Hamilton, Bottas's team mate, started in eighth place after a grid penalty triggered by an unscheduled gearbox change and finished fourth.
Champions Mercedes are chasing a sixth successive double, and Lewis Hamilton his sixth drivers' title, but the task looks tougher than ever.
Germany's Sebastian Vettel won an emotional Hungarian Grand Prix for Ferrari and the late Jules Bianchi on Sunday after a crazy race that turned into a rare nightmare for champions Mercedes despite Lewis Hamilton increasing his overall lead.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's Russian Grand Prix (listed in championship order):
Win in Brazil on Sunday, win the Formula One title: Nico Rosberg's task sounds simple enough but is a lot harder to achieve.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen went fastest in Styrian Grand Prix practice, on Friday, while Australian Daniel Ricciardo crashed his Renault
Formula One offered fans a glimpse of the future on Thursday with a presentation of what cars will look like next season when the sport undergoes a rules revamp to make racing closer and more exciting.
Stewards said the sixth new turbocharger exceeded the driver's permitted allocation, triggering the automatic drop.
Sebastian Vettel may need to rely on a stroke of luck at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday if the German wants to keep alive his diminishing hopes of claiming a fifth Formula One title.
Hubert Hurkacz battled back from a set and a break down to beat Casper Ruud 5-7 6-3 6-2 on Saturday and reach the Canadian Masters final.
Vettel, who won from pole position last year in Canada to revive Ferrari's title hopes, will be hoping for the same on Sunday with world championship leader Hamilton, chasing a record equalling seventh win in Montreal, starting alongside him.
Formula One championship leader Nico Rosberg stormed to pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix in a mixed Saturday qualifying session for Mercedes, with world champion Lewis Hamilton left at the back of the grid after engine trouble prevented him setting a time.
Ferrari's times were eye-catching, and quicker than anything from last year's weather-affected first four-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Nico Rosberg led from pole to flag to win the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday and celebrate his 200th Formula One race by retaking the championship lead from Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton. After a chaotic start that brought out a safety car on the opening lap, Rosberg stayed clear of a late charging Daniel Ricciardo in a Red Bull at the Marina Bay Street Circuit as Hamilton completed the podium in third place.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday.
'The phenomenal Max Verstappen was both sloppy and superb in Germany, getting caught out during the first two starts, and even spinning his car around to give the crowd something to gasp at with a Batmobile-esque 360 degree turn. 'After Hamilton crashed and Verstappen sniffed victory, though, he pounced hard, put his foot down, and took a deserved race win,' says Rediff's F1 columnist Raja Sen.
The race has been won from pole eight times out of 11 editions.
The New Zealand selectors on Monday retained almost the same side for the second Test against India which suffered a humiliating 10-wicket mauling in the first Test in Hamilton. Brent Arnel is the only one to be omitted from the squad as the fast bowler, who was released to play in the domestic competition, has been laid low by a side strain.
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.
Beating Mercedes is a tough job but someone has got to do it and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo stepped forward again on Sunday as the man who can.
For the first time in F1 history, two four-time champions are on the same grid and vying for their fifth title.
In an afternoon of heroes, Sebastian Vettel played the Bond villain at Silverstone, notes Raja Sen, who returns to Rediff.com as F1 columnist!
Australian Grand Prix was cancelled due to worries about the coronavirus outbreak, after a McLaren team member tested positive before the first practice session was scheduled to get underway at Albert Park.
Australian Daniel Ricciardo won the Belgian Grand Prix for Red Bull on Sunday while Mercedes title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton provided the drama of the day by colliding on the second lap.
Charles Leclerc seized pole position for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel who completed a front row lockout for Ferrari.
Nico Rosberg was hoping to savour, but it must have tasted sweeter than the champagne he drank out of Daniel Ricciardo's boot as the German inched closer to his maiden Formula One title.
Team by team analysis of Sunday's US Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.
The German was joined on the front row of the grid by reigning world champion and closest rival Lewis Hamilton, in a Mercedes.
Nico Rosberg eased to victory at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday with a drive that handed Mercedes their third straight constructors championship and extended the German's lead in his pursuit of a maiden Formula One title.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel won an incident-packed Singapore Formula One Grand Prix on Sunday after world champion Lewis Hamilton retired early for the first time this season and an intruder set heart rates fluttering when he strolled on to the track.
Max Verstappen gave himself a perfect 20th birthday present by winning the last Malaysian Grand Prix on Sunday, while Lewis Hamilton stretched his Formula One world championship lead to 34 points.
The 31-year-old German fell 30 points behind race-winner Hamilton after a collision with the Briton left him struggling to finish fourth in Monza last time out, one of several races where Vettel has frittered away a position of authority.
World championship leader Nico Rosberg ended the opening day of practice for the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in a strong position after setting the pace in both sessions on Friday.
Formula One's Australian season-opener lacked a vital ingredient, overtaking, and it will take years to fix the problem, managing director for motorsports Ross Brawn said on Monday.
Team mate Sebastian Vettel was second fastest to complete the front-row sweep, with championship leader Lewis Hamilton third for Mercedes.
Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong had ruled his team with an iron grip, according to his own biographers, who exposes the lies, doping and bullying behind the sport in a new book.
Nico Rosberg stormed to his sixth pole position in a row and denied Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton a landmark 50th in Formula One's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday.
Outgoing Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel and Australian team mate Daniel Ricciardo were sent to the back of the grid at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Saturday after stewards ruled Red Bull had used an illegal front wing.
Charles Leclerc put Ferrari on pole position for their home Italian Formula One Grand Prix on Saturday in a qualifying session that ended in farce and with drivers under investigation.
Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton for the first time this season and cut the Formula One world champion's lead to 20 points with a commanding victory in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.
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