Daniel Ricciardo has recorded a Russian Grand Prix best, finishing fifth, as Valtteri Bottas got his first win since the season opener in July.
It was a strong performance from Ricciardo, who despite being handed a five second penalty, stayed positive throughout.
Starting in P5, the Motorsport Australia ambassador had a strong start to the race and got as high as third on the first lap before settling back into fifth where he stayed during the early safety car period.
After dropping down the order as a result of his pit stop, Ricciardo worked his way back up the field before Renault team orders allowed him to overtake teammate Esteban Ocon on lap 25 to move into seventh.
However after going off track on turn two and not using the appropriate return route during the overtake, Riccardo was then handed a five second penalty for not following the Race Director's Instructions.
Not letting it get to him, Ricciardo then quickly overtook Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Kvyat who pitted and then spent the remainder of the race building a healthy gap over Charles Leclerc, which he achieved comfortably, finishing almost 12 seconds ahead of the sixth-placed Ferrari.
Ricciardo while pleased with the result, was still looking for more after a strong weekend which saw him finish as high as second during one of the weekend’s three practice sessions.
“I am happy with the outcome but there were moments in the race where I was upset with myself,” Ricciardo said post-race.
“There were a few errors on my part but I didn’t let it get to me and I think that was important.
“I knew I made myself some mistakes but I felt I quickly snapped out of it and recovered well. I’ll admit I wasn’t perfect today that’s for sure.
“But overall I am happy with the result. Team did great with and seventh. Reliability is good. It was a good one.”
As for Bottas, it was a consistent effort from the Finn who finished the race ahead of Max Verstappen and teammate Lewis Hamilton, after the Championship leader received a 10 second time penalty for illegal practice starts prior to the race start.
"Lewis had a penalty, and once I had clean air, the pace was really awesome and I felt like I could control everything," Bottas said.
"Never give up. It’s nice to get a win again, it’s been a while, I need to try and keep the momentum. There are quite a few races to go and I’ll keep pushing.”
The Formula 1 World Championship now heads to Germany for the Eifel Grand Prix at the famous Nürburgring on 11 October.