2015 Russian GP - Drivers Press Conference (video)

There was something wrong with the stream and all of the recorded videos had bad sound quality but you can still hear what they are saying.

The Russian Grand Prix - did you know?

This year Russia will host Formula One racing for only the second time in history - but did you know that the occasion also offers Lewis Hamilton the chance to join a very elite group of drivers? Or that Mercedes could clinch back-to-back constructors’ titles this weekend? We take a look at the weirdest and most fascinating stats and trivia ahead of the 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix...

Sochi made history in 2014 when it became the first Russian city to host Formula One racing. It proved a happy weekend for Lewis Hamilton: he was fastest in all three practice sessions, took pole by 0.2s, and then led every lap en route to a 13s victory.

However, Hamilton was denied a ‘Grand Slam’ (pole, fastest lap, win, every lap led) by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas who enjoyed his own breakthrough: he set the fastest lap of a race for the first time in his career. His 1m 40.896s remains the current official lap record.

Nico Rosberg meanwhile claimed second place courtesy of the longest single stint of the entire season - he managed 52 laps on one set of tyres after out-braking himself and flat-spotting his tyres on the opening lap and coming in for an early pit stop.

That early mistake also led to a rather odd trend for Rosberg. As he fought his way up the order, he spent at least one lap in 17 different positions in total - the biggest spread of any driver in the entire season.

It could be a case of history repeating this weekend as Mercedes, who clinched the 2014 constructors’ championship on Russian soil, are poised to clinch the 2015 version in Sochi. Already 169 points ahead of Ferrari, the Silver Arrows need to outscore the Scuderia by just three points to achieve the feat. Surprisingly, back-to-back constructors’ triumphs aren’t altogether uncommon - indeed only one team, Brawn, has ‘failed’ to defend their silverware in the past decade.

Hamilton meanwhile could join a very select group of drivers if he prevails on Sunday. In history, only eight drivers have won the first two Grands Prix at a circuit new to F1 racing - Hamilton could make that nine this weekend. Sebastian Vettel (India, Abu Dhabi), Michael Schumacher (TI Aida), Nigel Mansell (Barcelona, Magny-Cours), Nelson Piquet (Imola, Hungaroring), Carlos Reutemann (Rio), Emerson Fittipaldi (Interlagos, Nivelles), Jackie Stewart (Montjuic Park) and Alberto Ascari (Nurburgring, Zandvoort) are the eight to have achieved the feat (Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio also did it through shared drives).

There’s more good news for Hamilton. With five races to run, the Briton leads team mate Rosberg by 48 points in total. Barring last year’s Abu Dhabi finale, it is the biggest margin the Briton has ever had over a team mate at any point in any season.

As for home favourite Daniil Kvyat, last year’s Grand Prix yielded a then-career-best fifth place in qualifying. Having switched from Toro Rosso to Red Bull over the winter, the 21-year-old has only bettered that once this season, when he booked fourth on the grid at Singapore - the best-ever grid slot for a Russian driver.

On the subject of Kvyat, this may be his ‘home’ race, but the Red Bull star was born some 1,707km (1,061 miles) northeast of Sochi in the city of Ufa. 

As for Sochi itself, did you know that it has the northernmost tea plantation in the world, in use for more than a century and counting?

Sochi, of course, hosted the 2014 Olympic Winter Games, and the Grand Prix track is situated within the Olympic Park, winding between such iconic buildings as the Iceberg Skating Palace and Bolshoy Ice Dome.

Speaking of the Olympics, Sochi is one of six cities to have hosted both an Olympic tournament and a world championship Grand Prix. The others are Berlin (AVUS), Los Angeles (Long Beach), Melbourne, Montreal, Barcelona and Sochi. Rio de Janeiro, home to the Jacarepaqua circuit which hosted 10 races between 1978 and 1989, will join the list next year when it hosts the summer games.
But perhaps the most unusual fact about Sochi is that it is regarded as the second longest city in the world, stretching as it does 144km (90 miles) along the Black Sea coast. The only city that beats it for length? The host venue for round 17 of the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship - Mexico City…

(source: f1.com)

FIA press conference schedule - Russia

Last year’s runner-up Nico Rosberg and home favourite Daniil Kvyat are amongst the drivers facing the press in Sochi on Thursday. On Friday meanwhile Williams’ Pat Symonds and Red Bull’s Paul Monaghan will join other senior team personnel in answering questions from the media. The line-ups in full…


Thursday, October 08, 1500 hours local time (1200 GMT)
Fernando Alonso (McLaren), Romain Grosjean (Lotus), Danill Kvyat (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Williams), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso)

Friday, October 09, 1600 hours local time (1300 GMT)
Paul Hembery (Pirelli), Monisha Kaltenborn (Sauber), James Key (Toro Rosso), Graeme Lowdon (Marussia), Paul Monaghan (Red Bull), Pat Symonds (Williams)

The qualifying and post-race conferences with the top three drivers will take place immediately after the respective sessions.

(source: f1.com)

MiniDrivers - Chapter 6x16 - 2014 Russian Grand Prix

This is what happened at Sochi last year! Take a look at the minidrivers.

2015 Russian Grand Prix preview

The second Grand Prix ever in Russia is up next! But what happened at the first race?

At the start Nico Rosberg challenged his teammate Lewis Hamilton for the lead but braked too late and had to cut the corner. He was told to let Lewis through and he responded that he would actually want to pit for new tyres. That was his only stop of the race and it seems that it was a good strategy. He was 2nd right after Lewis in the end.

The only man who could have challenged Rosberg for second place was Valtteri Bottas. He actually was 2nd for a long time but got overtaken by Rosberg eventually.

Rosberg overtook Bottas by forcing him off the track and after this maneuver Bottas didn't have the speed to overtake him back.

The race was quite boring and I am not the only one to say so. One of my admins said that same thing right after the race on our Facebook page. If I try to remember something else then the only thing I can think of is Romain Grosjean's stupid mistake with Sauber's Adrian Sutil. He could have avoided that collision for sure but didn't wanna let Sutil through.

The other thing I remember was Ferrari's poor pit crew. What happened during Fernando Alonso's pitstop? That was just awful. First they dropped the car too early and they tried to lift it again but Alonso drove away because they had already given him the green light. I almost laughed at them.

Valtteri Bottas had a great race in 2014 but we shall se if Williams is up for the challenge this year.

Here are some Vital statistics from Formula1.com:

Circuit: Sochi Autodrom

Circuit length: 5.848 km (only Spa and Silverstone are longer)

Circuit width: ranges between 13m to 15m

Number of corners: 18 (12 right, 6 left)

Projected maximum speed: 320 km/h (between Turns 1 and 2)

Projected average speed: 215 km/h 

Projected lap time: 1m 36.9s

Longest straight: 650m (between Turns 1 and 2)

DRS zones: 2 - the first is between Turns 1 and 2 with the detection point prior to Turn 1; the second is between turns 10 and 12 with the detection point prior to Turn 10

Race laps: 53

Race distance: 309.732 km

2014 tyre compounds: soft, medium

Wins in first race at a brand new circuit (current grid): 2 - Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel; 1- Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen 

Podiums in first race at a brand new circuit (current grid): 5 - Fernando Alonso; 4 - Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button; 3 - Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen; 1 - Nico Rosberg

Fascinating fact: - Sochi Autodrom is the only racing circuit in the world to be located in an Olympic venue, Sochi having played host to the XXII Olympic Winter Games in February this year

Number of Russian drivers to have started at least one Grand Prix: 2 (Vitaly Petrov, Daniil Kvyat)

Best finish by a Russian driver in F1: 3rd (Vitaly Petrov, Australia, 2011)

Best finish by Daniil Kvyat in 2014: 9th (Australia, Great Britain, Belgium)

Percentage of 2014 season complete: 79 percent

Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver: 125

Significant running sequences going into this weekend: Lewis Hamilton - 3 consecutive Grand Prix wins; Mercedes - 15 consecutive podiums; Renault - 114 consecutive races in the points as an engine manufacturer; Daniel Ricciardo - 13 consecutive points finishes; Mercedes - 7 consecutive pole positions

Potential record breakers: Mercedes have scored eight one-two finishes this year. They need two more over the remaining four races to tie McLaren's 1988 record of 10 one-twos in a season, and three more to eclipse it

Turbo history: If a Ferrari-powered car wins the race it will be the first Ferrari turbo win since the 1988 Italian Grand Prix

The last thing are my predictions and they are almost the same as in the previous GP:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Keep an eye on Valtteri Bottas!

Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!

The rules:

POINTS:  1st - 3  2nd - 5  3rd - 10 

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun. 

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes. 

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW & MH. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps. 

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com

Get F1 tickets to the remaining events!

Get your tickets to the remaining events of 2015 from the link below!

http://www.bookf1.com/?afid=815&next_available_race

2015 Japanese GP (Full Race)

I'm sorry that it's not in english. Couldn't get my hands on anything better at the moment.