Heavy rain and Mercedes ambitions: FIA F1 Russia Grand Prix runs in Sochi – Sport

MOSCOW, September 24th. / TASS /. The Sochi Autodrom, a racetrack in Russia’s southern city of Sochi, will host the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Russia for the eighth time this weekend, and the rainy weather in the coastal city could change the battle for the FIA ​​F1 World Champion crown in 2021 .

Heavy rains flooded Sochi on Tuesday, but they gave up on Thursday when the F1 teams were accommodated at the track. The weather researchers predict more heavy rains for Saturday during the qualifying session.

Alexei Titov, the general director of the ANO Rosgonki company in charge of the race organization, told TASS early on September 24th that the organizers had taken all measures to combat the consequences of possible rainfalls during the racing sessions.

“Most importantly, we’ve upgraded our drainage systems,” Titov told TASS. “The heavy rain on Tuesday pointed to some weaknesses and we have taken care of them.”

“We are ready [to host the race] even if there is a risk of flooding because all the water will be drained, “he said.” However, we will monitor any circumstances that develop and the final decision on racing sessions will be with the International Automobile Federation. ” [FIA]. “

After two training sessions on the previous Friday, the team Mercedes drivers dominated the track with Valtteri Bottas from Finland, who set the pace of the track in Sochi with 1 minute 33.593 seconds, and his British teammate Lewis Hamilton 0.044 seconds behind the track.

Team Mercedes has won every Russian Grand Prix since the Sochi Autodrom, designed by celebrity Hermann Tilke, hosted its first F1 race in 2014. Hamilton won four races, his team-mate Valtteri Bottas was on the top step of the podium twice and another victory went to the former team Mercedes racing driver Nico Rosberg from Germany.

The seven-time Formula 1 world champion Hamilton is aiming for his 100th career victory in Formula 1 on the track in Sochi this Sunday, as he did not succeed in the last four of the 14 races this year. The British racing driver is currently also second in the drivers’ standings of the 2021 F1 World Championship with 221.5 points, behind the Dutch racing driver Max Verstappen from Team Red Bull with 226.5 points.

Hamilton could be relaxed this weekend, however, as Verstappen would start the Russian Grand Prix from the end of the grid due to a penalty imposed after changing the engine in his car before the race. The Dutch racing driver was also penalized for his collision two weeks ago at the Italian Grand Prix in order to start three places on the grid in Russia.

This race weekend at the Sochi Autodrom will also be the first home race for the Russian Nikita Mazepin from Team HAAS, his car is painted in the colors of the Russian flag.

Team Haas’ fleet of racing cars is decorated in the colors of the Russian flag, because the US team’s title sponsor is Russia’s largest fertilizer company, Uralkali. The main owner of the company is Dmitry Mazepin and his son Nikita Mazepin is driving for the Haas team this year alongside the German Mick Schumacher, the son of the seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher.

Russian racing driver Nikita Mazepin, 22, signed a multi-year contract with the Haas F1 Team in December 2020, becoming Russia’s fourth racing driver to compete in the world’s most prestigious auto racing series, the FIA ​​Formula 1, in 19th place Place in the drivers’ championship. Both drivers have scored zero points so far.

F1 Russian GP in Sochi

The Sochi Autodrom circuit is the only race track in Russia that hosts an FIA Formula 1 Grand Prix. Located in the Olympic Park, where the 2014 Winter Olympics took place, seven F1 Grand Prix races have already been successfully held on the 5,848 meter long race track on the Black Sea coast.

At the end of 2014, the Sochi Autodrom was awarded the trophy for the best Formula 1 racetrack of the year. The Race Promoters’ Trophy is a rotating award engraved with the names of other top F1 circuits dating back to 1975.

The contract to include Russia in the F1 racing calendar for the period 2014-2020 was signed in Sochi in 2010 by then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone. At the beginning of 2017, the contract to host the F1 Russia Grand Prix was extended until 2025.

However, the F1 press office announced in June of this year that the Russian stage of the Formula 1 races will take place on the Igora Drive race track near St. Petersburg from 2023.