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)
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Definitely with you on that one. It seemed to be a conservative choice of tyres from Pirelli, but that was a given, considering it was the first race here.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
So, Hamilton extends his lead to 17 points, but what a drive from Rosberg! The onus is now on him to reel in Hamilton, and now that Mercedes have sealed the Constructors' title, maybe there could be even more freedom to race? The next race will be in Austin, Texas in 3 weeks time, on Monday 3rd November, with an early, early start for us. That concludes The Roar's live coverage of the Russian Grand Prix. I really hope you enjoyed it, and we hope you join us next time.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Here are the Drivers' Standings Hamilton 291 Rosberg 274 Ricciardo 199 Bottas 145 Vettel 143 Alonso 141 Button 94 Hulkenberg 76 Massa 71 Magnussen 49 Perez 47 Raikkonen 47 Vergne 21 Grosjean 8 Kvyat 8 Bianchi 2
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Bottas got the fastest lap in the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, but lost out to both Mercedes. Bottas says he is happy with the team, but in the end, they are the best of the rest, so they do need to improve.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Rosberg says he is half disappointed today, because of his error on the opening lap, but is happy because Mercedes clinched their championship in Russia.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Hamilton has a 17 point lead, but Hamilton focuses on the Constructors' crown for the team when asked about his championship lead.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
And now for the post race interviews
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Looks like Vladmir Putin will be presenting the trophy today, he has had the procedure outlined to him
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
So, with that effectively wrapping up the Constructors' Championship, here is the points tally for the teams Mercedes 565 Red Bull 342 Williams 216 Ferrari 188 McLaren 143 Force India 123 Toro Rosso 29 Lotus 8 Marussia 2 Sauber 0 Caterham 0
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Only two retirements in Russia, with Kobayashi retiring with brake problems, and Chilton retiring early on with vibration issues.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Massa, Hulkenberg, Vergne, Kvyat, Gutierrez, Sutil, Grosjean, Maldonado, and Ericsson round out the classified finishers.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Bottas seals third place with a 1:40.896 on the final lap of the race, as Button and Magnussen follow behind, and Alonso holds off Ricciardo for 6th place. Vettel, Raikkonen and Perez hold station to round out the points positions.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Rosberg has set the fastest lap, with 1:41.360, still 5 seconds ahead of Bottas, as Hamilton takes the chequered flag and Mercedes takes the Constructors' Championship!
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 53/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Hamilton is well on his way to his 31st victory, which will seal Mercedes' first Constructors' Championship, in what has been a dominating display both in Sochi, and throughout the season so far.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 52/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Massa cannot get past Perez, but now he is under pressure from Nico Hulkenberg.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 52/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Bottas sets the fastest lap, 1:41.534, and 4.5 seconds behind Rosberg.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
It's amazing how Nico's taken those medium tyres through pretty much the entire race. No doubt that Pirelli next year will bring the supersofts instead of the mediums to this event for more stops.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 51/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Hamilton's lead is 18 seconds, with victory almost certainly assured.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 50/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Bottas responds with a 1:41.544, and is 4.3 seconds behind Rosberg. Ricciardo is still yet to find a way past Alonso, and Massa likewise behind Perez.
Nicholas Belardo
Roar Guru
Lap 49/53 HAM ROS BOT BUT MAG ALO RIC VET RAI PER Hamilton has controlled this race all day, but Rosberg has also put in a fantastic drive from the back of the pack after damaging his tyres at the beginning of the race. Just remember he has been on these tyres since lap 2, which seems to be no mean feat. Hamilton has also gone fastest, with a 1:41.606