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Sochi. – Nico Rosberg dominated the Russian Grand Prix to take his fourth win in a row this season as Lewis Hamilton fought back to finish second.

Hamilton started 10th after an engine failure in qualifying but after repairs he drove a superlative race to limit the damage to his title hopes.

But Rosberg’s victory extended his championship lead to 43 points.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel crashed out on the first lap after being hit twice by Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat.

Hamilton closed dramatically on Rosberg in the mid-part of the race but had to back off to protect his engine.

Hamilton had dispatched Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen with a dive down the inside into Turn Five on lap seven and, after passing Williams driver Valtteri Bottas to take second on lap 19, he began to claw back Rosberg’s advantage.

First it was by small margins, but in six laps from lap 30 he reduced it from 12.1 seconds to 7.5.

As Hamilton began to close, Mercedes said the speed differential was down to Rosberg being in traffic. But he continued to close over a number of laps once the German was in clear air until being told that the engine had a water-pressure issue.

Hamilton immediately backed off, the problem stabilising after a handful of laps. The Briton cruised to finish in second, watched by the late-arriving Russian President Vladimir Putin, comfortably able to hold off Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.

The Finn took the final podium position, passing Bottas after stopping for fresh tyres four laps later.

Raikkonen’s team-mate Vettel was taken out by two separate clashes with Kvyat on the first lap.

The two had argued publicly after the previous race in China, when Vettel felt Kvyat’s dive down the inside at Turn One had been too aggressive and had precipitated a collision between the two Ferraris.

Most observers felt Vettel’s criticisms in Shanghai were unfair, but there was no doubt Kvyat was in the wrong in Sochi.

He rammed Vettel’s car up the rear at the second corner, and then again at the third, forcing Vettel into a spin into the barriers. Kvyat was given a 10-second stop-go penalty for his errors. — DailyMail.