Russian Grand Prix Tag

Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas withstood sustained late-race pressure from Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel to take his first Formula One victory after rising from third on the grid to take the lead at the race start. When the lights went out at the start, Bottas pounced, with the Finn getting a tow on the long run to the first corner to power around the outside of Räikkönen and Vettel to claim the lead. Through the first stint, Bottas built a slim advantage but after the drivers’ single stop for supersoft tyres Vettel beganRead More

Sebastian Vettel took his first pole position of 2017, as Kimi Raikkonen’s second place in qualifying for the Russian Grand Prix saw Ferrari score it’s first front-row lock-out since the French Grand Prix of 2008. All through practice at the Sochi Autodrom, Ferrari had the edge over Mercedes but in opening qualifying session Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton claimed the top two positions and in Q2 Bottas again took P1 to signal that the Silver Arrows were set to once again stamp their authority on the battle for grid supremacy.Read More

Ferrari maintained its advantage at the Sochi Autodrom with Sebastian Vettel topping the timesheet ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen. Vettel finished the session three tenths of a second ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas. In Friday’s second practice session the quickest Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was almost seven tenths adrift of Vettel’s pace on ultrasoft tyres and while the Finn close the gap to the four-time champion in the qualifying runs of this morning’s final practice session Mercedes still struggled to match Ferrari, with Bottas ending the session 0.337s behind Vettel.Read More

Ferrari continued to set the pace at the Sochi Autodrom with Sebastian Vettel heading up a Maranello one-two ahead of team-mate Kimi Räikkönen in second practice ahead of Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix. The Finn had been quickest in the morning session beating Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by four hundredths of a second on supersoft tyres. However, when the teams moved to the qualifying simulations and the ultrasoft compound in the afternoon, Vettel, who had finished in P5 in a scrappy opening session, made an emphatic step putting almost three tenths betweenRead More

Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen set the pace in the opening practice session for this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by 0.045 at the Sochi Autodrom. Bottas’ team-mate Lewis Hamilton was third, more than half a second off the pace. After running on soft tyres early on, Räikkönen’s time of 1:36.074 came midway through the session, with the Finn bolting on a set of supersofts to better the earlier efforts of the Mercedes drivers on the same compounds. Hamilton had made the early running but it was Bottas whoRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief For the fourth consecutive year, Formula One heads to Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix. Mercedes is undefeated since F1’s return there in 2014, with Lewis Hamilton taking the first two events and reigning F1 World Champion Nico Rosberg taking last year’s race. Our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid have brought together an on-board lap around the 3.634-mile circuit. Video Credit: Mobil 1 The GridRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The Russian and Canadian Grands Prix have signed contract extensions prolonging deals already in place. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dimitry Kozak broke the news to Russia’s state news agency Tass that the Sochi race now has a contract in place through 2025. It is a five year extension of the original deal that ran from 2014, when the Winter Olympics were held at some of the same facilities, through the year 2020. Canada too has announced a contract extension, an even longer one that will seeRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The tire compounds for the Bahrain and Russian Grand Prix, the third and fourth races of the 2017 Formula 1 season, have been announced by Pirelli. The third round will feature medium, soft and super-soft compound selections – the same as last season. For round four, the Italian manufacturer has decided to go with its traditional super-soft and soft rubber, but also added ultra-softs to Sochi circuit. 2017 will see a change in tires in F1, with a new era of regulations both bigger and widerRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Word on the street is that Daniil Kvyat’s days at Red Bull Racing may be numbered. His clumsy double punting of Sebastian Vettel in the opening of last weekend’s Russian Grand Prix may well be the undoing of the promising young Russian’s season. According to multiple reports Red Bull boss Helmut Marko, not one to show mercy, may swap Kvyat with Max Verstappen for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix. The move, which sounds unusually harsh even by Marko’s standards, may be more strategic than the kneeRead More

Mercedes are FIA Formula One Constructors’ Champions elect, with the team taking an unassailable lead in the team title standings after Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen received a post-race penalty for causing a collision in today’s Russian Grand Prix. Drivers’ Championship leader Lewis Hamilton won the race, but his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg dropped out of the race after seven laps with a throttle problem. With Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel finishing second and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen crossing the line in fifth place, Mercedes did not have a sufficient advantage in the standings toRead More