The Finn was in charge right from the start in Sochi, vaulting from the second row of the grid to grab the lead into the opening turn from pole-sitter Vettel.

Vettel and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen had made it a Ferrari front row lockout after qualifying, and while Vettel wasn't able to take full advantage of his pole positon in the race, the pace of the Ferraris was strong throughout.

Even though neither Ferrari driver had an answer for Bottas, they both had the measure of Lewis Hamilton, who finished a low-key fourth for Mercedes.

While Hamilton never really figured, the day belonged to team-mate Bottas, who delivered a dominant and polished drive, under significant pressure, to win his first F1 grand prix victory in what was his 81st start.

Early in the race Bottas was able to extend his margin over Vettel sufficiently so that the Ferrari driver had no chance to undercut the leader during their pitstops. Instead, Vettel was left to try to extend the length of the stint on his first set of tyres, so that he might have fresher tyres with which to challenge at the end of the race.

The strategy almost worked but Bottas, who asked for 'less talking' on the team radio in the closing laps, maintained his focus and held on to win.

Behind Raikkonen and Hamilton at some distance was Max Verstappen, on a day when the Red Bull team emphatically did not possess front running pace. From a very early stage in the race, Verstappen’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo did not possess any brakes, the Australian retiring during the opening laps.

Despite coming up short at the end, second place for Vettel sees him increase his points lead over Hamilton to 13. Bottas’ victory sees the Finn close to within 10 points of Hamilton.

The next round of the World Drivers’ Championship takes place in Barcelona on May 15.