2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix

Stotty
There are so few decent tracks in F1 nowadays... Spa, Suzuka, Monza, maybe Canada.

The rest are mainly...

1) Once great tracks that have been ruined; Silverstone, Hockenhiem
2) Tracks that simply don't work with modern F1 cars; Monaco, Hungaroring
3) Newly designed 'commercial' circuits

Sepang is about the only modern track I rate.
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Agreed overall, but I will always love Monaco, never get tired of doing virtual laps so I'll bet the drivers feel the same about racing there. And to your point about the commercial circuits, places like Monaco maintain the old glamor of F1 to some extent, to balance out the "new anonymous circuit" feel of the others.

I have to say though, I've been running a lot of virtual laps at Yas Marina and have a new respect for that layout, it's actually pretty tricky in places and lots of fun variations of rhythm, challenging complexes, some elevation at least to make it interesting.

Sochi looks like a snoozer though. A lot of nearly identical 90-degree rights, and basically no elevation change, or complexes or even chicanes to slalom through. The scenery around the circuit looks cool, but...
 
mustafur
Say what you want but Hockenhiem worked well this year, and Melbourne is definitely one of the best races of the year consistently. Nurburgring when used always seems to provide an excellent race and is a better track then Hockenhiem.

then you have Interlagos which like Melbourne brings alot of unpredictability and is usually one of the best tracks on the calendar race wise.
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Hokenhiem isn't a bad track, but it's a pale imitation of the old circuit.

Interlagos and Melbourne are OK... I missed those 👍

FormulaKimball
Agreed overall, but I will always love Monaco, never get tired of doing virtual laps so I'll bet the drivers feel the same about racing there.
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Yeah, I'm sure the drivers love Monaco, and it's always a spectacle to watch modern GP cars lap there... but the track is too small/narrow to deliver anything other than a procession with the occasional crash to liven things up!

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If only all circuits were like Spa... that is a proper race track :drool:
 
Looking at galleries on F1 Fanatic, there's something about Sochi that photographs *really* well. Lots of bright, vibrant pictures.
 
How good in terms of excitement/action on the track do you think this race will be? I unfortunately think that this is going to be another Valencia/Abu Dhabi circuit, very boring but has good scenery.
 
ukfan758
How good in terms of excitement/action on the track do you think this race will be? I unfortunately think that this is going to be another Valencia/Abu Dhabi circuit, very boring but has good scenery.
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The number one comment from the drivers is that the circuit is deceptively tricky. Maybe part of that is them learning the circuit for the first time, but it's pretty clear that there are a few sections that have been designed to force errors. And the circuit isn't behaving the way they expected it to - there's a lot more grip, the circuit is rubbering in very quickly, and fuel consumption is very high. It's going to make for a delicate balancing act.
 
prisonermonkeys
Looking at galleries on F1 Fanatic, there's something about Sochi that photographs *really* well. Lots of bright, vibrant pictures.
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It's a beautiful part of Europe that's always been much-loved by the Russian elite, great "light" too on the TV pictures.

Loving the track so far, I agree that it's not going to be an easy afternoon for the drivers. The layout almost feels PD-designed rather than Tilke-designed; lots of bits that look easy but are actually waiting to punish your inattention.
 
Liquid
Unless you mean second to last (one before the last) that is the last corner.
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I thought it was the one after the one after the second last from the first penultimate corner, but I'm not sure now I think about it.

Just watched the GP3, I hope they start putting that in-between FP1 and Q more regularly. Wasn't a great race but the cars seemed dwarfed in pace by the track, will be much better with the F1 cars wheel-to-wheel I think.
 
Touring Mars
Apparently both Sky and BBC have been warned of possible disruption to their live broadcasts tomorrow as security forces are preparing to scramble radio frequencies as Putin arrives before the race to minimise the possibility of bombs being set off remotely... sounds absolutely bonkers...

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...n-grand-prix-bomb-threat-vladimir-putin-sochi
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Oddly enough a colleague was saying the other day that there's a massive worry about Chechen rebels attacking the race; supposedly it's a more attractive corporate Western target than the Olympics would have been.

I guess anything's possible :)
 
Why not use Internet?
We are talking about Europe & Russia.
They have good Internet.

It's not like Australia & it's Abbottnet
 
Looks like a set-up problem.

Nobody knows the track or how to set up for it. Interestingly, Button is way up there... provisionally second row.
 
Nice lap from Lewis. Bottas could make it....!

And he does... doesn't... does... crap! He missed that last corner!

And Kyvat pips Ricciardo! As does Magnusson!
 
Looks like the tires just went away from him. Seems like this track is just a bit too long for a full "flyer" lap from the tires.

Going to be an interesting race. So many people performing against expectations here.
 
Hun200kmh
Does Vettel even care anymore? :odd:
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Nobody does really care anymore. Not Vettel, nor the team. They now just do, what they're paid to do, but other than that I don't think they really care all that much about what place Vettel ends up, both just want this season to end.
 
I think tomorrow will be telling for him.

Again, he's outqualified Ricciardo over the back half of the season, and he's outraced him at points. Vettel hasn't been too bad for a few races now.

But if he did decide to throw it in, I wouldn't blame him.

I'd be very disappointed, though. Throwing in the towel is not the mark of a champion.
 
niky
I think tomorrow will be telling for him.

Again, he's outqualified Ricciardo over the back half of the season, and he's outraced him at points. Vettel hasn't been too bad for a few races now.

But if he did decide to throw it in, I wouldn't blame him.

I'd be very disappointed, though. Throwing in the towel is not the mark of a champion.
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I think the common misconception is that he's leaving Red Bull because of the very rocky start of the season, he's been flirting with Ferrari for much longer than that and, even though Ferrari isn't having the best of times either, it's still the THE racing team in Formula 1, with it comes prestige and heritage and you're a driver for Ferrari, which for a lot of people is the holy grail.
 
So according to this - Lewis was ahead before the final two corners which suggests that P2 was definitely on, but P1 would have been too much I believe.
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and again here between the final two corners.

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