Russian Grand Prix 2015 Preview: Start Time, TV Times, Weather, Schedule, Odds
The Formula One spotlight settles on Sochi this weekend, so it's time to look ahead to and preview the 2015 Russian Grand Prix.
The Sochi Autodrom will host the sport's newest event for only the second time, and once again, it could prove to be a title decider. Mercedes sealed the constructors' championship here last season—if they score three more points than Ferrari in Sunday's race, the crown will be theirs with four rounds to spare.
But the team's drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, will have all their focus on a different prize altogether. The drivers' championship cannot be decided in Russia, but the result of the race will no doubt have a major impact on who takes the 2015 title.
Sebastian Vettel is also mathematically in the mix. Though he could still—in theory—end up on top of the pile, it's very difficult to see his Ferrari having enough pace between now and the end of the year. Unless something truly remarkable happens, there are only two horses in this title race—and both of them are silver.
Hamilton is the only man in the world to have won a Russian Grand Prix, and he takes a 48-point lead into the race. Rosberg knows he can't afford for that gap to grow any larger—and he certainly can't afford a repeat of last season, where he pushed too hard under pressure and took himself out of contention.
The German simply has to win. And if he's again outqualified by Hamilton, the very long run down to the first corner could be his secret weapon.
Read on for a full preview of the weekend ahead, including a circuit map and detailed guide, TV times, session times, tyre and DRS information, current standings, weather and odds.
Current Formula 1 Drivers' and Constructors' Championship Standings
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Lewis Hamilton's crushing victory in Japan saw his world championship lead grow to 48 points. Nico Rosberg remains second with Sebastian Vettel close behind in third.
The battle of the Finns, between Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen, is still alive and well, as is the scrap between Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat—neither of whom scored at Suzuka.
The current top 10 drivers are:
| 1 | Lewis Hamilton | 277 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | 229 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | 218 |
| 4 | Kimi Raikkonen | 119 |
| 5 | Valtteri Bottas | 111 |
| 6 | Felipe Massa | 97 |
| 7 | Daniel Ricciardo | 73 |
| 8 | Daniil Kvyat | 66 |
| 9 | Romain Grosjean | 44 |
| 10 | Sergio Perez | 39 |
Mercedes scored a maximum 43 points at the Japanese Grand Prix, as Hamilton and Rosberg finished first and second; they now lead the constructors' championship by 169 points. If they score three more points than Ferrari in the Russian Grand Prix, they'll once again win the title.
The current constructors' standings are:
| 1 | Mercedes | 506 |
| 2 | Ferrari | 337 |
| 3 | Williams | 208 |
| 4 | Red Bull | 139 |
| 5 | Force India | 77 |
| 6 | Lotus | 60 |
| 7 | Toro Rosso | 44 |
| 8 | Sauber | 26 |
| 9 | McLaren | 17 |
| 10 | Manor | 0 |
Data sourced from the official F1 website.
Sochi Autodrom
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The Sochi Autodrom threads its way around the Olympic Park built to host the 2014 Winter Olympics. It was designed by Hermann Tilke, but the presence of existing buildings and landmarks didn't leave him a lot of room to work with.
The result of his labours is a circuit that straddles the border between street circuit and road course. Barriers line most of the 5.848 kilometre layout, but every corner has ample tarmac run-off. A full-on loss of control will probably put the driver in the wall, but minor errors go almost entirely unpunished.
In this respect it's similar to Valencia and Abu Dhabi, and that's not a good thing. But as dull as the 2014 race was—and as soulless, sterile and cold as the circuit appears—it's too early to write Sochi off entirely because is does have some interesting bits and more than a handful of challenging corners.
There's still a chance it'll end up being a decent venue that produces exciting races.
Turns 1 and 2
A lap begins on the pit straight almost as soon as the drivers exit the final corner, with the longest run down to the first braking zone of any current circuit. But the first corner isn't far—Turn 1 being an easy, flat-out right-hander just after the start line.
After exiting that corner, the cars speed off down the second half of the straight. Almost a kilometre after the pole position slot on the grid, the drivers brake hard down to around 120 kilometres an hour for the tight right-hander of Turn 2.
This incredibly long run from the start line to Turn 2 makes Sochi the only circuit on the calendar where pole position could be a disadvantage. Every driver on the grid will have the opportunity to pick up a slipstream as they speed toward the turn on the opening lap—all of them, that is, except the man at the front.
The track flicks left at the exit and the drivers straight-line the kerb on the left-hand side for the best possible line.
Turns 3 and 4
Immediately after the exit of Turn 2, the drivers get back on the throttle and drift to the right-hand side of the track for the entry to the long, long, long left-hander of Turn 3. Flat-out from start to finish, this is one of the longest corners in F1—and the most visually impressive piece of tarmac Sochi has to offer.
Even on a qualifying lap, the cars spend at least seven seconds turning left before the track straightens out at the exit for the braking zone of Turn 4.
This slow- to medium-speed right-hander saw a little bit of overtaking last season. Such moves require the attacking driver to stay very close through Turn 3—or even make a move around the outside, as Jean-Eric Vergne did to Kevin Magnussen last year.
Turns 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9
A short straight follows before the drivers brake for the somewhat featureless, slow right-hander of Turn 5. Once through, it's back on the power and through the flat-out right of Turn 6, then on the brakes again at the exit to slow for the tighter right of Turn 7.
This one is a little trickier as the braking zone is slightly curved.
Another short straight comes next, leading into the medium-speed, double-apex left of Turns 8 and 9. The first of these two off-camber corners is slightly slower, while the second is flat-out.
Turn 10
Yet again the drivers negotiate a short straight, but this one has an important corner at the end of it. Turn 10 is a slow, 90-degree right-hander that leads out onto the second-longest straight Sochi possesses.
Turns 11, 12, 13 and 14
The "straight" isn't really straight. It first makes a long sweep to the right (Turn 11), then curves back to the left (Turn 12) before it ends at the tight, slow right-hander of Turn 13.
The drivers have to swoop into Turn 12 in the middle of the track, cutting in toward the left-hand side of the circuit at just the right moment to give themselves the straightest possible braking zone into the apex of Turn 13.
The layout makes it one of the trickiest heavy-braking zones of the year; it also makes positioning a car for an overtaking move substantially more difficult.
As soon as they exit Turn 13, the drivers flick right a touch and enter the long, slow left-hander of Turn 14. The corner opens out at the exit, but the drivers have to wait before getting back on the power and heading out onto a short straight.
Turns 15 and 16
After just a few seconds on the power, it's back on the brakes again for the slow, left-right chicane comprising Turns 15 and 16. The first half is off-camber, and mistakes into here could occur over the course of the weekend.
The second of the two corners is a little easier, and it leads out onto another short straight.
Turns 17 and 18
Now approaching the end of the lap, the drivers brake down to around 120 kilometres an hour for the slow, 90-degree right of Turn 17. A brief throttle squirt later, the anchors are thrown out again for the final corner—an even slower, tighter right.
A good exit here is extremely important as it leads out onto the long pit straight. The timing beam used for qualifying laps is hit just a few seconds after the apex, whereas the start line is further down the straight.
Pit Lane
The pit lane entry is on the inside before Turn 17. The exit is on the right-hand side just after Turn 1.
Slide image: Creative Commons.
Tyres and DRS
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The 2014 Russian Grand Prix stood out in part because the tyres experienced very little wear. This was in part due to the newly laid Sochi Autodrom surface being very smooth; according to samples taken by Pirelli, it hasn't undergone any major evolution since then, so we can expect another race with little physical wear.
The relatively cool temperatures and layout of the Sochi circuit means thermal degradation—where excessively heating the rubber leads to a loss of tyre performance—is also unlikely to be significant.
Pirelli will supply the red-marked supersoft and yellow-marked soft compound tyres. This represents a full step down from last year's race, where the soft and medium tyres were used. The supersoft is expected to be up to a second per lap quicker.
We'll get a reasonable idea of what race strategies the teams will employ from Friday's practice sessions, but Pirelli is hoping for at least two stops.
DRS
There will be two DRS zones at the Russian Grand Prix.
The first has its detection point on the pit straight just before Turn 1, and the activation line will be situated midway through Turn 1. The zone will end at the braking zone for Turn 2.
The second zone's detection point lies less than 100 metres before Turn 10. The activation point is at the entry to Turn 11, and the zone ends with braking for Turn 13.
However, some drivers will manually deactivate DRS a few seconds early—as Lewis Hamilton did on his pole position lap in 2014—to ensure the car is not unsettled in the tricky Turn 13 braking zone.
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Weather
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Sochi hosted the Winter Olympics in 2014, but the city itself has a humid subtropical climate—the alpine events were hosted many miles away in the mountains to the east. October sees typical daytime highs in the low 20s degrees Celsius and rain falls on average one day in every two.
The forecast for the Russian Grand Prix weekend is for mostly overcast skies and temperatures a little below the long-term average on all three days. There'll be sunny spells, but rainfall is also possible for both Friday and Sunday.
BBC Weather will have the latest as we get closer to the weekend.
Russian Grand Prix Odds
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Lewis Hamilton is pre-qualifying favourite, as he has been for every race since the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg is back up to second-favourite after falling behind Sebastian Vettel at Suzuka.
The top 10 favourites are:
| Lewis Hamilton | 1-2 |
| Nico Rosberg | 11-4 |
| Sebastian Vettel | 8-1 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 28-1 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 45-1 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 45-1 |
| Felipe Massa | 50-1 |
| Daniil Kvyat | 66-1 |
| Max Verstappen | 250-1 |
| Carlos Sainz Jr | 300-1 |
Selected Others
Sochi has ample run-off at most of its corners, but there are many places on the circuit where a stopped car could be problematic. It's 8-15 for the safety car (full, not virtual) to make an appearance and 11-8 for a no-show.
In the fight for what is likely to be the third spot on the podium behind the two Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel leads the way on 8-11. Valtteri Bottas—third in 2014—and Kimi Raikkonen are 7-2, while Felipe Massa is 9-2.
Pastor Maldonado will be aiming to score points in a second consecutive race for only the third time in his career. He's 7-4 for a top 10 finish, with likely rivals including 10-11 Romain Grosjean, 5-6 Max Verstappen and 11-10 Carlos Sainz Jr.
All odds sourced from Oddschecker.com and correct at the time of publication.
Russian Grand Prix Session Times and TV Times
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As always, the Russian Grand Prix weekend will consist of three free practice sessions, qualifying and the race.
The session times are as follows:
| Practice 1 | Friday | 10 a.m. |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 2 p.m. |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 12 noon |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 3 p.m. |
| Race | Sunday | 2 p.m. |
All times given are in Sochi local time (MSK, UTC+3). The official Formula One website has a useful tool on its homepage to convert them to your own time zone.
TV Times
In the United Kingdom, live coverage of all sessions will be provided by Sky Sports F1 and the BBC across channels One and Two and the Red Button (RB). The programming times are as follows (all times BST):
| Practice 1 | Friday | 8 a.m. | 7:45 a.m. | 7:55 a.m. (Two) |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 12 noon | 11:45 a.m. | 11:55 a.m. (RB) |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 10 a.m. | 9:45 a.m. | 9:55 a.m. (Two) |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 1 p.m. | 12 noon | 12:10 p.m. (One) |
| Race | Sunday | 12 p.m. | 10:30 a.m. | 11 a.m. (One) |
In the United States, live coverage is provided by the NBC network on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra (SLE). The times are as follows (all times EDT):
| Practice 1 | Friday | 3 a.m. | 3 a.m. (SLE) |
| Practice 2 | Friday | 7 a.m. | 7 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Practice 3 | Saturday | 5 a.m. | 5 p.m. (SLE) |
| Qualifying | Saturday | 8 a.m. | 8 a.m. (NBCSN) |
| Race | Sunday | 7 a.m. | 7:00 am (NBCSN) |
Enjoy the weekend!
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