[akash_v12]

The Russian Grand Prix is back at Sochi, which currently is the 3rd newest circuit in the F1 Calendar.
Inaugurated in 2014, the asphalt in Sochi has gradually matured over the years. Nonetheless, the track is still well-known for offering comparatively low levels of grip.
The tyre choice is actually one step softer than last year, when the C2, C3 and C4 were selected. Most drivers stopped once in 2019: just five of the 15 classified finishers stopped twice and this was largely influenced by the safety car.
The most demanding corner is definitely Turn 3: a 750-metre constant radius left-hander, working the front-right tyre hardest. The rest of the circuit is largely composed of slow to medium speed 90-degree corners, giving Sochi something of the feel of a street circuit (having been built around the Olympic Park).
Pirelli has chosen the softest tyres in the range - C3,C4 & C5 for this race.

Stream on - Star Sports Select HD2 | Hotstar
All times IST

Schedule



The Circuit






2019 Results



Tyre Choices

[ds.raikkonen]

Things to look forward to this weekend:
a) Bottas finally winning a race after Austria, and not doing the whole 'after you' thing with Hamilton. He almost seems scared of doing anything which might hamper his 'seat' at Mercedes (get Rosberg back!).

b) Pirelli bringing the softest compounds! Hope the weather is hot enough for the Mercedes cars to start blistering (and Verstappen pouncing).

c) Kimi and Alfa Romeo trumping the Ferrari duo again!

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by ds.raikkonen

Bottas finally winning a race after Austria, and not doing the whole 'after you' thing with Hamilton. He almost seems scared of doing anything which might hamper his 'seat' at Mercedes (get Rosberg back!).

Bottas is not doing the “after you” thing, he is simply not up to the task. He’s ok as the number two driver with respect to the Constructors Championship and nothing else. On his days, which are few and far between he manages to get one over Hamilton, that too mostly because it’s Hamilton’s off day.

Rosberg would never have won the Championship if it would not have been Hamilton’s bad luck thru the year, especially the Malaysian GP (not sure) when Hamilton’s car blew up. He knew his limitations, smart man, to bow out of the circus after winning once. I feel he would never have been able to do it again.

I am not really a Hamilton fan, especially after his political antics regarding the Black Lives Matter movement. But, it’s impossible not to see the man’s extraordinary talent, hard work, consistency and relentless pursuit of perfection.

Cheers

[ds.raikkonen]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Bottas is not doing the “after you” thing, he is simply not up to the task. He’s ok as the number two driver with respect to the Constructors Championship and nothing else. On his days, which are few and far between he manages to get one over Hamilton, that too mostly because it’s Hamilton’s off day.

Rosberg would never have won the Championship if it would not have been Hamilton’s bad luck thru the year, especially the Malaysian GP (not sure) when Hamilton’s car blew up. He knew his limitations, smart man, to bow out of the circus after winning once. I feel he would never have been able to do it again.

Yeah, had it been Ricciardo or any other decent competitive driver who had not accepted the #2 role, he would most certainly not have let Hamilton pass him on the 'outside' of T1 at Mugello at the second restart, at least would have bumped wheels, pushed him wide. Bottas is worried of losing his seat at Mercedes, in my opinion.

Hamilton, thoguh has had misfortune in 2012 and 2016, otherwise has been very fortunate to get out of tricky situations unscathed. He is a great driver, no doubt.

Rosberg was a better competitor, though played dirty tricks, but could at least take the fight to Hamilton as he was not sticking around, same attitude as James Hunt when he beat the great late Niki Lauda at a soggy treacherous Fuji speedway.

[akash_v12]

Surprising results for FP1! Hamilton P19. Bottas P1, Ricciardo P2 & Verstappen P3. Danny Ric has great form these days in his Renault and even Perez, with only half the upgrades landed up in P4. I feel the dusty track was bad luck for Latifi & Sainz, with both having major crashes in FP1.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Surprising results for FP1! Hamilton P19. Bottas P1, Ricciardo P2 & Verstappen P3. Danny Ric has great form these days in his Renault and even Perez, with only half the upgrades landed up in P4. I feel the dusty track was bad luck for Latifi & Sainz, with both having major crashes in FP1.

FP2 Bottas first again, but only by 0.267 secs to Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo third.

Bottas is again talking too much about not allowing Hamilton to take his 91st victory as “he is here to win”. You get the feeling he is trying to talk to himself .

I feel he should stop the blah blah and show what he can do on Sunday where it counts.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/a...fGII6tCqN.html

Cheers

[deetjohn]

If only there were points for Free Practice, Bottas would be champion in 2020. It looks as if he shows Lewis the way around and then the latter takes over during the quali and race when it really matters.

[shibujp]

Bottas looks to be competitive yet again topping the charts in both FP1 and FP2. Frankly I think he need to put Hamilton in the wall to get the championship clearly showing the team that he means business. At the very least hang his teammate out to dry a couple of times like Raikkonen did to Vettel in Italy 2018 and Hamilton did to Rosberg in Abu Dhabi 2016. I hope he pushes for a win at Sochi.

I am not sure what he is gearing though. Mercedes need him to win the Constructors title. Young guns like Ocon or Russel are simply not going to cut it. And to a manufacturer like Mercedes the Constructors title is more important than the Drivers. And surely without Bottas, Hamilton's campaign is going to falter too.

Another weekend where Renault look quick. However their long race pace has not delivered so far along with a couple of reliability issues. Regular top 10 players though these days

Drive on,
Shibu

[dmplog]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Stream on - Star Sports Select HD2 | Hotstar
All times IST

Correction
Qualifying isn't available on HD2 but HD1

[Cyborg]

Another Bottas disaster, not only did he get washed out by Hamilton again, even Verstappen beat him to second. Sure, he got a bit of a tow from Bottas, but it is what it is. Hamilton set a new track record on his way to pole.

Imagine the fun for us if Verstappen manages to out drag Hamilton into the first corner. Maybe not, since Hamilton is on the soft tyre and Verstappen and Bottas are on the mediums. Pit strategy should be interesting.

Another great drive by Perez, inspite of not having the latest updates on his car. Hope he manages to get a drive for next year.



Cheers

[tazmaan]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Another Bottas disaster, not only did he get washed out by Hamilton again, even Verstappen beat him to second..



Attachment 2059720



Cheers

I think it was a bigger disaster by Hamilton to start with both in Q1 and Q2 he got his lap times deleted due to his mistakes. What happens now is he starts with a disadvantage on tires.

But with Bottas no way he is in Lewis league, even after the debacle in Q2, Lewis got the better of him in Q3 and so did Max. A champion capitalises on opportunities which Bottas did not.

And Max what a driver even as a Hamilton fan I am happy for Max do not know why !! He has the fire.

[ecenandu]

Pole position is not the best place to start in Russia, so it may be a blessing in disguise for Bottas.

[neo_narender]

Race Result:

• A long time coming P1 for Bottas since Austria.
• Verstappen was strong throughout the race & maintained his P2.
• Hamilton awarded two separate 5-second time penalties doing practice starts outside the designated areas & he still managed to finish P3.
• Leclerc managed to finish P6 with that Ferrari is mind-blowing.

I have a doubt related to the turn 2 exit route.

• Sainz who crossed the track limits in Lap 1, tried to adhere to the directives put forth. But he couldn't slow down enough for the curve & crashed his left tyre into the wall, ending his race.
• Grosjean, who also went beyond track limits while in a fight for his position with Vettel, which he lost. He tried to take the exit route but could not manage the curve & smashed the thing (I don't know what it's called, apologies). He was under investigation, but no further action was taken.

My question is, isn't this unfair towards Sainz who tried to follow the directive to a T & got himself into a crash? While Grosjean went scot-free.
If there was some lenience to this rule/directive, Sainz would have saved himself the trouble instead of a crash. Just a thought.

I realize that Sainz could have avoided a crash completely & gotten himself a 5-second penalty by not choosing to take the exit route & joined the race in a safe manner.

Neo

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by neo_narender

My question is, isn't this unfair towards Sainz who tried to follow the directive to a T & got himself into a crash? While Grosjean went scot-free.

If there was some lenience to this rule/directive, Sainz would have saved himself the trouble instead of a crash. Just a thought.



I realize that Sainz could have avoided a crash completely & gotten himself a 5-second penalty by not choosing to take the exit route & joined the race in a safe manner.



Neo

Sainz just misjudged it trying to follow Verstappen who also took that route. Not sure why Grosjean was let off, may be he had lost control of his car. Otherwise the rules were very clear in that, and even Ricciardo got +5 seconds for not taking proper exit route. Even Grosjean went through the bollards a few times correctly towards the end, so it was very much possible for Sainz to avoid the crash.

[shibujp]

First off a note about a superb duel that took place at the back of the pack. Albion, Russel and Norris. If it had been the leading drivers I am sure they would have touched. But these guys were inch perfect giving each other fair room.

Finally Bottas won one. I think he should have squeezed Hamilton more in the first corner. But other than that he capitalised on the situation and pulled it off.


[Not sure why Grosjean was let off, may be he had lost control of his car. Otherwise the rules were very clear in that, and even Ricciardo got +5 seconds for not taking proper exit route. [/quote]

I believe Grosjean was left off as he showed an intent to negotiate the bollards whereas Riccardo showed none. Anyway Riccardo was true to his word and made up for it in his race.

Drive on,
Shibu