Formula 1 championship leader Lewis Hamilton extended his advantage in the drivers' standings by completing a pole-to-flag victory at the first ever Russian Grand Prix in Sochi this afternoon.

The Englishman was overtaken by teammate and championship rival Nico Rosberg on turn two of the opening lap, but the German outbraked himself and locked up his tyres before illegally running off the track to pass Hamilton.

Rosberg had to give the place back to his stablemate and then pitted at the end of the opening lap because of the damage that had been done to his tyres.

He managed to fight his way back up to second place by the finish and a Mercedes one-two guarantees them a first-ever Constructors' Championship with three races of the season remaining.

For in-form Hamilton, it is the second time this season that he has won four races in a row, and his 31st victory in F1 puts him level with Nigel Mansell for most F1 victories by a British driver.

The 2008 world champion goes 17 points clear of Rosberg in the standings, with races in the United States, Brazil and Abu Dhabi to come.

Third on the podium was Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, with McLaren duo Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen completing the top five.

Before the race started there was a moment's silence for Jules Bianchi, the Marussia driver who is still in hospital in Japan after suffering a terrible crash at Suzuka last week.

1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
3. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)
4. Jenson Button (McLaren)
5. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren)
6. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
7. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull)
8. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)
9. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
10. Sergio Perez (Force India)
11. Felipe Massa (Williams)
12. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India)
13. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)
14. Daniel Kvyat (Toro Rosso)
15. Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber)
16. Adrian Sutil (Sauber)
17. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)
18. Pastor Maldonado (Lotus)
19. Marcus Ericsson (Caterham)
20. Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham)
21. Max Chilton (Marussia)