Russian GP Thread - Contains Spoilers of Qualifying & Race

[Fernando]

First topic message reminder :

For those who don't know what it looks like plus those who play the video game


The 2014 Russian GP preview: Everything you need to know about this weekend's race!

F1 heads to the Sochi Autodrom for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix around the site of this year’s Winter Olympics.

So read on below as Sky Sports Online provides your one-stop shop for everything you need to know about the grand prix weekend. You can also watch a virtual flyover of the brand-new circuit in the video above.

The 2014 Russian GP in a nutshell

Track: Sochi Autodrom. Temporary Circuit.

Designer: Hermann Tilke


Race start time: 12pm UK time Sunday (3pm local).

Laps: 53.

Track length: 5.853 km (the third longest of the season after Spa & Silverstone).

Corners: 12 right and six left-handers.

Predicted average lap speed: 215 kph

Tyre allocation: Medium (white) and soft (yellow).

DRS Zones: TBA.

Driver steward: TBA.

Sebastian Vettel, who drove the circuit in a road car in August, said: "Having driven the full circuit for the first time in the Infiniti Q50, it’s an interesting layout with a good mix of high speed corners and technical sections. It’s going to be a huge challenge in a Formula 1 car for sure and I’m really looking forward to coming back in October.”

Sergio Perez: “The location of the track inside the Olympic park is very unusual. If I get the opportunity I will definitely explore a bit. From the photographs I’ve seen it looks to be a very impressive facility. There are some long straights, some tight corners, and I think it will feel like a street circuit because the walls are close to the track in a lot of areas."

Nico Hulkenberg: “It’s hard to look at a track on paper and really get an understanding of how it will feel to drive. I prefer to go there and experience things before I make judgements and talk about track characteristics. So in that sense it’s too early for me to compare it with another circuit. What is clear is that there are some really quick sections and a lot of right-angled corners."

Ferrari Technical Director James Allison: "The dominant corner is a really quite aggressively fast long flowing left-hander, shortly after the start-finish straight. So you can see just by a casual look that this is going to be a track where there is going to be a competition between what you want on the straights and what you want for that series of slow speed corners. The slow speed corners are going to be crying out for downforce, the straights, the opposite."

Tyre allocation

Pirelli will bring the white-marked medium and the yellow-banded soft to Russia this weekend after carrying out “advanced computer simulations in collaboration with the teams to prepare for the demands of a new venue and predict the likely strategies”.

“Russia is a key territory for Pirelli, along with all the major automotive companies in the world, so we are very much looking forward to Sochi and the first Russian Grand Prix, which is a significant milestone in the sport’s history,” said Pirelli Motorsport Director Paul Hembery.

“From a tyre perspective it should be an interesting challenge; we’ve got a wide variety of corners that should test every aspect of performance. As has been the case at every grand prix this year, we’re aiming for between two and three pit stops per race and the nomination we have made reflects this. In terms of overall tyre energy demands, Russia is somewhere in the middle, and measurements also indicate low-abrasion asphalt.

“Regarding the weather, initial forecasts suggest that conditions will be temperate. Going to a new circuit is always exciting and it’s only when we get there that we will have a complete idea of what to expect, so the work done in free practice will be particularly important for everyone.”

[mystiroakey]

Them Russian birds are on another level. Best thing about the race..

[GSC]

Probably property of Putin mate

[Bull]

What birds??

[Fernando]

What birds??

pigeons

[Bull]

Oh right!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tnrGz-lvJU

Well its even more obvious than it was before...

[Born Slippy]

Poor race with the only possible excitement being taken away by the tyres being so durable (understandable given the new track).

Much as I would like Lewis to win this title, it would be hilarious if he wins the next two races to lead by 32 points (and 11 wins to 4) and then Rosberg somehow steals it in Abu Dhabi.

Vettel now 56 points behind his teammate. Be interesting to see how he does at Ferrari.

[Guest]

Poor race with the only possible excitement being taken away by the tyres being so durable (understandable given the new track).

Much as I would like Lewis to win this title, it would be hilarious if he wins the next two races to lead by 32 points (and 11 wins to 4) and then Rosberg somehow steals it in Abu Dhabi.

Vettel now 56 points behind his teammate. Be interesting to see how he does at Ferrari.

It wouldn't be hilarious at all. Even if you disliked the bloke for whatever reason, you can't deny the fact he deserves this WDC, he's out-driven Nico to such an extent now, given the nine wins to four. Nico has broken the record for the number of second places in a season apparently, doesn't that just sum up his level, in comparison to Lewis? Nico has only won four races & three of them wins were because Lewis had an issue (Austria Q3, Germany Q1 & Australia DNF). Would be a travesty if Lewis didn't win this title now & not great for the sport in my opinion.

Fernando, you usually good at research. What is the state of play on Lewis' engine. Keep hearing that if he wins in Austin, he will take a engine penalty for Brazil, in order to safeguard himself & have a fresher engine for Abu Dhabi? Nico has used one less?

[GSC]

Nah, I gotta admit, it'd be the funniest thing ever on here if that happened.

[mystiroakey]

It would be a travesty.

[CaledonianCraig]

Nah, I gotta admit, it'd be the funniest thing ever on here if that happened.

Especially, if you consider that Bernie's ludicrous 'medal system' he so desperately wanted would mean Hamilton would have already been crowned the champion.

[GSC]

Yeah there'd be an asterix against the win but the rage would be hilarious

[mystiroakey]

I wouldn't even come on here due to certain smug posters.

We can all see it- LH 30 odd points ahead and then his car blows up final race.

[CaledonianCraig]

On another note Ricciardo stretches his advantage to 56 points over Vettel. On the Ecclestone scale Danny would already have beaten Seb.

[Guest]

I heard Vettel won't even bother qualifying in Austin & they will just take the 10 place engine penalty & start from the pit-lane. Be interesting now for Hamilton too, hence why I was asking about how many engines he's used, in comparison to Rosberg.

[dyrewolfe]

Well, that was a pretty underwhelming race...almost like the Bridgestone era races of old. A bit of excitement at the start and some wheel-to-wheel action for the first few laps before it all settles down into a fairly processional spectacle.

Won't give Pirelli too much stick though as they didn't have the data they needed so went conservative with tyre choices. Maybe super-softs and softs are the way to go in future.

Still, when even Ricciardo couldn't really get his race going, it tells you how lacklustre the whole thing was.

Anyway, congrats to Mercedes on securing the constrcutors' title. Now Nico and Lewis are completely free to race for the drivers' title, it'll be interesting to see how the remaining races pan out.

Born Slippy has echoed a nagging concern I have. It would be just typical for Lewis to end the season the way he started it...

Think John had a good idea...it would make sense for Lewis to take an engine penalty in Brazil, assuming he still has a decent lead after the US GP, in order to make sure he can push as hard as necessary in Abu Dhabi.

[Fernando]

.
Fernando, you usually good at research. What is the state of play on Lewis' engine. Keep hearing that if he wins in Austin, he will take a engine penalty for Brazil, in order to safeguard himself & have a fresher engine for Abu Dhabi? Nico has used one less?

Well this is about as good as it gets online im afraid

GPUpdate.net provides a full update on the elements drivers have used ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

ICE / TC / MGU-K / MGU-H / ES / CE

Red Bull Renault / Sebastian Vettel (5 5 4 5 3 4)
Red Bull Renault / Daniel Ricciardo (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Mercedes / Lewis Hamilton (4 4 4 4 3 4)
Mercedes / Nico Rosberg (4 4 4 4 3 4)
Ferrari / Fernando Alonso (5 5 4 5 4 5)
Ferrari / Kimi Räikkönen (5 4 4 5 4 5)
Lotus Renault / Romain Grosjean (4 5 4 4 4 4)
Lotus Renault / Pastor Maldonado (5 5 5 5 4 4)
McLaren Mercedes / Jenson Button (4 4 4 4 3 3)
McLaren Mercedes / Kevin Magnussen (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Force India Mercedes / Nico Hülkenberg (4 4 4 4 3 3)
Force India Mercedes / Sergio Perez (4 4 4 4 3 3)
Sauber Ferrari / Adrian Sutil (5 5 5 5 4 5)
Sauber Ferrari / Esteban Gutierrez (4 5 5 5 3 5)
Toro Rosso Renault / Jean-Éric Vergne (4 4 5 4 4 4)
Toro Rosso Renault / Daniil Kvyat (6 4 5 5 4 4)
Williams Mercedes / Felipe Massa (4 4 4 4 3 4)
Williams Mercedes / Valtteri Bottas (4 4 4 4 4 4)
Marussia Ferrari / Jules Bianchi (5 5 5 5 4 5)
Marussia Ferrari / Max Chilton (5 5 5 5 3 4)
Caterham Renault / Kamui Kobayashi (4 4 5 4 3 4)
Caterham Renault / Marcus Ericsson (4 4 4 4 3 4)

Engine elements: ICE = Internal Combustion Engine / TC = Turbo Charger / MGU-K = Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic / MGU-H = Motor Generator Unit - Heat / ES = Energy Store / CE = Control Electronics

[mystiroakey]

And what exactly does that mean 

[Fernando]

Each driver may use no more than five power units per season.

- Each driver may therefore use no more than five of the above six elements (in any combination).

- If more than five power units are used then penalties are applied as follows:

- Replacement of a complete power unit means the driver must start the race from the pit lane.

- The first time a sixth element is used, the driver gets a ten-place grid penalty.

- The first time a sixth of the remaining elements is used, the driver gets a five-place grid penalty.

- The first time a seventh element is used, the driver gets a ten-place grid penalty.

- The first time a seventh of the remaining elements is used, the driver gets a five-place grid penalty, and so on.

[GSC]

Crucially though, Hamilton has the 14 point buffer that would allow him let Rosberg by in Abu Dhabi and not risk an incident

[mystiroakey]

Each driver may use no more than five power units per season.

- Each driver may therefore use no more than five of the above six elements (in any combination).

- If more than five power units are used then penalties are applied as follows:

- Replacement of a complete power unit means the driver must start the race from the pit lane.

- The first time a sixth element is used, the driver gets a ten-place grid penalty.

- The first time a sixth of the remaining elements is used, the driver gets a five-place grid penalty.

- The first time a seventh element is used, the driver gets a ten-place grid penalty.


OK ta. But it looks like LH and Rosberg are level pegging but is lh's more worn .
- The first time a seventh of the remaining elements is used, the driver gets a five-place grid penalty, and so on.

[dyrewolfe]

Indeed. Number of races or units used isn't always an indicator of actual wear and tear.

A driver controlling a race from the front isn't going to stress his hardware as much as someone trying battle through the pack.

Also teams do sometimes change components as a precaution, rather than beause they're on the verge of failing.

Some circuits are known to be harder on components than others, so the team may swap items out and re-use them later at races that won't be so hard on them.

[Guest]

I'd definitely say that Lewis has stressed more parts of his car throughout the season, than Nico, especially as Nico has had slightly better reliability & Lewis has had to come through the field on multiple times, after poor qualifying. I'm sure I heard that Lewis is at more risk in terms of his engines, even though it shows they've both used four each in that graphic. I can't remember if they managed to save the engine or other parts from the engine fire in Hungary? Also, during Spa, Lewis was heard constantly saying, 'we should save the engine' & Martin Brundle this weekend stated, 'this is good for Lewis, as he hasn't stressed the engine', during his last lap in Russia. With the rumours of Lewis taking an engine penalty in Brazil, it just seems to add to this story, so it should be interesting to see what happens.

17 points is absolutely nothing, with 100 still on the table. I do think maybe the achievement of winning a race, should be rewarded with a significantly bigger margin than seven points, as it currently stands. I'd go with 30/20/15/12/10 etc.

[CaledonianCraig]

17 points is absolutely nothing, with 100 still on the table. I do think maybe the achievement of winning a race, should be rewarded with a significantly bigger margin than seven points, as it currently stands. I'd go with 30/20/15/12/10 etc.

Or more to the point just bin loony Bernie's zany 50 points for a win in the last race idea. Totally needless and could conceivably see Hamilton win almost three times as many race wins as Rosberg but still missing out on the title.

[dummy_half]

17 points is absolutely nothing, with 100 still on the table. I do think maybe the achievement of winning a race, should be rewarded with a significantly bigger margin than seven points, as it currently stands. I'd go with 30/20/15/12/10 etc.

Or more to the point just bin loony Bernie's zany 50 points for a win in the last race idea. Totally needless and could conceivably see Hamilton win almost three times as many race wins as Rosberg but still missing out on the title.

Definitely one of Bernie's hair-brained ideas that for some reason didn't get rejected out of hand. How can one race be worth twice as much as any other? It he wanted to do a double points thing then it should at least have been a 'Joker' race, where the driver / team is able to nominate beforehand. Say Nico having double points at Monaco, and LH at Silverstone etc. Would at least make it a more even field than just picking one race where some cars and driveres are historically strong and others not so.

[GSC]

Beeb saying Alonsos release has been granted and its McLaren or a year out and potentially Mercedes in 16

[MIG]

Could he not sign a 1 year contract with McLaren? Surely that would be better than a year out.
I hope Jenson gets a drive somewhere for next year.
Will Bottas be snapped up by any big teams or do you think Williams will be just as strong if not stronger next year?

[Fernando]

Would be foolish for Mclaren to sign Alonso for a year better off keeping JB or promoting Vandoorne to the team. I think Bottas will leave Williams but not til 2016/17

[GSC]

Rather have Alonso for a year than JB.

[Fernando]

Id rather have someone who knows the car inside out then someone who'll have to adapt to it again. It took him a long time last time and for half a season it's not worth it.

[mystiroakey]

Id rather have Alonso and JB.

[Fernando]

Id rather have Alonso and JB.

I think most would but Mclaren don't seem that sensible let's face it they hired Sam Michael Everywhere he leaves gets better

[CaledonianCraig]

17 points is absolutely nothing, with 100 still on the table. I do think maybe the achievement of winning a race, should be rewarded with a significantly bigger margin than seven points, as it currently stands. I'd go with 30/20/15/12/10 etc.

Or more to the point just bin loony Bernie's zany 50 points for a win in the last race idea. Totally needless and could conceivably see Hamilton win almost three times as many race wins as Rosberg but still missing out on the title.

Definitely one of Bernie's hair-brained ideas that for some reason didn't get rejected out of hand. How can one race be worth twice as much as any other? It he wanted to do a double points thing then it should at least have been a 'Joker' race, where the driver / team is able to nominate beforehand. Say Nico having double points at Monaco, and LH at Silverstone etc. Would at least make it a more even field than just picking one race where some cars and driveres are historically strong and others not so.

It is even more hair-brained when you consider he championed a crazy medal based scoring system where race winners got gold medals and driver with most golds would win the title so this season that system could embarrassingly be shown up.

[CaledonianCraig]

A couple of things bug me about Alonso to McLaren which I hope they take into consideration. They should not be taking on a driver who 'seems' to be courting a drive at Mercedes in the future. McLaren need drivers committed to the team for the long-term and not somebody (who incidentally they have a sour history with) using their team as a stepping stone. Besides it just messes up the car development and means more disruption than is needed.

[Guest]

Alonso isn't the be-all-and-end-all in F1 anymore. Admittedly, he's a great driver, but he's just beginning to grind on me now, with this whole over-dramatic story of 'where he's going to drive next year'. If anything, he's becoming a desperational character in F1 nowadays, seeing as he's time limited in his career now, desperate for immediate success & has no desire to work on a project at a new team. He's showing no effort to charm McLaren at all, seeing as he's basically admitting he wants Mercedes in 2016. Then again, McLaren are desperate themselves to get back into the big time, so maybe, they both would suit each other.

I'd stay well clear of Alonso, if I was McLaren. Take a leaf out of Red Bull's book.

[dyrewolfe]

Part of me would like to see Alonso get his 3rd title with McLaren and retire, but that is largely dependent on whether or not the team can get their act together design-wise and how good the Honda engine tunrs out to be.

Agree that he's unlikely to have much interest in helping a team rebuild, so he definitely isn't a long-term signing.

I think McLaren could do worse than sticking with Magnussen and promoting Vandoorne. A couple of up-and-coming "home-grown" drivers are likely to try a lot harder and cause far fewer problems internally...also a lot cheaper than ex World Champions.

Also new drivers should be able to adapt to the cars better than those who were around in the V10 and V8 eras.



On an unrelated note, did anyone read the story about Kobayashi being asked to drive with damaged suspension?

Kobayashi "scared" before Russian GP

Kamui Kobayashi admitted to being "seriously troubled" about the safety of his Caterham Formula 1 car during the Russian Grand Prix weekend.

The race took place just seven days after Marussia driver Jules Bianchi suffered severe head injuries in a crash in Japan.

Kobayashi was so uneasy about a repair made to his car's suspension before final practice, he questioned whether to continue.

"Scary!" the Japanese wrote on his Facebook page, in a post seen by BBC Sport. "Last night a suspension defect was found. There's no spare so it was repaired by wrapping it in carbon.

"It's checked all the time but, even so, being asked to race like this is too scary! I want to go home already.

"From here on there are still practices and the race to go. I'm seriously troubled. As a racing driver, should I drive? Should I safely decline? I drive again in 15 minutes…"

Caterham said Kobayashi was "kept informed at all times and at no time did he have any reason to believe it was not safe".

Looking at the photo, it looks like his rear suspension was patched up using aluminium tape or something. Would make me a tad uneasy too!

[TightHEAD]

Shocking that he was expected to race with a taped up suspension.

[Guest]

Caterham just need to be removed from F1. The team is an embarrassment & this latest news about Kobayashi is just shocking. If they are risking lives because of financial restrictions, then the FIA need to kick them out ASAP. As a team, they bring nothing to the sport.

Not sure if it was mentioned but Nico Hulkenberg will remain at FI for 2015.

[TightHEAD]

I agree, what is the point of running a car on a shoe string budget and risking lives, this isn't the 50/60/70s

[dyrewolfe]

Looks like John could get his wish.

Latest news in the long-running saga is that Caterham's participation in the US GP is in doubt after administrators locked their factory.

Bernie Ecclestone has got involved in an effort to ensure the team's continued participation this season.

Bernie Ecclestone trying to resolve F1 team dispute


Sounds like if the fat lady isn't singing for Caterham yet, she's at least going through her warm-up routine.

[CaledonianCraig]

Something must be done to address so many new teams non-stickability in the sport.

In recent years how many teams have joined the sport either with a new team or buying out an old team and not lasted anything more than two or three years and in some cases lasted even shorter. I do feel (and this was mentioned by the old fart a year or two ago) that smaller teams should get better payments from the TV deals etc to get them on a steadier footing. Also it is not condusive to have team placed 11th receiving no money from TV deal (as I think it is). The bigger teams are largely self-funded anyway such as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes so why is their a need for money to pour in their direction whilst smaller teams are going bust. I know many here will disagree with me but teams have to start somewhere and starving these new teams of cash is not helping to encourage new teams to try their hand in F1.

[mystiroakey]

3 driver teams needs to be seriously thought about..

I personally like the idea as well. For a short to medium term anyway. It could create some interesting outcomes and racing.

[CaledonianCraig]

3 driver teams needs to be seriously thought about..

I personally like the idea as well. For a short to medium term anyway. It could create some interesting outcomes and racing.

No I would disagree. First of all it goes against F1 tradition and secondly I thought F1 teams were beefing about costs to run a team and they were looking at ways to cut the costs - well added another car to their team costs will certainly not do that.

[mystiroakey]

I think it could be interesting to change the format .. Let's be honest F1 could do with something. The new teams offer nothing at present.

[CaledonianCraig]

I think it could be interesting to change the format .. Let's be honest F1 could do with something. The new teams offer nothing at present.

Adding an extra Mercedes on the grid to dominate isn't the way forward though and besides, like I say, it goes totally against the grain of cost cutting that the teams want. Yes the new teams offer nothing at present but what do you expect with very small peanuts (if any) to spend and put into developing the car. For me a more even distribution of TV cash must be formulated and if that happens you may just may start to attract bigger fish to F1 such as Audi and Porsche that could be real contending teams. For me the more variety the better. F1 needs more teams (not less), more engine suppliers, more tyre suppliers and less handcuffs put on developing of cars by F1 regulations.

[mystiroakey]

I don't really buy the cost cutting aspect because those teams would surely be remunerated adequately. (50% more)  for having an extra car. The teams ard paid to participate in prize funds. That prize fund wouldn't drop it would just be distributed to less teams.. Obviously they then need to try and get the same extra from sponsership revenues. But there is a clause that if x amount of teams fail the other teams have to put an extra car out. So shouldnt that also be carried forward with sponsership revenues .( I understand that may not be the case but it could be)

They can still cost cut and retain the same revenues per car. Is basically the point

[CaledonianCraig]

Sorry but I see no way how having an extra car per team is not going to cost more money. First of all the team would need to fork out millions to pay another driver, millions for transporting an extra car and all the parts and all the extra engines needed and other essentials such as fuel etc etc etc. And like I said it would mean (going by last few seasons) you'd have one team dominant so instead of two cars dominant team you'd have three. Basically, you say much is wrong with F1 (And I would agree) but increasing a team's dominance by giving them an extra car is not the answer.

The FIA should be looking to get more motoring superpowers involved in the sport either teamwise or supplying engines. They also need to encourage more innovation in car design which is not possible just now as they stamp that out with needlessly putting in so many regs on design that throttles creativity. What F1 needs is more varietyis what I am saying and not an increase of the same ie Mercedes or Red Bull domination (in recent yars) going from two car to three car domination.

[mystiroakey]

Economies of scale would actually make it cheaper per car. As long as the teams get the same per car back. The problem is finding out how these teams are paid is hard work..

Caterhams problem seems to be from a previous 20m debt that needs to be paid off from when the consortium bought the team. The QPR man says they bought the debt. Caterham f1 say they didn't. So this specific problem isn't due to the actual running costs anyway.

[CaledonianCraig]

Economies of scale would actually make it cheaper per car. As long as the teams get the same per car back. The problem is finding out how these teams are paid is hard work..

Caterhams problem seems to be from a previous 20m debt that needs to be paid off from when the consortium bought the team. The QPR man says they bought the debt. Caterham f1 say they didn't. So this specific problem isn't due to the actual running costs anyway.

It is well-documented though that cost cutting measures had to be brought in so evidently it is a problem. In any case like I said I don't see giving Mercedes a third car to dominate with in a season in any way improving F1 - if anything it will make things worse.

F1 needs to be much more competitive all the way down the grid. More teams pushing for race wins, more teams pushing in mid-division for podium finishes and the lesser teams pushing the mid-division teams more. We need variety as in more engine suppliers, more tyre suppliers and a lessening of throttling of innovative car designs that we see from the FIA with their restrictive regulations. The more variables there are in the sport then the more room there is for a more mixed set of results etc in races which is what I think we all crave.

[Gerry SA]

Alonso would love to be in the third Mercedes for 2015...

[Guest]

What Alonso wants & what Alonso gets, will be entirely different.

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