© Getty ImagesFree Practice Update - Russian Grand Prix 2021Bulls get their Russian weekend up and running at the Autodrom.
WelcometoSochi,homeoftheRussianGrandPrix.TheBullsarerefreshedafterhavingarace-freeweekendfollowingthetriple-headerandcan’twaittogetbackontrack.
The Team hasn’t had much success at the Sochi Autodrom in the seven seasons the Russian track has hosted a race, but things could be on the up at this circuit. Last season Max Verstappen finished second, claiming the Team’s first ever podium here, and Sergio Pérez claimed P3 in 2015 whilst driving for Force India, so we’re hoping 2021 continues from last season’s success.
Soaking In The Sun At Sochi© Getty Images
The track itself is most famous for the 750m-long turn three which takes drivers around the impressive Poyushchiye fountain and for its straights, that aren’t that straight. With a track length of 5.848km, the drivers will complete 53 laps with a total race distance of 309.745km. The current lap record is 1:35.761 held by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in 2019.
Friday morning got the weekend underway with Max and Checo pulling out onto track for Free Practice One. Max put in 13 laps during the session with a best time of 1:34.654, which placed him P3 on the timesheet behind both Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton. Checo finished the session in P9 with a session-best time of 1:36.188 after 22 laps.
Out On Full Charge At Sochi© Getty Images
The afternoon session, Free Practice Two, saw the track heat up from the morning, due to the Russian sun shining strong. The hour’s session lost 10 minutes though however, due to Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi crashing into the wall at turn nine, although the Italian escaped without injury. At the end of the session Max had put in a total of 20 laps with a best time of 1:34.621 placing him in P6. Checo’s best time was 1:34.938 seeing him finish in P11 after 22 laps.
Saturday morning’s Free Practice Three session was cancelled by Race Director Michael Masi and the Clerk of the Course due to torrential raining falling on the track. This afternoon’s forecast states that the rain should ease off around 13:30 track time, with qualifying planned to begin at 15:00 track time.
Max Focused At Sochi© Getty Images
We had to take the penalty at some point so if we didn't take it here, we would have taken it somewhere else
“We thought it would be best to take the engine penalty here in Russia, we took everything into account before making the decision and we of course considered the weather for tomorrow. We had to take the penalty at some point so if we didn’t take it here, we would have taken it somewhere else. As for the set up, we are trying to make the best possible race car for this weekend despite starting from the back of the grid. I hope it’s going to work out and we will try to make the best of it during the race on Sunday, for now let’s wait and see what the weather will be like tomorrow.”
Checo Ready For Challenge At Sochi© Getty Images
“I think we have some good information going into qualifying tomorrow, when there won’t be much running due to the rain, so today was probably the last chance we have to test the dry conditions before qualifying. I think there is potential in the car for this weekend, we just have to make sure we get it right. I think my first and second sector looked good but there are some areas to improve in the third sector. There are some set-up changes we might need to make to the car to suit the weather conditions come qualifying but there are still a lot of interesting things to be analysed later on this evening. With Max starting from the back, it is going to be a bit of a challenge as a Team and obviously Mercedes are very strong around here but hopefully we are able to put some pressure on them and qualify very close to them, that would be ideal.”
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton | Max Verstappen | Charles Leclerc | Sebastian Vettel | Pierre Gasly | Carlos Sainz | Lando Norris | Sergio Pérez | Fernando Alonso |
| Mercedes | Mercedes | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Aston Martin | AlphaTauri | Ferrari | McLaren | Red Bull Racing Honda | Alpine |
| 1.34.427 | 1.34.638 | 1.34.654 | 1.35.117 | 1.35.781 | 1.35.794 | 1.35.811 | 1.35.959 | 1.36.188 | 1.36.225 |
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Valtteri Bottas | Lewis Hamilton | Pierre Gasly | Lando Norris | Esteban Ocon | Max Verstappen | Carlos Sainz | Fernando Alonso | Sebastian Vettel | Charles Leclerc | Sergio Pérez |
| Mercedes | Mercedes | AlphaTauri | McLaren | Alpine | Red Bull Racing Honda | Ferrari | Alpine | Aston Martin | Ferrari | Red Bull Racing Honda |
| 1.33.593 | 1.33.637 | 1.33.845 | 1.34.154 | 1.34.402 | 1.34.621 | 1.34.678 | 1.34.762 | 1.34.837 | 1.34.925 | 1.34.938 |
