2018 VTB Russian Grand PrixFormula 1 

  • Thread starter Jimlaad43
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Jimlaad43

Jimlaad43

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Formula 1 makes its fifth visit to Sochi, where it has moved back to a September date after a couple of years in April. Built around the former Winter Olympic Park, and a FIFA World Cup hosting stadium, the circuit hasn't exactly been known for being interesting. Turn 3 may be a truly awesome corner, but that's it. Anyway, Valtteri Bottas has always been strong here. With his team mate being very far ahead in the championship, may this be the race he finally gets a win this season?
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First Grand Prix
2014

Number of Laps
53

Circuit Length
5.848km

Race Distance
309.745 km

Lap Record
1:36.844 Kimi Räikkönen (2017)

2017 Podium
1: Valtteri Bottas - Mercedes
2: Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari
3: Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari​
 
Free Practice happened.

Nothing interesting occurred in either session really. All we know is that the tyre situation might be like Singapore. We just have to hope the long straight means there is too much of a risk of being overtaken for teams to try a crawl-around-and-1-stop strategy.
 
Great strategy of Ferrari to send out both Kimi and Sebastian too late out of the pitbox in FP3. Vettel could just hit the brake a millisecond before the pitlights turned red. Saved him (and the team) a penalty. Kimi breezing.
 
BrainsBush
Great strategy of Ferrari to send out both Kimi and Sebastian too late out of the pitbox in FP3. Vettel could just hit the brake a millisecond before the pitlights turned red. Saved him (and the team) a penalty. Kimi breezing.
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I mean, it sounds like the standard Ferrari strategy
 
Some psych warfare going on in Q2.

Looks like it might be a Merc 1-2 in Q3.

Merc in the 1:31s. Holy Cow.

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Bottas on pole. Pipped Lewis by hundredths in the first set of laps, then kept the second lap together to handily beat everyone.

Ferrari has no answers at all. They'll need to outdrag the Mercs off the line, but Mercedes shadowed them in Q2 to make sure they start on the same tires.

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Bottas looks like a kid who got a triple scoop of ice cream just for smiling at the lady at the counter.
 
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Not sure what happened to Lewis in Q3, he seemed to be on it everywhere but the second sector in Q3...

If his first crack hadn't been so close it would have look scripted... but 2nd is one of the better positions for this race given the long straight town to T1 and the nice slipstream you can pick up...
 
baldgye
Not sure what happened to Lewis in Q3, he seemed to be on it everywhere but the second sector in Q3...

If his first crack hadn't been so close it would have look scripted... but 2nd is one of the better positions for this race given the long straight town to T1 and the nice slipstream you can pick up...
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He bungled it in S2. Had an off that was rather minor, but he was pointing down the runoff when he got the car under control. No matter, Raikkonen was the only Ferrari on pace to match his lap, and he caught traffic somewhere in the middle.
 
Ok we still have a race to go and 'things' can happen. Mercedes was a league on its own in quali. For tomorrow interesting tactics between Renault with free tire choice and the Haas' and RP Force India. RedBull overtaking race to hopefully end P5/6.

Hopefully at the end not that boring as expected before the race started?!
 
baldgye
but 2nd is one of the better positions for this race given the long straight town to T1 and the nice slipstream you can pick up...
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I think 3rd is much better, good side of track and slipstream. Lewis might be in trouble off line due to dirt on his side.
niky
No matter, Raikkonen was the only Ferrari on pace to match his lap, and he caught traffic somewhere in the middle.
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I think he was already a tenth or so down on previous Bottas lap by the end of S2? Ferrari was nowhere in 3rd sector, even without Kimi's mistake so I don't think he would match either Merc's time
 
adb
I think 3rd is much better, good side of track and slipstream. Lewis might be in trouble off line due to dirt on his side.
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Guess it depends on the starts... IMO P4 is better than 3rd because you get the slipstream and the inside line... last year we saw that P3 you can get a great run but then have nowhere to go because of p1 and 2 fighting it out and p4 alongside you... so you kinda get left out to dry on the outside...


Who knows to be fair :lol: I think Lewis should be good for the win, I don't know how Merc will play it, but I'm guessing if Bottas has the lead after the first stint he wont be asked to swap with Lewis
 
Even if the Ferraris get ahead of Mercedes into T2, they have looked pretty awful all weekend. Merc would either overtake them on track, or just sit behind and pull of a successful under/overcut.
 
The race should be very exciting to watch! Bottas keeping his record of never being out qualified by a teammate at Sochi. Lewis in P2 and the Ferrari who are looking like they have no response whatsoever to the Merc's speed. And then there's Red Bull coming from the back with good pace to boot so this should be good.

Seeing the Mercedes pace here, I'm wondering if they weren't keeping their power unit under wrap all season long as to conserve them so they don't go over the allowed amount of power units. Now that there's only 6 races to go, the power is turned up full blast and is showing the true pace of the car? :odd: I can't help but think that if Lewis had managed to get his second run together we could have been in for a 1.31 flat or 1.30.9.....meanwhile, Vettel barely scrapped a 1.31.9
 
baldgye
Not sure about that one, seems like a less interesting Singapore. Order pretty much sorted out after lap one, then 1 stop to the end.
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Really?? I thought Singapore was the less interesting one as the race was basically overo at qualifying. At least with Sochi, there are opportunities to overtake whereas the same can't be said for Singapore!
 
Traks1
Hmmm. Not the most interesting qually ever was it?. Grid penalties and tyre rules put paid to this one.
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Sad but true.

Qualifying has been the highlight of some race weekends this season, but to see teams deliberately bail out of Q2 is unforgivable. Even with penalties, they should still respect the paying fans and get out there and put on a show - but Renault's decision not to take part stinks... if it gives them an advantage in the race, then all the more reason why the current rules need to be changed... it simply cannot be right that a team can gain a competitive advantage in the race by deliberately avoiding qualifying. But aside from all other considerations, it is the fact that unpenalised cars and drivers are sitting idle in the pit lane while thousands of paying fans are being stiffed, and that cannot be right. It's another nail in the coffin of the sport.
 
Touring Mars
Qualifying has been the highlight of some race weekends this season, but to see teams deliberately bail out of Q2 is unforgivable. Even with penalties, they should still respect the paying fans and get out there and put on a show - but Renault's decision not to take part stinks... if it gives them an advantage in the race, then all the more reason why the current rules need to be changed... it simply cannot be right that a team can gain a competitive advantage in the race by deliberately avoiding qualifying. But aside from all other considerations, it is the fact that unpenalised cars and drivers are sitting idle in the pit lane while thousands of paying fans are being stiffed, and that cannot be right. It's another nail in the coffin of the sport.
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It's a classic F1 trope: fantastic and quite frankly absurd in equal measure. Sometimes more of one, sometimes less.

Take the current "message" they are trying to sell about environmental friendliness: the cars are perhaps the most energy efficient they have ever been, yet talks of expanding the calendar beyond 21 races would increase the usage of freight planes which pollute far, far more than the cars ever have at any point in the sport's history.
 
In my mind this race is going to be so boring (Like all previous Russian GPs) that only the 5 minute YouTube highlights will be worth watching.

I’m hoping to be proved wrong.
 
The only interesting thing that’s going to happen this race is the Mercedes team orders and the hate they get for it after
 
Touring Mars
It's another nail in the coffin of the sport
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A bit much.
This season has been fantastic and as you’ve said some quali sessions have been electric. Not every session and not every weekend is going to be great. One or two dull weekends do not kill the sport.
 
Back to the racing.

It rained and was wet for the entire F2 feature race and more rain is inbound by the looks of things.
With the new-ish surface in bits for the grid it could make the start very interesting. Also if the track stays greasy it could make all of the quali tricks meaningless as they’ll have to start on inters anyway...

Also all of the painted and Astro-turfed track edges will be deadly! Should/could inject some life into the race!
 
That's it, race over.

Good try from Vettel... bad start for Lewis. But that Merc has some great straightline pace here.
 

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