2017 Russian Grand Prix

The 2017 Russian Grand Prix (Russian: Гран-при России 2017 года, romanized: Gran-pri Rossii 2017 goda), officially known as the 2017 Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix,[1] was a Formula One motor race that took place on 30 April 2017 as the fourth round of the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship.[5] The fifty-two lap race was held at the Sochi Autodrom, marking the fourth running of the Russian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. Sebastian Vettel started the race from pole, with his teammate Kimi Räikkönen in second in Ferrari's first front-row lockout since the 2008 French Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas won the race by 0.617 seconds over Vettel, the smallest winning margin since the 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

2017 Russian Grand Prix
Race 4 of 20 in the 2017 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Sochi Autodrom
Race details[1]
Date 30 April 2017
Official name 2017 Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix[2][3]
Location Sochi Autodrom,
Adlersky City District, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.848 km (3.633 mi)
Distance 52 laps, 304.096 km (188.956 mi)
Scheduled distance 53 laps, 309.745 km (192.466 mi)
Attendance 150,000[4]
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:33.194
Fastest lap
Driver Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari
Time 1:36.844 on lap 49
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Ferrari
Third
Ferrari

Going into the race, Vettel led Lewis Hamilton in the World Drivers' Championship by seven points, with Bottas third; they remained in the same order after the race. In the World Constructors' Championship, Ferrari was in the lead ahead of Mercedes before the race, with Red Bull Racing third; Mercedes was ahead of Ferrari after the race.

Report

Driver changes
Further information: 2017 Formula One World Championship § Teams and drivers

Sergey Sirotkin made his first appearance of the season with Renault, driving in place of Nico Hülkenberg in the first free practice session.[6]

Race

The initial start was aborted, as Fernando Alonso was unable to start, pulling up in the opening to the pit lane because of engine issues. Team radio from the initial parade lap suggested issues with the MGU-K electronic power supplementary unit leading to a loss of hybrid power.[7][8] Without the energy recovery system (ERS), the MCL32 would be uncompetitive and racing would put an unnecessary wear upon the rest of the power unit. Alonso's McLaren teammate Stoffel Vandoorne had already been given a 15-place grid penalty, having exceeded the limit of four exchanges of power unit per driver and car throughout the season stipulated by the 2017 regulations. With Alonso's car already being at least partially on its fourth power unit of the season on only race 4 out of 20, in the light of the charge failure, a decision was made to retire Alonso from the race in order to preserve the car.[9] Alonso was unable to even complete the formation lap, suffering from a total car failure before being able to return to the pitlane.[10] Carlos Sainz Jr. was given a 3-place penalty as a result of causing a collision with Lance Stroll at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Because of Alonso's car obstructing the track, the start was aborted by the FIA's race director Charlie Whiting, and the cars were sent on an additional formation lap. The race was accordingly shortened by a lap. Valtteri Bottas attained his maiden victory after taking first place at the start, passing both Ferraris before turn 2 – aided by starting from the clean side of the grid, and picking up the slipstream behind Vettel. Hamilton attempted the same, but was squeezed on both sides by the Ferrari of Räikkönen, now running 3rd – and Ricciardo of Red Bull, challenging for 4th from 5th. This caused him to be held up and hemmed into his starting grid position, where he would stay for the remainder of the race. Vettel meanwhile pulled away from tight racing of the main straight, and pursued Bottas. Vettel briefly led the race when Bottas went into the pits following his one-stop strategy, but then lost his position again after his own pit stop. He again spent the final third of the race gradually closing the distance between himself and Bottas, coming to within 0.7 seconds just a few laps before the end. Lapped traffic, particularly the delayed Williams of Massa, however, ultimately prevented him from overtaking the race leader, leading to a secure second place for the German. Kimi Räikkönen rounded off the podium. He once again set a late fastest lap of 1:36.844 on lap 49, recording not only the fast lap of the race, but also the fastest ever lap at the circuit. At the chequered flag, he was followed by Lewis Hamilton, finishing a distant 4th. Hamilton had struggled with overheating throughout the race.[11]

Non-finishers were Fernando Alonso, who failed to make it to the grid with a hybrid-charge failure, as well as Jolyon Palmer and Romain Grosjean who crashed on the first lap, causing a safety car deployment. Daniel Ricciardo retired with brake problems while running in 7th. Felipe Massa was running in 6th when he obtained a slow puncture and had to pit for new tyres, falling to 9th behind the Force Indias of Sergio Pérez and Esteban Ocon as well as the Renault of Nico Hülkenberg.[12][13]

There were very few on-track overtakes after the safety car period.[14] Despite making up two places before turn 2, Max Verstappen's Red Bull did not advance further, finishing in 5th, a minute behind Bottas, once again showing Red Bull's struggles to keep up with Ferrari and Mercedes. The team's problems were compounded by the retirement of Daniel Ricciardo, their third mechanical failure in four races.[15]

Classification

Qualifying
Pos. Car
no.		 Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:34.493 1:34.038 1:33.194 1
2 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1:34.953 1:33.663 1:33.253 2
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:34.041 1:33.264 1:33.289 3
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:34.409 1:33.760 1:33.767 4
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:35.560 1:35.483 1:34.905 5
6 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1:35.828 1:35.049 1:35.110 6
7 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 1:35.301 1:35.221 1:35.161 7
8 27 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:35.507 1:35.328 1:35.285 8
9 11 Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 1:36.185 1:35.513 1:35.337 9
10 31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 1:35.372 1:35.729 1:35.430 10
11 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 1:35.827 1:35.948 141
12 18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 1:36.279 1:35.964 11
13 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:35.984 1:35.968 12
14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:36.408 1:36.017 13
15 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 1:36.353 1:36.660 15
16 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 1:36.462 16
17 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 1:37.070 202
18 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.332 17
19 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.507 18
20 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:37.620 19
107% time: 1:40.623
Source:[16]
Notes

Race
The podium, from right to left, Kimi Räikkönen, Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian Vettel.[19]
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 52 1:28:08.743 3 25
2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 52 +0.617 1 18
3 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 52 +11.000 2 15
4 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 52 +36.230 4 12
5 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 52 +1:00.416 7 10
6 11 Sergio Pérez Force India-Mercedes 52 +1:26.788 9 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon Force India-Mercedes 52 +1:35.004 10 6
8 27 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 52 +1:36.188 8 4
9 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 51 +1 Lap 6 2
10 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. Toro Rosso 51 +1 Lap 14 1
11 18 Lance Stroll Williams-Mercedes 51 +1 Lap 11
12 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 51 +1 Lap 12
13 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 51 +1 Lap 13
14 2 Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren-Honda 51 +1 Lap 20
15 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber-Ferrari 51 +1 Lap 18
16 94 Pascal Wehrlein Sauber-Ferrari 50 +2 Laps 17
Ret 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer 5 Brakes 5
Ret 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault 0 Collision 16
Ret 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 0 Collision 19
DNS 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren-Honda 0 Gearbox –1
Source:[20]

Notes
  • ^1 – Fernando Alonso's car failed during the first formation lap.[8] His place on the grid was left vacant.

Championship standings after the race
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.

References
  1. "2017 Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix". Formula One Administration. Archived from the original on 16 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  2. Mitchell, Malcolm. "2017 Formula 1 World Championship Programmes - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  3. Mitchell, Malcolm. "Sochi Autodrom - The Motor Racing Programme Covers Project". Progcovers.com. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  4. "F1 reveals overall rise in 2017 attendance". Gpupdate.net. 8 December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 December 2017.
  5. "FIA Announces World Motorsports Council decisions". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 November 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. "2017 Russian Grand Prix – Entry List". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 27 April 2017. Archived from the original on 27 April 2017.
  7. "2017 Russian Grand Prix team radio highlights: Race". F1 Fanatic. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  8. "More misery for Fernando Alonso as engine problem ends Russian GP challenge". Newsandstar.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 April 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  9. Akai, Kunihiko (24 March 2017). "Honda already working on major F1 engine changes for later in 2017". Autosport. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  10. Elizalde, Pablo (30 April 2017). "Honda believes ERS failure stopped Alonso starting Russian GP". Autosport. Retrieved 2 May 2017.
  11. Collantine, Keith. ""I was out of the race from the get-go" – Hamilton". F1 Fanatic. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  12. "Race – Bottas takes nail-biting maiden win in Russia". Formula1.com. Formula 1 World Championship Ltd. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  13. "F1: Russian Grand Prix – as it happened". Guardian. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  14. "2017 Russian Grand Prix – Lap Chart". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 April 2017.
  15. Caygill, Graham (30 April 2017). "Vettel extends Formula One championship lead while Hamilton toils: Russian Grand Prix talking points". TheNational.ae. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  16. "2017 Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix – qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula 1 World Championship Ltd. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  17. "Carlos Sainz gets grid penalty for Lance Stroll clash". EuroSport. 16 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  18. Anderson, Ben. "F1 Russian GP: Vandoorne gets McLaren's first 2017 grid penalty". autosport.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  19. "Гран-при России по автогонкам "Формулы-1"" [Grand Prix of Russia in Formula One racing] (in Russian). Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia: The Russian Presidential Press and Information Office. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  20. "2017 Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula 1 World Championship Ltd. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  21. "Russia 2017 - Championship". statsf1.com. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
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