The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team have secured their second consecutive World Constructors’ Championship title after Kimi Raikkonen has handed a post-race time penalty for causing a collision with Valtteri Bottas.
Mercedes had to outscore the Scuderia Ferrari team by three points to secure the championship, and had looked to have fallen short despite Lewis Hamilton’s victory as Sebastian Vettel finished second and Raikkonen fifth in Sochi.
However, Raikkonen’s ill-judged move on Bottas heading into turn four on the final lap saw the Finn handed a thirty second time penalty, meaning he was relegated to eighth, and thus handed the title to Mercedes; Raikkonen also had three points put on his Superlicence.
The penalty moves Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Russian driver Daniil Kvyat fifth in his home Grand Prix, with Felipe Nasr an excellent sixth for the Sauber F1 Team and Pastor Maldonado seventh for the Lotus F1 Team.
Another driver to be penalised following the race was Fernando Alonso, with the McLaren-Honda driver losing his tenth place finish due to a five second penalty for track limit offences, with Max Verstappen inheriting the position as a result in his Scuderia Toro Rosso.
