Formula 1: Three drivers facing elimination in 2018 Russian Grand Prix

SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 16: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 leads Kimi Raikkonen of Finland driving the (7) Scuderia Ferrari SF71H on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 16, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 16: Valtteri Bottas driving the (77) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team Mercedes WO9 leads Kimi Raikkonen of Finland driving the (7) Scuderia Ferrari SF71H on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Singapore at Marina Bay Street Circuit on September 16, 2018 in Singapore. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

Three drivers are set to face mathematical elimination from championship contention in the 16th race of the 2018 Formula 1 season, the Russian Grand Prix.

Heading into the 16th race of the 21-race 2018 Formula 1 season, the Russian Grand Prix, at the 18-turn, 3.634-mile (5.848-kilometer) Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia, three drivers are set to face  mathematical elimination from championship contention.

Just five drivers are still mathematically eligible to win the 2018 Formula 1 driver championship, but only two of them are guaranteed to remain mathematically eligible past the next race.

The three drivers who are set to face mathematical elimination from championship contention in the Russian Grand Prix are Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

Because of the fact that a maximum of 25 points are on the table for each driver in each of the remaining six races of this season, all drivers who are not within 150 points of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who currently leads the driver standings with 281 points, have been eliminated from championship contention.

Drivers must remain within 125 points of Hamilton following the Russian Grand Prix to remain in championship contention since just five races will remain this season once this race is in the books.

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Raikkonen is set to enter the Russian Grand Prix in third place in the driver standings with 174 points. He trails Hamilton by 107 points. He must avoid being outscored by Hamilton by more than 17 points in this race to avoid being mathematically eliminated from championship contention in this race.

Raikkonen cannot fall 125 points behind Hamilton because of the fact that he cannot beat Hamilton in a situation involving a tiebreaker. Hamilton has already earned seven victories this season while Raikkonen hasn’t earned any. With just six races remaining this season, Raikkonen cannot possibly earn seven victories this year.

Bottas is set to enter the Russian Grand Prix in fourth place in the driver standings with 171 points. He trails Hamilton by 110 points. He must avoid being outscored by Hamilton by more than 14 points in this race to avoid being mathematically eliminated from championship contention in this race.

Bottas, like Raikkonen, cannot fall 125 points behind Hamilton because of the fact that he cannot beat Hamilton in a situation involving a tiebreaker. Hamilton has already earned seven victories this season while Bottas hasn’t earned any. With just six races remaining this season, Bottas cannot possibly earn seven victories in 2018.

Verstappen is set to enter the Russian Grand Prix in fifth place in the driver standings with 148 points. He trails Hamilton by 133 points. He must outscore Hamilton by more than eight points in this race to avoid being mathematically eliminated from championship contention in this race.

Verstappen, like Raikkonen and Bottas, cannot fall 125 points behind Hamilton. While Verstappen has won one race this season meaning that he can possibly tie Hamilton’s victory total of seven over the course of the season’s final six races, he cannot beat Hamilton in a situation involving a tiebreaker.

Even if Verstappen reaches seven victories, Hamilton has racked up three second place finishes while Verstappen has racked up just two so far this year. If Verstappen wins all six of the season’s remaining races, he cannot add to his second place finish total.

Aside of Hamilton, the only driver guaranteed to remain mathematically eligible to win the driver championship after the Russian Grand Prix is Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. He currently sits in second place in the driver standings with 241 points and trails Hamilton by 40 points. At worst, he will exit this race trailing Hamilton by 65 points.

Will any of these three drivers remain mathematically eligible to win the 2018 Formula 1 driver championship following the conclusion of the Russian Grand Prix? If so, which drivers will remain championship eligible and which drivers will be mathematically eliminated from championship contention after this race? Be sure to tune in to ESPN2 at 7:10 a.m. ET on Sunday, September 30 for the live broadcast of it.