Valtteri Bottas won the Russian Grand Prix to score his maiden Formula One victory by .617 of a second over Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. The result came after 81 races in Formula One, but only his fourth with Mercedes. The Finn took over Nico Rosberg's seat at Mercedes, after The German retired at the end of the 2016 season. Bottas' triumph also kept Mercedes’ record at Sochi Autodrom intact, as the manufacturer won all the Russian GP to date, in 2014 and 2015 with Lewis Hamilton and the 2016 race with […]

Sebastian Vettel will start the Russian Grand Prix from pole position after scoring the fastest time during the qualifying session. His fast lap of 1:33.194 set a new track qualifying record and was .059 of a second better than runner-up and teammate Kimi Räikkönen. Nico Rosberg held the previous track qualifying record of 1:35.337 set last year in Q2, and Vettel’s pole-winning time beat it by 2.143 seconds. This is Vettel’s 47th career Formula One pole but his first since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix. […]

Daniel Ricciardo set the sixth fastest time in both practice sessions on Friday and reckons the team's performance can improve tomorrow, but not enough to overcome the top two teams in the championship standings. His team mate, Max Verstappen, finished FP1 on fourth and FP2 on fifth.  As Sochi is not one of Red Bull's favourite tracks, the team was already expecting a tough weekend here, the aim being to limit de damage and score as much as possible. The gap to Mercedes and Ferrari looks bigger in […]

Haas F1 Team recorded mixed feedback from their drivers after the first two practice session at Sochi, during which Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen not only prepared their cars' balance for qualifying but also got acclimated to new brake provider. While both drivers tested the Carbon Industrie brakes for two days following the Bahrain Grand Prix, Sochi marked the first time this year the new brake package was used in competition. The incredibly smooth surface of the Sochi Autodrom puts grip at a premium, and the inherit challenge of […]

Stoffel Vandoorne received a 15-place grid penalty for the Russian Grand Prix after his car was fitted with its fifth MGU-K and turbo-charger of the season, as a result of a difficult first practice session in Sochi.  Despite this mishap, McLaren had a productive day evaluating a handful of new components and conducting some aerodynamic development work. Fernando Alonso ended the day 12th quickest, with Vandoorne 16th after his final run on the Ultrasoft tyre was disrupted by a suspected slow puncture, which was traced to a faulty sensor […]

The fourth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship began with practice Friday at the Sochi Autodrom, as teams prepared for the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday. The fastest times in both FP1 and FP2 were set by Scuderia Ferrari drivers. Leading the way in FP1 was Kimi Räikkönen, whose fast lap of 1:36.074 was .045 of a second better than the next quickest driver, Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. Räikkönen’s quick lap was .737 of a second off the all-time fastest lap at the Sochi Autodrom – […]

Formula 1 teams are set to face a busy final practice session prior to qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix due to a disrupted Friday at the Sochi Autodrom. A spillage from a track cleaning machine early in the day caused the first session to be truncated, while the water sprayed onto the circuit in an attempt to remove the suspected diesel left drivers facing difficult conditions. The situation was exacerbated in the second session as rain left the circuit soaked and only eight drivers […]

Fernando Alonso is set to start his 250th Formula 1 race from the back of the grid in Russia after sustaining an array of engine penalties after Honda elected to fit new parts to his car. Honda has used its remaining four upgrade tokens on fitting new parts, focusing on the engine’s combustion chambers, the turbocharger and the MGU-H. Alonso's McLaren has been fitted with a 10th ICE [Internal Combustion Engine], 9th TC, 9th MGU-H and seventh CE [Control Electronics]. Alonso has thus picked up […]

We rate the drivers for their performance in the inaugural Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has admitted that their 2014 title glory has been tinged with sadness following Jules Bianchi's accident in the Japanese Grand Prix. Wolff's squad claimed their 13th win of the year at the Russian Grand Prix to move into an unassailable lead at the top of the Constructors' standings, but Bianchi's accident, which has left him with a diffuse axonal injury, remains in their mind. "This is a great moment for our team but, first of all, we must not forget what […]

That Formula 1’s first visit to Russia will remembered for an awkward and politically fuelled pre-podium room reflects the lack of action on-track. As the injured Jules Bianchi remained prominent in everyone’s thoughts, Formula 1 delivered one of its most action-free races in several seasons. Pre-weekend comparisons of the Sochi Autodrom to the loathed Valencia Street Circuit didn’t bode well, but even so, Lewis Hamilton’s ninth win of the year was achieved with consummate ease, while rivals behind him also had a low-key time. Pirelli’s […]

Valtteri Bottas says he was surprised by the move which Nico Rosberg made during the Russian Grand Prix. Bottas was running in second place when Rosberg, recovering from an error on the first lap, made the DRS-assisted move on his rival into Turn Two. Bottas admits that his Prime tyres took to long to get up to their working range after his sole pit stop. "The beginning seemed to be very good and I was not far off from Lewis [Hamilton] and everything was going […]