Pierre Gasly has called for changes to the engine penalty system after a farcical Q2 played out during qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman, along with both Red Bull drivers opted not to run in the second part of Saturday's session as there was little point in putting any further stress on the engine given their starting positions were already known.

“For me the main thing is you need to find a solution to give different penalties,” Gasly said.

“When you look at the qualifying where in Q2 all five cars from 11th to 15th didn’t run I think that looks really silly.

“The regulation at the moment doesn’t push the team to run the car in qualifying.”

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Unintentionally, however, Renault saw P11 and P12 as guaranteed and also opted not to send their drivers out to ensure they had a free choice of tyres on which to start the race.

This proved the perfect call two weeks ago in Singapore, as those who started on the Hypersoft became stuck behind Sergey Sirotkin, while those just outside the top 10 all moved up into the points.

“I think they knew that they didn’t have the pace and they prefer to start on Ultrasoft or Soft tyres compared to the Hyper which will be pretty tough to keep alive in the race,” the Toro Rosso driver said.

“They knew that without driving they will start 11th and 12th because we will not run anyway in Q2.

“Let’s see if it pays off – if they finish fifth and sixth tomorrow it was the right choice.”

Lewis Hamilton maintained Mercedes' place at the top of the timesheets with a new lap record in final practice at the Russian Grand Prix.

In the final series of low fuel runs before qualifying, traffic and track limits were the main stories almost every driver had to back out of at least one flying lap after running wide in the middle sector.

With plenty of run-offs and only Astroturf as a deterrent, cars were running off in the medium-speed sequence of bends between Turns 4 and 10 perhaps leading to some action by the FIA before qualifying.

None of this could stop Hamilton as he posted a 1m33.067s to go a tenth faster than Sebastian Vettel's pole time from last year and hold a two-tenths advantage over teammate Valtteri Bottas.

Ferrari still appears to be lacking pace with Vettel six-tenths down in third and unable to get a clean first lap before losing time in the final sector especially as his tyres lose grip.

Red Bull ran fifth and sixth with Max Verstappen ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, though both will drop to the back of the grid due to engine penalties meaning their running in qualifying will likely be limited to just Q1.

That offers a great chance to the midfield teams to start higher up and a great fight is emerging between Force India, Haas and Charles Leclerc, with the Monegasque claiming the 'best of the rest' position in FP3.

Esteban Ocon ran eighth with Kevin Magnussen between himself and teammate Sergio Perez as the Mexican rounded out the top 10.

Renault can't be ruled out either with Carlos Sainz 11th while Toro Rosso has reverted back to an old spec Honda engine for the rest of the weekend and Pierre Gasly dropped to 12th as a result.

In total, eight-tenths covered Leclerc in P7 to teammate Marcus Ericsson P15 and with varying amounts of additional engine power to come, the order could well change again when it matters most.

At the back, both Williams' led both McLaren's as Sergey Sirotkin maintained his two-tenths advantage over partner Lance Stroll.

Stoffel Vandoorne also enjoyed a rare finish ahead of Fernando Alonso but the Spaniard would use the Ultrasoft tyre as he prepares to join Red Bull and Toro Rosso in those taking engine penalties.

Rather embarrassingly for the British team, however, at this current pace, Alonso might actually be starting higher up the grid because of those falling back than he would on pure pace.

Full results from Practice 3 can be seen below:

Lewis Hamilton admits he was caught unaware by Valtteri Bottas' sudden improvement in pace in Q3 as he had to settle for second in Russian Grand Prix qualifying.

The Briton had led the second and third practice sessions as well as Q1 and Q2 before being unexpectedly dislodged by his Finnish teammate at Sochi, missing out on the chance to secure the Mercedes qualifying battle for this season.

He would come up just 0.004s shy on his first attempt before running off track at Turn 7 on his second with Bottas going on to improve by another tenth of a second.

“I don’t know where it really got away from me in Q3, but I struggled a little bit,and Valtteri obviously picked up quite a bit of pace,” Hamilton said.

“I think the middle sector was really where I was slacking, but anyways it’s great to have a 1-2.”

Later in the press conference, Motorsport.com queried why it was the championship leader appeared to be struggling more than most through the series of sweeping corners around the Olympic arenas.

“Just generally throughout the weekend it’s been a bit up and down through that sector, but I’ve been quick in the first and third," Lewis replied.

“I did push quite a lot because I knew also he [Bottas] would gain time, so it was not three tenths, it was like half a second I needed to improve.

“I just over-egged it a little bit. I think I picked up a little bit of dirt on my outside tyres and then there was less grip there for the next corner.”

In a show of respect Hamilton ended by praising his teammate for the "great job" he did, Sunday is where it matters most, however, and the cloud of team orders in his favour will likely lurk over the race.

Should Esteban Ocon fail to find a seat for 2019, Force India has suggested he could stay on as reserve driver next season.

It is the clearest admission yet that Lance Stroll will line-up alongside Sergio Perez next season with no official announcement yet made as the process plays out behind the scenes.

“Hopefully he’ll find something else,” said team boss Otmar Szafnauer. “But we’ll help him, he’s very good.

“You bide your time for a year. How long was [Kimi] Raikkonen out? Two years? He came back and still did well. Esteban is young enough and talented enough.”

Efforts are still ongoing with talks taking place with Williams and Mercedes may well consider a third driver role for the Frenchman if no alternatives become available.

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Even so, Force India insist he would be more than welcome to stay as a reserve and participate in test days.

“That could happen too," the American chief said.

“None of that’s decided, but if you’re simulator work the only way to really develop the simulator and the car is to be in the car every once in a while, because you’re actually simulating the car.

“You need to be current, otherwise your usefulness as a simulator driver decreases.”

Sebastian Vettel is hoping for a repeat of last year as he looks to claim what appears to be an unlikely win at the Russian Grand Prix.

Ferrari simply haven't had the pace of Mercedes around the Sochi Autodrom and the result was the German finishing over half a second down on the pole time set by Valtteri Bottas.

Starting third, however, Vettel knows not all is lost with he and the Finn having been in the opposite positions in 2017.

“I just spoke to Valtteri and reminded him what happened last year, so maybe we can turn it around,” he said, with Bottas using a slipstream to move into the lead by Turn 2.

“It would be nice, it depends on the start, the initial jump, and then you know where you are and we’ll see what we can do for the first corner but after that it’s a long race, so tricky one but for sure if there’s a gap we’ll go for it.”

Optimising the Hypersoft tyre has been the main issue all weekend for the Italian team as they lacked pace in the technical final sector but both their drivers as well as the two Mercedes will be using the Ultrasoft for the first stint.

“It was important to get as close as possible to them and we’ll see but it’s true they’ve been very quick so we’ll see tomorrow," Vettel continued. “It is a long race, we’ve seen the tyres are very important.

“Today I think it should have been a  bit closer, the gap, but [we had] not enough to be a threat.

“I had a tiny mistake in the last sector but I knew I had to improve by half a second. I had to try, it didn’t work, but I’m quite happy. The car felt alright, so that makes me positive for Sunday.”

Sebastian Vettel admits his Ferrari team has work to do after only managing fifth fastest in Friday practice at the Russian Grand Prix.

The German led the opening session in Sochi in the morning, but ultimately wound up half a second behind championship rival Lewis Hamilton with both Red Bulls also getting in front.

Though they will fade away with engine penalties, Vettel knows his team need to catch up in one key area if they are to compete with Mercedes.

“Obviously, we looked quite far away from the rest of the field so not ideal,” he began.

“We were struggling a bit for one lap, but also on the long run, I think we went through our tyres a bit harder and quicker than the rest so we need to have a look.

“Just looking at ourselves it wasn’t a good day. I think in terms of the car there is more that we need to get to.”

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A spin during his later race simulation was perhaps the best summation of his day, but also there was more frustration with his team as he complained about traffic over the radio.

“That is Friday for you. Sometimes we have better Fridays than others,” he said playing it down.

“I think the first run wasn’t a particularly clean run but it was good enough, we struggled with the tyres, with and without traffic.

“Certainly the traffic doesn’t help but I think we have some catching up to do.”

Valtteri Bottas made it clear he wants to win Sunday's Russian Grand Prix after claiming pole position but Mercedes may have other ideas.

The Finn, who is a Sochi specialist, maintained his record of never being beaten by a teammate in qualifying as he put one over Lewis Hamilton in Q3 to take just his second pole of the season, with his first coming in Austria.

“Yeah it was a nice lap,” Bottas said on the grid afterwards. "In the end, I managed to improve a little bit and I don’t know other than he [Hamilton] aborted his lap, but yeah it feels good.

“Still a little bit of the shakes, it take a lot of concentration but its good.”

His lap of 1m31.386s marked a new circuit record around the Sochi Autodrom and saw him almost a tenth-and-a-half clear of Hamilton, who aborted his final lap after running wide at Turn 7.

Last year, it was a rapid start from third which allowed him to go on and take what was his first F1 win and now 17 months on, he hopes to secure his fourth.

“My approach to the race tomorrow is definitively to try and win the race – you cannot have any other goal starting from pole,” Bottas declared.

“It’s just going to be the aim. As a team we’re fighting for both championships."

There is, however, the spectre of having to be the 'wingman' once again and help Hamilton in his bid for a fifth title.

“Lewis is leading the championship by quite a gap to Sebastian and a very big gap from me, so we have to keep those things in mind," he admitted.

“My approach, starting the race, is trying to win, but we’ll see how it goes.”

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Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff appeared to make it clear there would be no other choice but to enforce team orders if the circumstances required.

“It’s going to be difficult to tell him that now after putting on pole," the Austrian said to Sky Sports. "But we will have the conversation on Sunday morning and see how the race is going to pan out.”

In the meantime, it is a rare high moment in what has been a tough season for the 29-year-old.

“Valtteri needed to gain some confidence and that was just what the doctor ordered,” Wolff added. “He knows he has to extract everything to beat Lewis.”

Toro Rosso has confirmed Daniil Kvyat will make a return to Formula 1 with the team in 2019.

The news had been expected with Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko confirming an announcement was coming in Sochi and reports that the Russian was seen at Monza signing the deal.

Still, it marks a dramatic U-turn by the Austrian who dropped Kvyat a year ago, bringing to an end a dismal year-and-a-half which had begun with his demotion back to the junior team from Red Bull after a poor race in Sochi in 2016.

Even so, the 24-year-old is delighted to be back.

"First of all, I would like to thank Red Bull and Toro Rosso for giving me this opportunity to race in F1 again and I am particularly pleased to be returning to a team I know very well," he said.

"Toro Rosso has always made me feel at home and I’m sure it will still be the same next season."

Since his final appearance with the Faenza-based squad at the United States GP a year ago, Kvyat has been with Ferrari as a development driver and believes these past 12 months have been beneficial.

"Even if my duties were primarily simulator based, I’ve learnt a lot, and I now feel stronger and better prepared than when I left Toro Rosso," he claimed.

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Team boss Franz Tost also believes the team can expect a much different Kvyat on the grid next season compared to that which was given his marching orders.

"Daniil is a high skilled driver with fantastic natural speed, which he has proven several times in his career," said the Austrian.

"There were some difficult situations he had to face in the past, but I’m convinced that having had time to mature as a person away from the races will help him show his undeniable capabilities on track.

"We’ll push very hard to provide him with a good package, and I feel the best is yet to come from his side.

"That’s why we are happy to welcome him back to our team, to start a successful season together."

Valtteri Bottas produced another Sochi special to beat Lewis Hamilton and claim pole as the domination of Mercedes continued in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton appeared to have everything under control in the first two segments but in the all-important top 10 shoot-out it was the Finn who took the early advantage by 0.004s and the Briton couldn't respond, running wide on his second attempt.

Ferrari continued to lag behind the Silver Arrows but Sebastian Vettel can be very satisfied with third and may well fancy his chances to get ahead on the long run to Turn 2 at the start.

Kimi Raikkonen was close on his final flying lap but ran wide at the final corner ensuring he will start fourth.

Red Bull's grid penalties meant the midfield had more positions on offer inside the top 10 and it was a superb effort by Kevin Magnussen on his last lap to snatch P5 for Haas.

Esteban Ocon followed in sixth as Charles Leclerc secured his best qualifying result of the season in seventh for Sauber.

Their respective teammates would round out the top 10 with Sergio Perez eighth ahead of Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson rounding out the Q3 places.

The Q2 order was decided by default as Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly had little point in running due to their engine penalties.

However, Renault shocked many by seeing P11 and P12 were guaranteed for their drivers and, therefore, also stayed in the garage ensuring a free choice of tyres for the start on Sunday.

Earlier, Red Bull had hinted at their speed in Q1 though, beating both Ferraris to finish third and fourth although it is unlikely those positions would have been retained in the later sessions as the engines were turned up.

At the back, the five slowest drivers from Practice 3 remained with Brendon Hartley joining the two McLaren's and two Williams' in the bottom five.

The Kiwi and Fernando Alonso, who were 16th and 17th fastest, will drop to the back, however, promoting Sergey Sirotkin to 13th for his home race, having out-qualified teammate Lance Stroll by eight-tenths of a second in the Williams battle.

Indeed, the Canadian was the slowest overall with Stoffel Vandoorne ahead in what will be 14th place.

Alonso will actually move up one position from that he finished to P16 despite his penalty with Gasly, Hartley, Ricciardo and Verstappen starting from the back two rows.

Full results from qualifying can be seen below:

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has suggested recent comments made by junior driver Dan Ticktum prove he has a lot of maturing to do before he can consider Formula 1.

The young Briton was thought to be an option for Toro Rosso in 2019 if he could amass enough superlicence points but that now appears unlikely after falling 49 points behind Mick Schumacher in the European F3 series following last weekend's meeting in Austria.

Later, Ticktum would launch a tirade against the German hinting his recent run of wins was suspicious and that he was being disadvantaged because his name isn't Schumacher.

“He is a character,” Horner told Sky Sports in Sochi responding to the claims. “He sometimes engages mouth before brain.

“He is a talented driver, but he’s got more development to do before he is anywhere near F1 level.

“He is fast, but he needs to polish off a few rough edges.”

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On the contrary, the Red Bull chief was more than happy to praise Schumacher for his recent run of five consecutive wins, which was only ended by a second place in the third race in Spielberg.

“In Formula 3 Mick Schumacher has been doing a great job," he said. "PREMA have been particularly dominant in the second half of the season.

“They have obviously got it together and he is the man to beat. It very much looks like he is favourite to win that championship now.”

With Ticktum out of the running for Toro Rosso then, it would appear that Pascal Wehrlein is a likely contender for the second seat alongside Daniil Kvyat, who has arrived in Sochi ahead of an anticipated announcement of his return.

Although, some doubt may have been cast after the German was seen testing a Mahindra Formula E car on Friday.