Jordan's Track Talk

Tag: Russian GP

  • Russian GP cancelled

    Formula One’s Russian Grand Prix, has been cancelled following the invasion of Ukraine, a military attack by Russia on Ukraine began on Thursday after a long period of escalating tensions.

    This was then met with unease in F1 paddock about the planned September race in Sochi, which was meant to be the final year racing their ahead of moving to a new venue next year near St Petersburg.

    Meanwhile Haas stripped its car of the branding of Russian sponsor Uralkali for the final day of testing in Barcelona, this comes ahead of meetings planned next week to resolve legal matters in the wake of the attack. Nikita Mazepin’s position at Haas “needs to be resolved”, team principle Guenther Steiner admitted.

    Formula 1 has released an announcement on the Russian GP saying: “The FIA Formula 1 World Championship visits countries all over the world with a positive vision to unite people, bringing nations together. We are watching the developments in Ukraine with sadness and shock and hope for a swift and peaceful resolution to the present situation.

    On Thursday evening Formula 1, the FIA, and the teams discussed the position of our sport, and the conclusion is, including the view of all relevant stakeholders, that it is impossible to hold the Russian Grand Prix in the current circumstances.” The statement appears to leave the door open to the race being held if the “current circumstances” change…

    My Opinion-

    Right decision and the only decision, which was justified after Vettel said he will not race their if F1 continues to. What I don’t understand is why are they leaving the door open, to possibly go to Sochi this year even after this statement? It is rumoured that Turkey is set to replace the Russian GP.

  • Round 15- Sochi Race

    GET IN THERE LEWIS! Lewis wins the Russian Grand Prix and its his 100th win! He re-takes the lead of the championship once again. Joining him on the podium is Max Verstappen in P2 and Carlos Sainz in P3.

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Ricciardo, P5: Bottas, P6: Alonso, P7: Norris, P8: Raikkonen, P9: Perez and P10: Russell. Fastest lap went to Lando Norris.

    Absolute heartbreak for Lando and McLaren, he led the majority of the race and done so well doing it. But when it started raining in the last few laps, he insisted on staying on his hard tyres rather than going to intermediates, he the dropped down the order after having to pit to change tyres. But I have no doubt for the fact that Lando will bounce back and get his first win this year, he has 7 more races to do it!

    Finally Lewis gets his 100th win! He has kept the Mercedes reign at Sochi alive after it being under threat by McLaren. This is fully deserved in my opinion! It wasn’t an easy race with him dropping down the order at the start and having to fight his way through, and Lewis said he wouldn’t of been able to over-take Lando if it stayed dry.

    Carlos Sainz, drove wonderful today started P2 and took the lead from Lando Norris in the first lap. And he done very well to end in P3, and its good amount of points for Ferrari in the Constructors.

    The rain definitely played into the hands of Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas. Max started P20 to finish P2 is amazing, and its all because of the rain he managed so! The same with Bottas he started P16 due to taking an new power unit, but before the rain hit and before he pitted he was out of the points and then he pitted and managed to finish in P5 as they expected earlier on in the race.

    Daniel finishing P4 gives McLaren extra points as well for the Constructors, two great races for him in a row and I am honestly quite looking forward to see what he does at the next race.

    Now the next race is on 10th of October and we are returning to Istanbul Park Circuit for round 16 and its where Lewis took his 7th Championship last year…

  • F2 Sochi- Day 2 & 3

    Day 2-

    To start the second day of the F2 weekend where we normally have two sprint races, the second one was cancelled because of the weather… we had the first sprint race moved to the afternoon.

    So onto the only sprint race of the weekend… we had Dan Ticktum starting in pole and he managed to have a cool, calm and collected race and turned it into the race win!

    Joining him on the podium was Red Bull Junior, Juri Vips in P2 and in P3 was Robert Shwartzman.

    I can imagine Shwartzman is very happy about P3, it’s his home race and being on the podium must’ve meant a lot to him! Also he is closing in on Piastri and Zhou in the championship!

    The drama started before the lights even went out, when on the way to the grid Felipe Drugovich made heavy impact with the wall and could not start the race. And the other UNI-Virtuosi driven by Guanyu Zhou spun on his way to the grid but stalled his car and unable to take part in the start of the race.

    Somebody I have to mention is Jake Hughes! He has stepped in for Jack Aitken in the HWA Racelab car and he was fighting Shwartzman for his first podium in F2 and first points finish, he run in fourth for the majority of the race after Liam Lawson retired.

    Day 3-

    The championship leader, Oscar Piastri wins the Feature race, his now got back to back feature race wins and extends his championship lead even more! Joining him is Theo Pourchaire in P2 and Jehan Daruvala in P3!

    What a drive from Oscar Piastri! Well deserved in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing what he does in the last 2 rounds of the season in December.

    Dan Ticktum made his way up from 10th to 5th scoring more points for Carlin and himself as he currently sits in P4 in the championship. His team mate done very well securing Carlin with another trophy this weekend and a good amount of points!

    Definitely not Guanyu Zhou’s weekend… obviously didn’t start Sprint Race 1 and then Sprint Race 2 cancelled, and then the Feature Race, he finished in 6th… couldn’t put pressure on Dan Ticktum in 5th.

    We now have a big gap till the next race, but when we are back we’re being treated to a double header! We will see you in Saudi Arabia on the 3rd to 5th of December!

  • Round 15 – Sochi Quali

    WOW, what a day it has been for F1 today and what a qualifying it was… First up we didn’t even think we would have qualifying today because of the weather and having FP3 cancelled it was all just a waiting game…

    But now it all went in the way of Lando Norris as he is on pole position for tomorrow’s race, his first ever one in his F1 career! Joining him on the front row is his old team-mate Carlos Sainz and 3rd is Mr Saturday, George Russell, his second time getting into the top 3 this season!

    The rest of the top 10 are: P4: Hamilton, P5: Ricciardo, P6: Alonso, P7: Bottas, P8: Stroll, P9: Perez and P10: Ocon. We have Verstappen, Leclerc and Latifi all taking new power units this weekend so they will all be starting at the back of the grid…

    Honestly wow. I am in shock, I was watching with one eye open when George was the first to go onto the slicks but they honestly paid off for everyone apart from the Mercs and Red Bull.

    McLaren are on fire this season. Lando has been on top form and it’s so nice to see his finally getting rewarded for all his efforts. And Daniel qualifying in P5 after his win in Monza two weeks ago, he will definitely be one to watch tomorrow!

    The constructors leader, Mercedes didn’t get it right today, which is a shame but the points are awarded tomorrow and everyone knows how good they are at this track, and Lewis hasn’t got to worry about Max as his starting at the back…

    AlphaTauri had a really bad today, which is awful after what happened in Monza. It’s such a shame because Pierre always delivers week in and week out for the team, but I’m sure he can finish in the points tomorrow and it could go his way as he has free tyre choice.

    Predictions for tomorrow-

    My top five for tomorrow are: P1: Hamilton, P2: Norris, P3: Bottas, P4: Ricciardo and P5: Russell. I think fastest lap will go to Hamilton as-well…

    I do think that it will be very close between Norris and Hamilton, they both could win tomorrow. We all saw how difficult it is to get by the McLaren with their speed but I feel like strategy may come into play!

    Times for tomorrow-

    Race- 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST). We also have F2 and F3 feature races tomorrow as-well!

  • F2 Sochi – Day 1

    We are back with F2 this weekend for round 6 out of 8. Can Oscar Piastri extend his championship lead? Or will Guanyu Zhou be victorious and take it all away from him?

    Free Practice-

    As usual, free practice up first and it saw UNI-Virtuosi take the lead with Felipe Drugovich finishing in P1 he led from, Ralph Boschung and Theo Pourchaire

    The session had a brief red flag as there was a spin by Alessio Deledda and his HWA had to be recovered by the marshals.

    The championship leader was all the way down in 10th, where as the other title contender, Guanyu Zhou was in 4th just in front of Juri Vips.

    Qualifying-

    Qualifying saw Oscar Piastri take his third police in a row! His joined by Johan Daruvala on the front row on Sunday! Lining up behind them on the second row is Pourchaire and Zhou.

    Reverse grid pole goes to Dan Ticktum for tomorrow’s first race, his joined by Vips next to him!

    Tomorrow is all to play for, it could be a very interesting race if it’s raining like it’s forecasted!

    Times for the rest of the weekend-

    Saturday- Sprint Race 1: 8:30am (BST), 9:30am (CEST). Sprint Race 2: 14:45pm (BST), 15:45pm (CEST).

    Sunday- Feature Race: 9:20am (BST), 10:20am (CEST)

  • Haas retain both drivers

    It has officially been announced that Haas has retained both Nikita Mazepin and Mick Schumacher for the 2022 season!

    Both drivers joined the team last year for the 2021 season, with it being their rookie year.

    Mick won the 2020 F2 Championship with Prema and he is also part of the Ferrari Driver Academy. His first year in F1 has been consistent, with his highest finish being in 12th and that was at the Hungarian GP. We’ve seen some lovely battles from Mick on track this season, and I can’t wait to see what else he does!

    Mazepin who finished 5th in the 2020 F2 Championship, hasn’t been as consistent as his team-mate. His highest finish is 14th at Azerbaijan, it always looks like he struggles with the car a lot more than Mick does. So hopefully this gives him the experience for future years in his racing career…

    My Opinion-

    I think this is a good move from Haas, I didn’t see any new drivers coming in and taking one of the rookies spots at Hass. Obviously there was speculation that Mick could potentially move to Alfa Romeo, but obviously that was speculation.

    This now gives Haas a solid line up for 2022, where they can learn all about the new regulations with team-mates who know the team and the 2021 car too.

  • Russian GP

    We are back racing this weekend and we could be in for a treat! Sochi, isn’t one of the most liked tracks of the season by us fans, but if the weather stays the same as what its predicted we could see Sochi in a very different way on Saturday or Sunday.

    Mercedes are the only team to win at the Russian GP, so could we potentially see them be dethroned? Or will they be victorious once again…

    Who needs a good weekend?

    The two title contenders need a good weekend, I was actually looking forward to what the outcome was going to be at the Italian GP but to have both of them crash out together I don’t think anyone saw it coming including themselves! Lewis will be wanting to get ahead of Max in the championship, and I think he knows that this could be the track to get ahead at. Where as Max, knows this isn’t one of his strongest track and with a 3 place grid penalty he will be putting the work in on Sunday to make sure Lewis doesn’t get ahead in the title fight.

    Ferrari, also need a good weekend once again. They obviously didn’t do too well at Monza compared to their closest rivals but I do see they are pulling everything out of the car so it’s just luck wasn’t on their side in Monza. But hopefully there will be some luck with them this weekend.

    Pierre Gasly needs a good weekend, he obviously had a disappointing Italian GP but hopefully this time off from the triple header has refreshed him and he will be back up fighting in P4 and can get AlphaTauri more points in the Constructors!

    Predictions for Quali-

    My top five predictions are: P1: Hamilton, P2: Norris, P3: Bottas, P4: Verstappen, P5: Ricciardo. I do think both McLaren’s might bring the fight this weekend, and will just excel for the rest of the season now! With Max’s grid penalty he can’t start no further up than 4th, hence the reason his fourth in my predictions.

    If it is a wet qualifying, I think we could see Mr Saturday, George Russell in the top 10. He knows what he can do in the Williams car in the wet in qualifying now, so he will be pushing to get higher up the grid.

    Times for the weekend-

    Friday 24th- FP1: 09:30am – 10:30am (BST), 10:30am – 11.30am (CEST). FP2: 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST), 14:00pm – 15:00pm (CEST).

    Saturday 25th- FP3: 10:00am – 11:00am (BST), 11:00am – 12:00pm (CEST). Qualifying: 13:00pm – 14:00pm (BST), 14:00pm – 15:00pm (CEST).

    Sunday 26th- Race: 13:00pm (BST), 14:00pm (CEST).

  • Tyres for Sochi

    Its race week once again, after being off for a week we are returning to Sochi, Russia this weekend for Round 15.

    Pirelli have chosen their tyres and they are the softest of the compounds, C3 (Hard), C4 (Medium), C5 (Soft), this is the first time these have been picked since Austria, it is also the same nomination which was made last season.

    This circuit, is generally all about traction and breaking, the corners are mostly slow to medium speed but the most demanding corner is turn 3, which is a multi-apex left hander.

    Sochi, isn’t used much for the rest of the season so its often seen to be slippery towards the start of the weekend, this can then sometimes cause tyres to slide rather than grip especially during the two free practice sessions on the Friday.

    Russia is normally a one-stop race, last year the top two finishers used a medium to hard strategy but there was a variation down the rest of the grid.

    This weekend, we just don’t have Formula One, we are also joint by Formula Two for round six and by Formula Three for their last round of the season and its the first time they will be in Russia since 2019.

    F2 have been nominated, the Mediums and the Purples (Ultra-soft) which was the same as last year. F3 have been nominated the Hard tyre for their final 3 races of the 2021 season.