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Only three drivers remain in the hunt for the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship as we head to Sochi for the inaugural Russian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live race coverage from 9:00am (AEDST) Sunday October 12th.
Many of the paddock will be looking to move on from the Japanese Grand Prix held last week, which was marred by Jules
Bianchi’s brutal accident that brought a pre-mature end to a race that was already on the cusp of being red flagged.
Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg eventually locked out the first two positions of the race, although all the attention was on the injuries sustained by Bianchi when his Marussia aquaplaned off into a recovery vehicle at the quick Dunlop Curve.
This weekend, Marussia will only one run car, for Max Chilton, a fitting gesture for Bianchi’s recovery from the accident at Suzuka.
Lewis Hamilton’s victory, ahead of his team-mate Rosberg, and the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, means that only Hamilton, Rosberg and Ricciardo stand a chance of taking out the crown at the end of the season, although Ricciardo’s odds are fading away with every race.
Hamilton’s lead is 10 points over Rosberg, with Ricciardo 73 points behind the 2008 World Champion.
With only 125 points available for the rest of the season, Ricciardo is going to need a lot of luck to be in a chance to take away the title from the Mercedes duo.
In the Constructors’ Standings, Mercedes currently hold a 190 point lead over Red Bull, which means that a 1-2 finish for the Silver Arrows would lock up the title for the German team.
Early practice form has shown Mercedes as the team to beat yet again, although McLaren has had very strong showings that has left Jenson Button steadily impressed at their form early in the weekend.
Much of the talk early in the last weekend was about Vettel’s decision to leave Red Bull at the end of the year, and thus spark up the silly season talks, while Red Bull have already announced his replacement in Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat, who will become the first Russian to take part in a Russian Grand Prix this weekend.
The speculation is that Vettel will join Ferrari, leaving Alonso free to leave Italy, and re-join McLaren ahead of their partnership with Honda from next season.
Where that would leave Button/Magnussen though, remains unknown.
The venue for the Russian GP is based around the Sochi Olympic Park, used for the Winter Olympics earlier this year.
With 53 laps at 5.853km long, the Sochi Autodrom is the third longest lap on the calendar, behind Spa-Francorchamps and Silverstone.
The new circuit features two DRS zones with separate detection points, between turns 1 and 2, and 10 and 13
Pirelli has brought the Medium (white) and Soft (Yellow) compounds to Russia, seemingly a conservative choice for a first-time race, but in not selecting the hard compound, allowing for degradation to force the teams into strategy choice throughout the race.
Pirelli’s Motorsport Director Paul Hembery has stated that they have aimed for between two and three stops for the Russian Grand Prix.
Join us at The Roar from 9:30pm (AEDST) covering the build-up, before the lights go out at 10:00pm (AEDST)
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