Russia will stage its first Formula 1 Grand prix of the new era this weekend.
The 18-turn circuit of Sochi is located inside the Sochi Olympic Park. It was designed by German architect-engineer, Herman Tilke, who also directed two other projects in Russia, one in Moscow and another, east of the city of Smolensk.
Sochi will now be the 6th city to have proudly hosted both a Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Olympic Games. Previously, Melbourne (1956), Mexico (1968), Montreal (1976) and Long Beach (Los Angeles 1932, 1984) had such privilege. Let us not forget that Berlin (1936) also hosted once (1959) the German Grand Prix.
Sochi is the third longest lap on the calendar after Spa and Silverstone. At over 5.8km fuel consumption per lap will be high predict the Renault Sport F1 engineers, but with plenty of tight corners and short bursts of power the high rate will be balanced out by energy recovery via the MGU-K and MGU-H, so Renault do not expect to be on the 100kg fuel limit permitted for the race.
“Sochi is a brand new track on the calendar this year, but the characteristics are very similar to other circuits we have visited in the past or this season,” said Remi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations.
“It is actually most like Singapore or the street track in Valencia we visited from 2008 to 2012 – a high-speed, street track with tight corners. From our simulations we see that the average speed will be 200kph, with approximately 56% of the lap spent at wide open throttle, well above the ‘traditional’ street average”.
16th round of the 2014 Championship, 1st edition, 1st on the Sochi circuit, in the Olympic Park.
53 laps of a 5,853 km track (310.471 km in total)
October 10, 11 and 12, 2014
Qualifying: Saturday 11, 3:00 pm, local time; 7:00 am ET
Race: Sunday 12, 3:00 pm, local time; 7:00 am, ET
The 18-turn circuit of Sochi is located inside the Sochi Olympic Park. It was designed by German architect-engineer, Herman Tilke, who also directed two other projects in Russia, one in Moscow and another, east of the city of Smolensk.
Sochi will now be the 6th city to have proudly hosted both a Formula 1 Grand Prix and the Olympic Games. Previously, Melbourne (1956), Mexico (1968), Montreal (1976) and Long Beach (Los Angeles 1932, 1984) had such privilege. Let us not forget that Berlin (1936) also hosted once (1959) the German Grand Prix.
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| Layout of the Sochi track, in Russia. |
Sochi is the third longest lap on the calendar after Spa and Silverstone. At over 5.8km fuel consumption per lap will be high predict the Renault Sport F1 engineers, but with plenty of tight corners and short bursts of power the high rate will be balanced out by energy recovery via the MGU-K and MGU-H, so Renault do not expect to be on the 100kg fuel limit permitted for the race.
“Sochi is a brand new track on the calendar this year, but the characteristics are very similar to other circuits we have visited in the past or this season,” said Remi Taffin, Renault Sport F1 head of track operations.
“It is actually most like Singapore or the street track in Valencia we visited from 2008 to 2012 – a high-speed, street track with tight corners. From our simulations we see that the average speed will be 200kph, with approximately 56% of the lap spent at wide open throttle, well above the ‘traditional’ street average”.
16th round of the 2014 Championship, 1st edition, 1st on the Sochi circuit, in the Olympic Park.
53 laps of a 5,853 km track (310.471 km in total)
October 10, 11 and 12, 2014
Qualifying: Saturday 11, 3:00 pm, local time; 7:00 am ET
Race: Sunday 12, 3:00 pm, local time; 7:00 am, ET