Tag: Valtteri Bottas

So after Lewis’ procession to win the 2014 Russian Grand Prix maybe the post-race presser had some spark in it? Something to add a bit of life to the race. Well, don’t hold your breath waiting for that to happen.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo explains a little about his tyre performance and some of the challenges he faced in securing P7.

“Starting the race the tyre was already blistered, it had quite a bit from qualifying,” Daniel said. “So it wasn’t looking too healthy and the first stint made it worse; I could see it starting to come apart, so we had to pit quiet early.

“Then on the prime the tyre lasted well and we had good pace and could match Alonso, but couldn’t get past. Congrats to Mercedes—it’s been a dominant season by them, so hats off to them.”

Lewis Hamilton has won the Russian Grand Prix and in doing so has helped the works Mercedes AMG team secure its first ever constructors’ world championship. It’s Hamilton’s ninth win of the season and the second time this year he has won four races in a row. He now has 31 career grands prix victories, which puts him equal with Nigel Mansell.

For all of that though it was a boring race. The only excitment was at the approach to Turn 2 on the opening lap when Nico Rosberg overtook Hamilton for the lead, but in doing so locked up his tyres so badly that he had to pit for new rubber at the end of the lap.

In an illustration of how lifeless this race was Rosberg was then able to complete the race on the tyres he had fitted at the start of Lap 2. That enabled him to claw back every position except the lead and claim yet another Mercedes AMG 1-2 for the year (nine in total so far this season).

Valtteri Bottas continued his good form to finish P3 and ensured the Silver Arrows didn’t have it all their own way by securing the fastest lap of the race on his final tour. Jenson Button came home fourth, ahead of his teammate Kevin Magnussen.

If you’re paying attention you’ll notice the first five cars were Mercedes-powered.

Fernando Alonso was the first non-Mercedes powered driver across the line, hanging on to keep his Ferrari ahead of the Red Bull pairing of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel. Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez rounded out the top 10.

With three races left, including the double points novelty at Bahrain, Lewis Hamilton has a 17 point lead over Rosberg and seems unstoppable for the drivers’ title. But as we all know, anything can happen in Formula 1 and it usually does.

Let’s hope that is the case, because after tonight’s Russian Grand Prix we need soemthing to wake us all up.

Lewis Hamilton has claimed pole position for the first Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix. Hamilton’s time (1:38.513) was exactly two tenths quicker than teammate Nico Rosberg (1:38.713) who will share the front row.

Valtteri Bottas (1:38.920) was looking good to upset that Mercedes front row until he made a mistake on the final corner. He had to settle for P3 and will have Jenson Button (1:39.121) to his side.

The third row gives us a brief insight into 2015, with Daniil Kvyat (1:39.277) delighting both his Toro Rosso team and the local fans by qualifying fifth. Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo (1:39.635) qualified seventh, but inherits P6 thanks to an unscheduled gearbox change from Kevin Magnussen (1:39.629), who drops to P11.

“It’s tough to get a lap together around here,” Daniel said. “For a new track it’s really high in grip but at the same time it’s hard to read the grip; it’s not such a natural feeling that it gives us behind the wheel, but it’s fun and a new challenge.

“We were trying to get the fronts in and get grip out of them and on the last lap I lost the rear. We’re better off than we were yesterday, but I was hoping for more than seventh.”

The top ten is rounded out by Fernando Alonso (1:39.709), Kimi Raikkonen (1:39.771), Jean-Eric Vergne (1:40.020) and Sebastian Vettel (1:40.052). Vettel missed out on Q3, qualifying eleventh, but moves up due to Magnussen’s penalty. Felipe Massa was another unexpected quali casualty, failing to make it out of Q1 after suffering from a fuel pressure problem. He will start from P18.

The drivers have, in general, praised the Sochi circuit. Its high grip and low abrasion mean there is a low level of tyre degradation. It will be an interesting race tonight, make sure you tune in.