Vandoorne qualified 17th at the previous race in Bahrain, 16th in China and 18th in the Australian season-opener, with 20 cars on the grid.
By virtue of this show, Sahara Force India collected six points from the race and consolidate its fourth position at the Constructor's standings with 101 points.
Lewis Hamilton, once the young sensation of Formula One, is starting to feel his age as a new generation of drivers sweeps into the sport and old hands like Jenson Button and Felipe Massa head for the exit.
Formula One esports race was the third in a series designed to give fans something to watch after the COVID-19 pandemic stalled motorsport worldwide and left Formula One still waiting to start its season.
McLaren have no fears about losing Fernando Alonso to Mercedes after Formula One world champion Nico Rosberg's sudden retirement, the team's new executive director Zak Brown said.
The Thai's victory over his Ferrari rival gave Red Bull something to celebrate on a day that should have seen the return of Max Verstappen's home Dutch Grand Prix after a 35-year absence.
Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss the upcoming Sakhir Grand Prix.
Renault's Chinese test driver Guanyu Zhou won a virtual Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday as Formula One sought to entertain fans with esports action in a season stalled by the spreading coronavirus. The first seven rounds of the real championship have been cancelled or postponed, including the showcase Monaco Grand Prix, and it remains to be seen how many there will be ultimately.
The blue and papaya orange MCL34 car was unveiled by 34 team employees at the former champions' Woking headquarters before Sainz and 19-year-old British rookie team mate Lando Norris stepped up to admire it.
Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez will miss Sunday's British Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19, his Racing Point team said on Thursday. The Canadian-owned outfit said the 30-year-old, who is the first driver to test positive since the pandemic-hit season started this month, is "physically well and in good spirits".
Fernando Alonso hopes to be racing for McLaren at this weekend's Chinese Formula One Grand Prix but the Spaniard says he is taking nothing for granted ahead of a fitness test at the Shanghai circuit. The double world champion fractured his ribs in a crash at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 20 and the governing FIA's medical team then ruled him out of the subsequent race in Bahrain. He will undergo more tests at the Chinese circuit on Thursday before the third round of the 21-race season. "It was disappointing to be told I couldn't race in Bahrain, but I fully respected the decision of the FIA medical team," he said on Tuesday in a team preview for the race. "While I hope I'll be back in the cockpit on Friday (for practice), until I get the all-clear from the doctors to race, whenever that may be, we cannot assume anything.
The world of esports came to the rescue in the absence of a race in Melbourne or indeed of any single-seater series with the Formula E and IndyCar calendars also ravaged by the fast-spreading virus. Red Bull's Verstappen finished 11th in an 'All-star Esports battle' while McLaren's Norris finished sixth in another virtual race.
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took pole position for the showcase Monaco Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday with world championship leading German team mate Sebastian Vettel alongside him on the front row.
Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari one-two at the top of the timesheets in final practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Saturday, ending the stranglehold of previously dominant champions Mercedes. Vettel lapped the Sakhir Circuit in a best time of one minute 31.683 seconds, 0.040 faster than team mate Kimi Raikkonen on the supersoft tyres. It was the first time this season that any driver from outside the Mercedes pairing of Nico Rosberg and triple world champion Lewis Hamilton had ended practice on top. Hamilton was quickest in all three sessions in Australia two weeks ago while championship frontrunner Rosberg led his team mate in Bahrain practices one and two on Friday. Rosberg was third fastest in practice three, his time of 1:32.104 slower than Friday when he did 1:31.001, with Hamilton fourth.
Lewis Hamilton hopes fellow Briton Jenson Button will make a comeback and replace McLaren's Fernando Alonso at the Monaco Grand Prix when the Spaniard is away competing in the Indianapolis 500 in May.
The Briton will be stand-in driver for Fernando Alonso at Monaco GP
McLaren driver Fernando Alonso has been cleared to race in Sunday's Formula One Chinese Grand Prix after undergoing further medical tests at the Shanghai circuit following the opening practice session on Friday.
Hamilton wrapped up his record-equalling seventh title in Turkey last month and picked up his 11th win of the season in Bahrain on Sunday. Mercedes have already won the constructors' title for an unprecedented seventh year in a row.
Lewis Hamilton won in Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and took championship lead.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
Britain's Jenson Button will stand in for Fernando Alonso at next month's Monaco Formula One Grand Prix while the Spaniard competes in the Indianapolis 500 on the same day, McLaren announced on Friday.
Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton took pole position for the French Grand Prix on Saturday with Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas alongside him on the front row.
Jenson Button says he has no plans to race again in Formula One after Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, even though McLaren are keeping the door open for a possible return in 2018. "I go into this weekend thinking it is going to be my last race. I think that is the best way to be," the 2009 world champion told reporters on Thursday. "At this moment in time I do not want to be racing in Formula One past this race. I think of this as my last race and hopefully everybody else does as well."
Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the top of the timesheets for the first free practice session at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, while McLaren's hopes of a clean start were tempered by reliability issues.
Sebastian Vettel trimmed Lewis Hamilton's Formula One lead to 17 points with eight races remaining.
Media reports suggested the McLaren driver, whose wife is Japanese, was likely to announce at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix that he would be leaving Formula One at the end of the year.
Former world champion Kimi Raikkonen has renewed his contract with Ferrari and will race for them again next season, the Formula One team said.
Aggrieved McLaren boss Ron Dennis says Formula One teams must decide whether a driver is fit to race, rather than the governing body's doctors, after Fernando Alonso was barred from the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes stormed to pole position with a scorching lap in qualifying for the Malaysian Grand Prix as title rival Sebastian Vettel was left stranded in the garage and will start dead last.
The Briton lapped the Albert Park circuit in a searing one minute and 21.164 seconds to cross the line 0.664 seconds clear of Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
The Mercedes driver was fastest in every phase of qualifying to take pole with a time of one minute 42.553 seconds, a track record.
Hamilton has won the last three races, out of four so far in this COVID-19 affected season, and will start as favourite again.
The next time the four-time world champion will get behind the wheel will be for first Friday practice at Melbourne's Albert Park on March 23.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel was fastest in Formula One's pre-season testing at a chilly Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday while Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton took one for the team and "sacrificed" his scheduled stint.
Five-times Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes front-row lockout with a blistering pole position at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday.
Lewis Hamilton took a big step towards clinching his fifth Formula One title after putting his Mercedes on pole position at the U.S. Grand Prix on Saturday with Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel starting fifth.
Lewis Hamilton took a huge stride towards a fourth Formula One title on Sunday with victory in an incident-packed Singapore Grand Prix after Ferrari title rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out at the start.
Team mate Sebastian Vettel was second fastest to complete the front-row sweep, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
McLaren's Fernando Alonso has been ruled out of Sunday's Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix on medical grounds following his huge crash in the Australian season-opener on March 20. The governing International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that the decision had been taken after a medical examination at the Sakhir circuit on Thursday. "Two sets of chest CT scans were compared and it was decided that there was insufficient resolution of the signs to allow him to compete on safety grounds," the statement said.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won the Bahrain Grand Prix to go seven points clear at the top of the Formula One standings on Sunday, with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton staging a late charge to finish second.
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