F1 | Russian GP report cards – Hamilton, the saddest victory. Bottas sacrificed, another blow for Ferrari

Here are the report cards for the Russian Grand Prix, the sixteenth round of the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship.

LEWIS HAMILTON 9 – Perhaps the saddest victory of the season, as it can be attributed more to the support (to put it mildly) of his teammate than to his own boundless talent. Almost embarrassed on the back podium, almost sorry for Bottas: a surreal atmosphere, but necessary to strengthen the leadership in both championships. Stubborn, however, in protecting his position at the start over Vettel and in regaining it after the German's undercut.

VALTTERI BOTTAS 9 – Once again the victim of the choices made by the Mercedes pit wall, the Finn sees the wonderful opportunity to grab the first victory of 2018 vanish due to the will of others. What remains of this weekend is the pole position on Saturday and the excellent management of the race until lap 27: his heartbroken face after the race is worth a thousand words.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL 7 – Limit the damage after a qualifying session below expectations: the attack on the Mercedes at the start fails, the strategy turns out to be successful, at least in part. The Ferrari driver leaves the pits ahead of Hamilton, but after just one lap he gives up the position again to the Englishman, who is more determined in the circumstance. The top is now 50 points away: hypothesizing a comeback, with five GPs to go, is frankly utopian.

KIMI RAIKKONEN 6 – An anonymous Sunday for “Iceman”: around the halfway point of the race he placed a few fast laps, for the rest he sailed alone in fourth position, being left out of the fight for the podium.

MAX VERSTAPPEN 9 – He couldn't do more than this: he starts from the back, tenaciously climbs back to first position, extending the first stint on the soft tyres, and finishes the race in 5th place. The 50 second gap inflicted on the other Red Bull is symptomatic Daniel Ricciardo (rated 5.5, penalized by the damage to the front wing repaired at the start).

CHARLES LECLERC 8 – He is "the first of the others": he pushes his Alfa Romeo Sauber to the limit and finishes the race in 7th place, while his teammate is limping (Ericsson, vote 5) in 13th position. And the Red fans are gloating...

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN 7 – On the weekend of his renewal with Haas, he was the protagonist of an extremely solid race: 8th place and four precious points from a constructors' championship perspective.

FORCE INDIA 6.5 – He redeems the disaster in Singapore with a double points finish, the result of finally rational race management.

MCLAREN AND WILLIAMS 4 – It is no longer surprising to see them struggling at the back of the group, even if a certain effect continues to be created due to the disarming frequency with which this now happens. Alone Carlos Sainz (score 4, race compromised by a collision with a Williams at the start) equals them, slipping between them in penultimate place.

RED BULL 3 – On the weekend of the long-awaited “C specification” of the Honda power unit, the Faenza team archives the Sochi stage with a double withdrawal due to technical problems.

Other pilots: Nico Hulkenberg (5) Romain Grosjean (5.5) Sergio Perez (6) Esteban Ocon (6.5) Brendon Hartley (6 ex officio), Pierre Gasly (6 ex officio), Fernando Alonso (5.5) Stoffel vandoorne (5) Lance stroll (6) Sergey sirotkin (5)