Here are all the facts and statistics you need to know about the Sochi Autodrom ahead of the 2019 Russian Grand Prix!
?? RACE WINNERS
There have been five races held at the Sochi Autodrom since it joined the F1 calendar in 2014. From those five races, there have been three different winners.
Lewis Hamilton has the most wins of any driver here, with three. Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas are the only other drivers to have won here, each taking victory once.
Mercedes are the only team to have won the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom.
Lewis Hamilton is the only driver to have taken back-to-back wins at the Russian Grand Prix, having done so in 2014 and 2015. No driver has taken more than two wins in a row here.
The longest streak of different winners at the track is three, with a different driver taking victory in every season since 2016.
The largest win margin at the track came in 2016, when Nico Rosberg won by 25.022 seconds. The smallest win margin came in the following year, when Valtteri Bottas took his maiden F1 victory as he finished just 0.617 seconds ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
The Russian Grand Prix has been won by less than five seconds twice, in 2017 and 2018.
From the five races held at the track so far, the average win margin has been 9.559 seconds.
?? ON THE PODIUM
Six different drivers have finished on the podium at the Russian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton has more podium finishes here than any other driver, having finished in the top three on four occasions. Mercedes are the team with the most podium finishes at the track, with eight. Finnish and German drivers are tied for the most top three appearances at the circuit with five apiece.
Nico Rosberg is the only driver not on the 2019 grid to have finished on the podium at the Sochi Autodrom. Aside from Hamilton’s four podium finishes, the other drivers on the 2019 grid to have finished in the top three here are Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, who have each done so three times, Kimi Raikkonen, who has finished third twice, and Sergio Perez, who has a single Russian Grand Prix podium to his name.
All of the top three qualifiers have finished on the podium here on three occasions, in 2014, 2017 and 2018. 2014 is the only time the top three finished in the order which they started.
There is yet to be a race here where none of the top three qualifiers finish on the podium.
?? POLESITTERS
Four different drivers have started from pole at the Sochi Autodrom. Nico Rosberg has the most poles here, with two. Mercedes are the team to have taken the most poles at the track, with four. German drivers similarly have four poles at the track, the most for any nation.
Nico Rosberg is the only previous Russian Grand Prix polesitter not on the 2019 grid. Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas have each taken one pole at the circuit.
Nico Rosberg is the only driver to have taken back-to-back pole positions at the circuit, having done so in 2015 and 2016. No driver has taken more than two consecutive poles at the track.
The difference between the slowest and fastest pole laps at the Sochi Autodrom is 7.126 seconds. Lewis Hamilton’s pole lap from the inaugural race here is the slowest lap for pole, while Valtteri Bottas’ lap last year is the quickest. The pole lap has decreased by more than a second between every visit here so far.
The largest pole margin at the Sochi Autodrom is 0.706 seconds, which is the margin by which Nico Rosberg set the fastest qualifying time in 2016. The smallest pole margin was in the following year, when Valtteri Bottas took pole by just 0.059 seconds. That’s the only time pole has been decided by less than a second here.
From the five Russian Grands Prix held so far at the Sochi Autodrom, the average pole margin has been 0.286 seconds.
?? SATURDAY TO SUNDAY
Two of the five Grands Prix at the Sochi Autodrom have been won from pole. The polesitter has finished on the podium without winning the race three times. There has never been an occasion where the polesitter at the Russian Grand Prix has failed to finish on the podium.
2017 is the only time the Russian Grand Prix hasn’t been won from the front row of the grid. Valtteri Bottas won from third in that season.
Tenth is the lowest grid slot to have scored a podium finish at the track. Lewis Hamilton finished as runner-up having started from tenth in 2016.
?? SUNDAY STATS
The most drivers to finish all the laps of a Russian Grand Prix is thirteen in 2014. The least came in 2016, when just five drivers finished on the lead lap.
There has been a Safety Car period in four of the five Russian Grands Prix held so far. The most Safety Car stints in a single race here is two, which happened in 2015.
There is yet to be a rain-affected Russian Grand Prix.
Valtteri Bottas has set the most fastest laps at the circuit, having set the fastest lap of the race in both 2014 and 2018.
The highest number of cars to finish a Russian Grand Prix is nineteen, which happened in 2014, while the following year saw just thirteen drivers reach the end of the race.
From the 102 cars which have started a race here, 84 have reached the chequered flag. That gives an overall finish rate of 82.4%.
There is yet to be a red-flagged Russian Grand Prix.
So far there have been 264 Grand Prix laps of the Sochi Autodrom.
?? CHAMPIONSHIP GLORY
There has never been a Drivers’ Champion crowned at the Sochi Autodrom, but Mercedes clinched the Constructors’ Championship as a result of the Russian Grand Prix in 2014 and 2015.
The winner of the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi Autodrom has gone on to win the championship in the same year on every occasion except 2017. Similarly, the driver leading the World Championship after the Russian Grand Prix has gone on to win the championship in every season except 2017.
