2019 Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix Preview
Привет любителям быстрой машины! Добро пожаловать в наш предварительный просмотр Гран-при России Формулы-1 2019 года. Да, пришло время снова взять водку на лед, сломать старую шляпу ушанки и согнуть колени, готовясь к казацкому! Верховный лидер товарищ Путин и Центральный Комитет Великой Коммунистической Партии одобрили шестой ежегодный показ богатства на Черноморской площадке в Сочи, чтобы представить миру доказательства великих достижений и успехов Матери России. За ваше здоровье товарищи!
Privet lyubitelyam bystroy mashiny! Dobro pozhalovat’ v nash predvaritel’nyy prosmotr Gran-pri Rossii Formuly-1 2019 goda. Da, prishlo vremya snova vzyat’ vodku na led, slomat’ staruyu shlyapu ushanki i sognut’ koleni, gotovyas’ k kazatskomu! Verkhovnyy lider tovarishch Putin i Tsentral’nyy Komitet Velikoy Kommunisticheskoy Partii odobrili shestoy yezhegodnyy pokaz bogatstva na Chernomorskoy ploshchadke v Sochi, chtoby predstavit’ miru dokazatel’stva velikikh dostizheniy i uspekhov Materi Rossii. Za vashe zdorov’ye tovarishchi!
Hello fast car fans! Welcome to our preview for the 2019 Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix. Yes, it is time once again to get the vodka on ice, break out your old ushanka hat and flex your knees in preparation for the kazatsky! Supreme Leader Comrade Putin and the Central Committee of the Great Communist Party have approved the sixth annual display of ostentatious wealth in the Black Sea playground of Sochi to provide the world with proof of Mother Russia’s great accomplishments and success. To your health Comrades!
Russian Grand Prix Trivia
[Local custom demands that for each piece of trivia you find even slightly interesting you are required to drink a shot of vodka. You do not have to smash your glass in a convenient fireplace each time though – I doubt anyone has enough glasses for all that Hollywood nonsense!]
The first Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix took place on 12 October 2014. The race was won by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who was midway through a five-race winning streak that would ultimately see him clinch that year’s drivers’ title that year.
Of the 15 podium places that have been up for grabs in Sochi to date, 14 have been claimed by just five drivers: Lewis Hamilton (4), Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas (3 each), Nico Rosberg and Kimi Räikkönen (2 each). The only other driver to force his way onto the rostrum is podium poach Sergio Pérez. In a hybrid era dominated by Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, Pérez has been the most regular podium finisher from beyond the top three teams, with the Mexican securing five of his eight podiums since 2015 in Russia. One of his finest came at the 2015 race in Russia when Pérez maximised a safety car pit stop on lap 12 by taking on soft tyres and brilliantly working a marathon 40-lap stint to eventually profit from a last-lap collision involving Bottas and Räikkönen and claim third place.
Sochi has also always been a good venue for Valtteri Bottas (if you discount the 2018 Wingman Movegate issue of course). He claimed the first fastest lap of his career in Russia on his way to third place in 2014 with Williams. He has finished in the top five in the four races he has completed in Russia and last year took second place behind team-mate Hamilton. However, his finest moment to date here came in 2017 when he claimed the first win of his career. Although he narrowly missed out on pole position on Saturday, Bottas put in a brilliant drive on Sunday to seize the lead and then he resisted intense pressure from Sebastian Vettel in the closing stages.
Remarkably, Mercedes can claim an unbeaten record at the Russian Grand Prix stretches back an incredible 106 years. A Benz car won the first, and only, two Grands Prix races held in Russia in 1913 and 1914 – more than 30 years before the start of the F1 world championship.
Mercedes have never been beaten at the Russian Grand Prix, winning all five editions of the race since the race joined the calendar in 2014. Lewis Hamilton has three victories in Sochi (2014, 2015, 2018), while Valtteri Bottas and Nico Rosberg both have one win each at the track.
No driver has won the Russian Grand Prix from outside the top three on the grid. In fact, Bottas’s win from P3 in 2017 is the only time a driver not starting on the front row has won the race, placing a great deal of importance on qualifying.
Sochi is something of a ‘bogey’ track for Red Bull Racing. The team has won at every circuit on the calendar bar Sochi and Paul Ricard (which only returned to the schedule in 2018). But while Red Bull can at least claim a podium in France, in Russia the best it can boast is three 5th places – Daniil Kvyat in 2015 and Max Verstappen in 2017 and 2018.
With low levels of tyre degradation around the Sochi Autodrom, a one-stop strategy often proves to be the most effective one for drivers in the race. All five editions of the race have been won on one-stop strategies. No-one has managed to break into the top four on a two-stop strategy in the five-year history of the race.
Russia gave us one of the closest finishes in recent F1 history at the 2017 race when Valtteri Bottas beat Sebastian Vettel by just 0.617 seconds. The pair had fought for the lead throughout the race, but Bottas was able to hold on for his maiden F1 victory.
At a circuit on which Mercedes and Ferrari drivers have taken the vast majority of points (191 and 107 points in total, spread among Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen), Sergio Pérez emerges as the highest points scorer from outside the top two teams. Pérez has scored points every time he has raced in Russia and has taken a total of 27 points in Sochi.
There is a 60% chance of the Safety Car appearing in the Russian Grand Prix, going by previous races in Sochi. The 2014 and 2018 races both passed without interruption, with last year’s race being the quickest running yet of the Russian Grand Prix at just 1h 27m 25.181s.
If Charles Leclerc secures pole position in Russia, it will be the first time a Ferrari driver has taken four straight poles since Michael Schumacher did so in 2000-2001.
Mercedes have led over 85% of all the F1 racing laps run at the Sochi Autodromo (228 of the 264).
Even though it is one of the more recent additions to the Formula 1 calendar, the Russian GP has provided its fair share of big moments and controversies. Here’s F1-com’s look at 5 of those memorable moments:
Last Year in Russia
“You need to let Lewis by into turn 13 this lap.” Those were the words that robbed Valtteri Bottas of his deserved second Russian GP win last year. Sochi was the site of the Finn’s maiden F1 victory in 2017.
In 2018 he started from pole position (with the Outright Track Record time) and claimed the Race Fastest Lap (with the Lap Record time) on lap 50.
At the start, Sebastian Vettel got a better start than Lewis Hamilton, but there was no room to overtake heading into turn one. On lap 4, both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley suffered brake failures which forced both to retire, they were the only retirements of the race. Later, on lap 14, Hamilton made his one and only pitstop of the race, putting him behind Vettel. Two laps later, Hamilton made a move on Sebastian Vettel at turn 3 and passed him into fourth place into turn 4.
The most notable moment of the race then came on lap 26, when Mercedes asked Valtteri Bottas to let Lewis Hamilton through into second at turn 13. Hamilton won the race for the third time in his career, with Valtteri Bottas a disappointed second and Sebastian Vettel completing the podium in third place.
Pole Position
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes (1:31.387)
Fastest Lap
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes (1:35.861) – Lap 50 [Lap Record]
Podium
- P1: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- P2: Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes
- P3: Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari
The Circuit in Sochi
The Sochi Autodrom, which was previously known as the Sochi International Street Circuit and then briefly as Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, is a permanent 5.848 km Formula 1 racetrack in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.
Designed by Hermann Tilke, the Sochi Autodrom is effectively a street circuit, evolving out of the internal roads of the complex built for the city’s hosting of the 2014 Winter Olympics. The circuit is similar to the Beijing Olympic Green Circuit and the Sydney Olympic Park Circuit in that it runs around a former Olympic complex; in this case, the Sochi Olympic Park site, scene of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
The 5.848-kilometre circuit is the fourth-longest circuit on the current F1 calendar, behind Spa-Francorchamps, the Baku City Circuit and Silverstone.
Looking at a map of the track, your eye can’t help but be drawn to the epic Turn 3, a 750m constant-radius left-hander taking the drivers around the outside of the dramatic Poyushchiye fountain. The rest of the track is characterised by a series of 90-degree bends coupled to some rapid, flowing straights-that-aren’t-really-straight.
There are 18 corners on the circuit – 6 left-handers and 12 right. The best overtaking opportunities are into the heavy braking zone at Turn 2 and into Turn 13 where drivers are again slowing hard after topping 330 km/h on the previous straight.
The Race Lap Record was set by Valtteri Bottas last year. The Finn posted his lap of 1:35.861s on his 50th tour of the circuit. Bottas also holds the absolute lap record here thanks to his pole position time of 1:31.387s also set in 2018.
Here is everybody’s favourite Torpedo and recent dad Daniil Kvyat’s video Guide to the Sochi Autodrom. Note how he clearly points out the location of “his” stand:
Itsa ‘Tyre Talk, with Mario’
On this week’s episode of Tyre Talk with Mario, we learn that the Pirelli Think Tank have decided to stick to their mid-range of rubber compounds for the smooth Sochi circuit:
- C2 - White – Hard
- C3 - Yellow – Medium
- C4 – Red – Soft
This selection is slightly harder than what was use for Russia last year (and also one step harder than Singapore last weekend).
The Russian Grand Prix was noted for its smooth asphalt when it joined the championship in 2014, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg able to complete practically the whole race on just one set of tyres. Since then the surface has matured and roughened: in combination with a track layout that’s not particularly severe, this is not an especially demanding circuit for tyres.
The exception is Turn 3: the most demanding corner of the circuit. This is a multi-apex left-hander that is similar in some ways to Istanbul’s famous Turn 8 in Turkey. In general, the circuit is all about traction and braking, with the front-right tyre worked hardest.
Last year, the 2018 soft, ultrasoft and hypersoft were nominated in Russia: a step softer than this year. A harder selection this time should ensure that drivers are able to push to the maximum throughout each stint, rather than rely on pace management, and should also cope well with any changes in the track surface.
Notes:
- One pit stop is also the norm, historically. Last year, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton won from second on the grid using a one-stop ultrasoft-soft strategy, while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen did the opposite (soft-ultrasoft) to finish fifth from the back of the grid.
- Weather conditions can be quite variable. Last year there was some rain before the race, but in other years there has been bright sunshine. A notable chance of rain is currently forecast.
- Mercedes has won every grand prix ever held in Russia – including the very first two races, held at Saint Petersburg in 1913 and 1914.
With Russia now re-established in its autumn date, having moved back to this slot last year, it’s going to be interesting to see what has changed compared to 2018. We’re bringing tyres from the middle of the range this year – a step harder than last year – which should be well-adapted to a wide variety of conditions.
Longitudinal rather than lateral forces are the main influence on the tyres here, with a high degree of track evolution throughout the weekend. Anticipating the set-up and tyre strategy with regard to the changing requirements of the track will be one of the keys to success in Sochi.
A new absolute lap record was set last year by Valtteri Bottas in qualifying last year – let’s see if that is lowered further this year.
Mario Isola – Head of F1 & Car Racing, Pirelli
The Weather on the Russian Front
Although generally dry at this time of the year, rainfall in September in the Sochi area is not unheard of. In fact, it is raining right now in Sochi. (That’s the ‘right now’ as I’m typing this and checking the current Sochi weather forecast, not necessarily the as you’re reading this ‘right now’).
The race weekend forecast suggests a high chance of overnight rain on Friday into Saturday morning, and possibly even continuing into Free Practice 3. But the rain probability does drop off by midday and then continues to hover between the 15%-25% level.
Every Russian GP so far has been a dry race. And I mean that in both a meteorological and in an emotional sense. Maybe we get lucky and a little rain helps us to get to see a little excitement from the Sochi Autodrom for a change on Sunday? Here’s hoping!
Time for Russians on the Sunday Braai?
Thankfully for us, the Ruskies (at least those in the Sochi area) live their lives on one of the more reasonable of Russia’s 11 time zones. With just a 1-hour difference in time, sensible Sunday afternoon viewing is on the cards for us here.
Russian Language Lessons for F1 Dummies
So, you want to learn a little Russian? Of course you do. Everybody wants that. Right? They say that learning a new language as an adult is easier if the material is relevant and understandable to the learner. And what could be more relevant to you lot of F1 Fans than the Russian versions of Formula 1 news and views?
Practice your conversation F1 Russian now with your own downloadable copy of the Official 2019 Russian Grand Prix Guide. To check out the digital version of the programme available to race goers at this weekend’s Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019… Click Here Now! : https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/a571dbb9
Feature articles include a look at the Redemption of Russia’s favourite F1 son, Daniil “Torpedo” Kvyat, a look at what happens, and who does what, on a F1 Pit Wall during a Grand Prix weekend, and also profiles on two other Russian drivers: Nikita Mazepin, the 20-year old currently enjoying his first season in F2, and Robert Shwartzman who is currently leading the Formula 3 Championship and who could possibly claim the title this weekend on home soil. One of those two (or both?) are probably destined to become Russia’s new favourite F1 son/s in a few years’ time.
THAT’S ALL HE WROTE
Farewell F1 Fans, until we meet again in two weeks’ time for the Japanese Grand Prix! Cheers!
Прощай, болельщики Ф1, пока мы не встретимся снова через две недели для Гран При Японии! Ура!
Proshchay, bolel’shchiki F1, poka my ne vstretimsya snova cherez dve nedeli dlya Gran Pri Yaponii! Ura!
2019 Russian Formula 1 Grand Prix Preview
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