[akash_v12]

The Russian Grand Prix is back in 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 2020.
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.

Schedule



Track



Tyres




Weather



Championship Standings


[/ATTACH]

Starting Grid



2020 Race Results

[Crow]

Bottas took an engine penalty? What weird strategy is this? He just took a penalty in the previous race. I doubt if he’ll be able to block Max Verstappen long enough for this to be worth it, but who am I to know? May end up becoming another galaxy brain moment that backfires on Mercedes.

[Red Liner]

Hotstar is going to get absolutely flamed tonight.

[tharian]

Hats off to Hotstar for stopping the live broadcast in the final two laps and telecasting cricket instead!

Pathetic.

[aim120]

Idiot's at hotstar always know how to screw it up. Bottas is useless, if it wasn't for the rain he would have finished no where near points.
Lewis gets his 100th win.

[speedmiester]

Hamilton wins from Max and what a disappointment for Norris, this was his race, he should have pitted and taken the win. He is so good in rain.
Ferrari on podium with Sainz, that's a good drive by Sainz to get to the podium.

What the hell is wrong with Hotstar, bloody hell. Screwed up the telecast at the wrong time.

[click]

Hotstar is a joke. Replaced the final 2 most interesting laps with bloody cricket!!!!

Gutted for Lando.

[akash_v12]

Guys, don't think it was Hotstar only, I think it was Sky. The entire broadcast was messed up. What pissed me off even more is that these guys started up IPL in between.

I'm really, really sad for Lando, but after all, it was his call unfortunately and that's what led it too it. Superb drive from Max and good strategy call by Mercedes. Alonso, the old fox stays ahead on newer tyres followed by Ricciardo.

Sainz was also really smart with the strategy, Congratulations to him!

What's going on with the Aston guys? 2 races, 2 hits? Something is on there. The fact that Sochi is so interesting is another weird thing.

[SILVER-ARROW]

So unfortunate for Lando. He was driving superbly and had this virtually in the bag. Lewis too was reluctant to pit, but as crofty rightly said sometimes you have to hear to people in the pits they are there to help you make the correct decision.
Excellent result for Max as well.

Just when everyone was on the edge of our seats hotstar screws up the broadcast. My wife you is normally calm, even she was furious to miss such an existing climax at the end.

[corvus corax]

No sympathies for Lando. The cocky kid invited it for himself, and the team. Maybe its time Mr. Brown lose his cool boss act and cracked some whip.
Gutted for Perez though. Was comfortably cruising to P3.

[SilentEngine]

Norris - lack of experience at front showed up today. He will learn from this.

Hotstar - what a bunch of idiots!

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Guys, don't think it was Hotstar only, I think it was Sky. The entire broadcast was messed up. What pissed me off even more is that these guys started up IPL in between.

When you say Sky, you mean the source feed? I doubt it. I think it's only the Indian broadcasting that was affected. Somebody at Star just switched the incoming feed from F1 to cricket! They don't care about anything beyond cricket anyway!

Sainz was also really smart with the strategy, Congratulations to him!

Well, he needs to be! It's one of the main requirement when you drive for Ferrari. Drivers do the strategy themselves. At one point, his engineer was telling him he is good for a P5 result, having started P2 and taken lead at the start!

[iamahunter]

It was the season's most interesting and unpredictable race yet..!

Hamilton - Congratulation for the 100th victory, that is some achievement. Nevertheless would not have been possible without the correct team-mate who always scumbled to "team-orders". Also thanks to the kid that did not go in for a pit stop and stayed out on hards.

Verstappen - Huge gain today. 20th to 2nd was a big effort. Credits to his driving and the rains as well.

Carlos - Good race since the beginning, I did feel he went in a little too early for the first stop, nevertheless the rain gods blessed him with a podium.

Daniel - Good drive and a fantastic job of holding back the Merc 44. Well deserved 4th place. Good to see him back in form.

Lando - Fantastic race throughout, except the last 3 laps. A championship material driver, but needs a little more maturity. If he would have gone in earlier, he could have easily been on the top spot today.

Hotstar - What a broadcasting mistake at the end, the most crucial time of the race. They started broadcasting cricket, man that was such and idiotic decision. Pure pathetic. I know it was some technical issue with all OTT apps, but Hotstar was still stuck even when Jio TV had started broadcasting the race. Thanks for that!

Overall all I did enjoy the race, a perfect combination of the champions, the underdogs, and amazing climatic conditions. This would make one interesting Drive to Survive episode.

[motorworks]

Another fantastic race this year! I feel we have had many more interesting races in the last 2 years compared to the earlier 3-4 years!

You got to feel for Lando! I mean, that decision from him to stay out was not great, but no one really knew if the rain would get heavier or not. And his engineer should have stressed that he absolutely needs to pit for inters if they believed that the rain was getting heavier! Anyway, I think he has a long career and I see him getting a lot more wins, he learnt it the tough way today.

Hamilton winning was a always the possibility considering he started 4th behind much slower cars. But the fact that he could not really make up places in the first phase meant that a win was disappearing fast! However on his second stint he was catching Lando and I think he might have even made the move even if it did not rain.

The luckiest today was Max, I mean even he would not have dreamt of finishing 2nd!

Also happy for Sainz, I thought the pit call from
Ferrari was too early, they sort of reacted the moment Sainz lost his position to Lando, so they must have assumed that the undercut will work, but it was way too early. Anyway, somehow the luck swung back in his favour in the last few laps.

But I’m absolutely gutted for Leclerc, he had a superb start, was as quick as Max throughout the race, but I guess ferrari wanted to balance their risks by keeping him out when it started raining and it didn’t work for him.

Perez and Bottas, once again showing why they are designated no:2 drivers.

[ninjatalli]

What a crazy crazy race!

1. Norris, you stupid you! But kudos to him to give a light hug to Hamilton congratulating him - even though he must have been crushed by the results.

2. Hotstar - what a shit-show mismanagement today, at the most important moment.

3. Verstappen - lucky bugger to get 2nd position. Bottas comes a close 2nd on the luck levels.

For those who missed out today's race, perhaps this image might help in understanding the jugglery of positions that happened today.


Source: Official F1 account tweet

[shibujp]

Vettel, Lewis, Vestappen, now Norris - every few years we get these mega young drivers who just seem to have that bit extra. What goes for them is that they were also lucky to catch the right breaks and enter with the right teams without languishing in lower teams.

His last decision notwithstanding Sochi was owned by Norris. What a sterling drive till his decision to hang out with the slicks cost him dear. But he is young and such experiences will make him a stronger driver. We need to remember that with all his experience Hamilton almost did the same mistake.

Right from the lights, the racing was just mega - up and down the field. Sainz did an excellent job getting the jump on Norris at the start. I think Ferrari's decision to ask him to manage his tyres was the wrong one. By the time Norris caught up to him, Sainz had little in his tyre to fight back with.

Lots of teams got caught by the new pit stop regulations. I am surprised that more teams did not protest this new regulation that a button has to be pressed on the wrench after fitting the tyre. It seems that everyone except Mercedes have had an issue with it.

Russell did a fine job keeping third place for as long as he did I feel. If he is smart he will do to Hamilton what Leclerc did to Vettel else he is going to end up being another Bottas. I sometimes feel that since Bottas landed his multiyear contract, he is sending out clear messages to the Mercedes team like "lets see you boys win this without me".

Great drive by Vestappen to come up through the field like he did. Especially that pass on Bottas which was crucial. However the second stint on hards saw all the good work come undone. Then the rain came. P2 - as RB remarked - it feels like a win. Down on Hamilton by just two points.

The rain created a lot of winners and losers. Alonso was one of them. Aston drivers seem to be getting a bit antsy for the last couple of races. Out of points for Vettel in yet another race. Stroll started well to get upto P4, Vettel upto P6 at one point, but another out of points finish for both of them. Off color races for Gasly too. The new boys in two seem to be Alpine. at least one car if not both have strong finishes in recent races. Alonso's class is shining through.

Shaping up to be a cracker of a season!

Drive on,
Shibu