F1 Russian Grand Prix 2021

After years of attempting to get a race in Russia, plans finally came to fruition in 2014 with the event held in the resort city of Sochi, which also hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Going through the former Olympic village the Sochi Autodrom clocks in at 5.848km, with the close to 900m straight away that starts the lap contributing to several first corner incidents at Turn 1.

Turn 3 is a constant 750m left-hander that sees drivers loop around the Poyushchiye fountain that leads into the tricky 180-degree Turn 4 and first detection point. The track blends medium and low-speed corners with two fast sections where cars can show their worth as speeds can hit close to 340km.

The track has proven to be difficult to pass on, making Saturday qualifying all the more important. The race winner has started on the front row in five of the seven events held to date.

The Russian Grand Prix 2020

Mercedes continued their dominance with Valtteri Bottas taking top spot to give the team seven wins from all seven races held in F1. Lewis Hamilton took pole ahead of Max Verstappen, but the Brit’s race was compromised after receiving two five-second penalties for doing practice starts outside the designated area. That opened the door for Bottas to claim the first of his two victories on the season, with Verstappen and Hamilton rounding out the podium.

When is the 2021 Russian Grand Prix on the F1 calendar?
The Russian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on the weekend of September 24-26 and is provisionally set to be the 15th race of the Formula 1 season. The first two free practice sessions will take place on September 24 with qualifying on Saturday September 25 at 14:00 CET.

What time does the Russian Grand Prix start?
The Russian Grand Prix starts on Sunday September 26, 2021 at 13:00 CET. The race can be followed live on RacingNews365’s live blog and via television on Match TV.