Toto Talks Russia
Singapore was a tough weekend for us. We had opportunities to win the race, both with a stronger qualifying on Saturday and our decision-making on Sunday – but we failed to do so, for a number of different reasons. But it was also a valuable reminder of the sceptical and humble mindset that has been so important for our success in the past seasons.
Straight after the race, we started to analyse what went wrong in Singapore and we will use those lessons to learn and improve. These difficult days are the ones that make us stronger: this team has shown time and again that it can turn weaknesses into strengths. And we will do so again, here.
However, that shouldn’t take anything away from the strength of our opposition, either. The last seven races have shown us that we are in the midst of a fierce battle – and we need to be at our best in every area to claim the top step of the podium.
Sochi has been a strong circuit for us in recent years but those trends don’t mean anything once we are on the ground. We expect the weekend ahead to be another challenging one for us – and the entire team is ready to tackle that challenge head on. The circuit features a range of corner speeds, an unusually smooth asphalt and long straights, particularly on the run down to Turn 2. We’re hungry to get to Sochi and begin fighting out on track.
2019 Russian Grand Prix – Fact File
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport won its first and second Constructors’ titles in F1 at the Russian Grand Prix in 2014 and 2015.
The distance from pole position to the first braking zone at the Sochi Autodrom is the longest on the calendar, with roughly 890 metres until drivers hit the brakes.
Russia has the longest race distance of any Grand Prix on the calendar, with drivers completing 309.944 km during the 53-lap event.
Sochi is one of only five circuits on the calendar that has a 60 km/h speed limit in the pit lane, rather than an 80 km/h speed limit. The other races that feature a 60 km/h pit lane speed limit are Australia, Monaco, France and Singapore.
The time it takes a car to drive through the pit lane at the pit lane speed limit in Russia is one of the longest in F1 at 24.8 seconds. This is a theoretical value, calculated by dividing the distance by the speed.
The total, real-world time it takes to complete a pit stop (driving through the pits and changing tyres) is around 30 seconds. Compared to running on track at normal racing speeds, the time loss for slowing down at the pit entry, running through the pits at 60 km/h, boxing for fresh tyres and accelerating back out of the pit lane is roughly 25 seconds – one of the highest time losses on the calendar for a pit stop, similar to Singapore and France.
The Sochi Autodrom was built around many of the venues from the 2014 Winter Olympics, including the Olympic Stadium, Bolshoy Ice Dome, Medal Plaza and Adler Arena.
The track is one of three Olympic venues to have hosted F1 races, the others being Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada (1976) and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain (1992).
Valtteri Bottas scored his first Formula One victory at the 2017 Russian Grand Prix, which was his 81st race in the sport.
Mercedes has a 100% win record at the Russian Grand Prix, having won in Sochi every year since it joined F1 in 2014. But, the brand’s 100% win record in the country goes much further back: Benz cars won the only other two Russian Grands Prix that were held in 1913 and 1914.
The Sochi Autodrom is one of eight circuits on the 2019 F1 calendar designed by German track designer Hermann Tilke, alongside the Bahrain International Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, Marina Bay Street Circuit, Yas Marina Circuit, Circuit of the Americas, Baku City Circuit and the predecessor of today’s Red Bull Ring in Austria.
The tarmac at the Sochi Autodrom is incredibly smooth and therefore very gentle on the tyres. In the past, we’ve seen drivers pit on lap one and make their tyres last all the way to the finish.
