Posted on 8th October 2014
Even though the Formula One community is still struggling to come to terms with what has happened during the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend following Jules Bianch's accident (All at Driving for Pleasure's thoughts and prayers go to his family, friends and the Marussia F1 team), it heads into new territory with the brand new Sochi circuit near the Black Sea in Russia which was the home of the 2014 Winter Olympic games. This will be the first new circuit introduced to the Grand Prix calendar since Austin in 2012.
With the track only having been recently completed, there is not a lot of real data available. However, Pirelli has carried out advanced computer simulations in collaboration with the teams to prepare for the demands of a new venue and predict the likely strategies.
As a result, the P Zero White medium and P Zero Yellow soft tyres have been chosen for Russia: a combination that was last seen at the Belgian Grand Prix in Spa.
The Sochi circuit is a medium-speed circuit with a variety of different corners, including one left-hander that has been inspired by the long triple apex Turn 8 at Istanbul Park, which takes an enormous amount of energy out of the front-right tyre. In total there are 12 right and six left-hand corners, with a 650-metre straight between the first and second turns, on which the cars are expected to hit a top speed of around 320kph. The average lap speed will be in the region of 215kph, with the track layout designed by renowned circuit architect Hermann Tilke, whose last F1 creation was Austin in Texas.
Facts and Figures
•This is the first Russian Grand Prix to be held at the Sochi circuit
•Circuit Length: 5.853 km
•Race distance: TBA
•Top Speed: 320kph
•Number of turns: 18
•Number of laps: 53
•Lap record: N/A
•Winners from last 5 Russian Grand Prix: N/A
My top 5 things to look out for this weekend:-
1.Marussia- With the Marussia F1 Team clearly going through a difficult time after their driver Jules Bianchi suffered a severe head injury after his crash in the Japanese Grand Prix, many fans will be wondering if Marussia will run two cars at the Russian Grand Prix or even any cars at all. If they decide to run, will the Marussia team either pick Alexander Rossi or new signing Will Stevens to take the place of Jules Bianchi this weekend. But no matter what they decide, all the Formula One community will support whatever decision Marussia make and have a reasonable weekend despite what is happening off the track at the moment.
2.The performance of local driver Daniil Kvyat- With the spotlight firmly on Kvyat at the moment who has been announced as Sebastian Vettel's replacement at Red Bull for next season, Kvyat will want to have a great performance in front of his home crowd and give them and Russia an inaugural Grand Prix debut to remember.
3.Sergey Sirotkin's FP1 Debut for Sauber- As well as Kvyat, local driver Sergey Sirotkin will be making his FP1 debut for Sauber. This will be a chance for the young Russian to show what he can do in a Formula One car and put himself in the running for a race seat at the Swiss team for 2015.
4.Sochi Circuit- This is the first time Russia has hosted a Grand Prix at the Sochi circuit and it is a journey into the unknown for Formula One. The teams haven't run at the circuit at all due to the track being recently completed and there isn't any data for them to provide them with a foundation to build on during the weekend. So it will be interesting to see just how the teams and the drivers feel about racing around the Sochi circuit and what challenges they be facing and will be presented with during the course of the weekend.
5.Hamilton V Rosberg- With Hamilton winning three races consecutively at Monza, Singapore and Suzuka, all eyes once again will be upon the pair as they battle for the championship. With both drivers will be keen to add a victory at Sochi to their careers and also to help their fight to clinch the title for themselves. But will we see reliability issues affecting either driver and denying us yet another chance to see a battle on the track with the Mercedes drivers?
Sky Sports F1 are showing uninterrupted coverage of every Practice session, Qualifying and race for the Grand Prix (and every race of the season) and the BBC also are showing coverage, details for both are below:-
Sky Sports F1:-
Friday (Practice 1 and 2) 6.45am and 10.45am [Replays throughout Friday],
Saturday (Practice 3 and Qualifying) 8.45am and 11.20am [Replays throughout Saturday]
Sunday (Race) 10.30am
BBC–
Friday (Practice 1 and 2) 6.50am and 1.20pm
Saturday (Practice 3 and Qualifying) 8.55am and 11.15am
Sunday (Race and Race Highlights) 11.00am and 7.00pm
Sarah Jones for DrivingforPleasure
