.

"I think it was a very good race," Vettel said. "The car was fantastic and kept getting better. At some point I thought maybe there was a slight chance to catch Lewis but he had so much pace in hand he wasn’t really pushing at the end."

"Great result, it would have been nice to have both cars on the podium today -- I think it was possible today and was close. Very happy with how the race went."

Sebastian Vettel's early scrap with Raikkonen provided some impressive action with the German having to pull out all the stops to get the upper hand over the Finn on lap 16.

"It was close at times, but Kimi was fair and gave me just enough room to survive. It was a good battle."

Vettel also reaped the benefits of Ferrari's decision to bring its driver in for fresh rubber slightly later than Bottas, the man he was chasing down for second place.

"Valtteri was dealing with traffic while we still had some juice left in the tyres. It was a great stop and also a great strategy. And then after the stop it was very important to get past Sergio and the Force India. I think I surprised him with a move in a place he didn't expect it."

"The car just came alive more and more as the race went on. I would have loved to continue but nevertheless it is a fantastic result."

Hamilton close to title after Russian GP win

AS IT HAPPENED: Russian Grand Prix

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