Sochi Hosts Formula 1, Mercedes' Bottas Claims Victory

Russia hosted the VTB Russian Grand Prix race in Sochi on Sunday, where the Mercedes team’s Valtteri Bottas won the Formula 1 race after outpacing Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen took third place, while Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton came in fourth. 

The 5.848 kilometer-long Sochi circuit, located in the Russian Black Sea resort city of the same name, played host to the fourth motorsport racing competition of the 2017 season, following races held in Australia, China and Bahrain. 

Bottas’s victory in Sunday’s competition came after he held Vettel off by 0.6 seconds, and marked his first F1 win.

“When I drive there is not much emotion in there,” Bottas said. “I’m just trying to get everything right and get every lap, every corner perfect. All the questions, all the speculation, No. 2 driver and so on, it doesn’t get to me. It doesn’t matter.”

Sunday’s competition, in which Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was in attendance, was the fourth grand prix racecar competition held at the racetrack. The first was in October 2014.

Sochi’s track width ranges from 13 meters at its narrowest point, to 15 meters at the starting and finish line. The circuit, which runs in a clockwise direction, consists of 12 right- and six left-hand corners, and combines both high-speed and technical sections.

On their first visit to the track, F1 cars reached 332 km/h on the 650-meter straight between the first and second turns, with Lewis Hamilton averaging 213 km/h as he claimed pole for Mercedes.

The 2017 Formula One season will stage 20 competitions in total. The 6.003-km long Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan’s capital will play host to the eighth grand prix, on June 25, - the second for the country.