2019 Russian Grand Prix

The 2019 Russian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019) was a Formula One motor race held on 29 September 2019 at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia.[1] The race was the 16th round of the 2019 Formula One World Championship and marked the 8th running of the Russian Grand Prix and the 6th time the race was held in Sochi.[2][3]

2019 Russian Grand Prix
Race 16 of 21 in the 2019 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Sochi Autodrom
Race details[1]
Date 29 September 2019
Official name Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019
Location Sochi Autodrom,
Adlersky City District, Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Course Permanent racing facility
Course length 5.848 km (3.634 mi)
Distance 53 laps, 309.745 km (192.466 mi)
Weather Partly cloudy
Pole position
Driver
Ferrari
Time 1:31.628
Fastest lap
Driver Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
Time 1:35.761 on lap 51 (lap record)
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Mercedes
Third
Ferrari

Background

Championship standings before the race

Entering the round Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes led the drivers and constructors championships by 65 and 133 points respectively. The size of their leads mean that both would still be leading their respective championships after the race regardless of the race's outcome.[4]

Entries
Further information: 2019 Formula One World Championship § Entries

The drivers and teams entered were the same as those for the previous race with no additional stand-in drivers for the race or practice.[5]

Qualifying

After Daniil Kvyat's car suffered an engine failure in the third practice session, a new engine was fitted and the car was not ready in time to take part in qualifying. During the first qualifying session, Alexander Albon lost control of the rear of his Red Bull at turn 13, sending him spinning into the barriers. Albon was uninjured, and the session was stopped as the car was recovered.[6] The damaged floor of his car was replaced and this meant that Albon would be required to start the race from the pitlane.[7]

Qualifying classification
Pos. Car
no.		 Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:33.613 1:32.434 1:31.628 1
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:33.230 1:33.134 1:32.030 2
3 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:33.032 1:32.536 1:32.053 3
4 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:33.368 1:32.634 1:32.310 91
5 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:33.413 1:33.281 1:32.632 4
6 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1:34.184 1:33.807 1:33.222 5
7 27 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 1:34.236 1:33.898 1:33.289 6
8 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1:34.201 1:33.725 1:33.301 7
9 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:34.283 1:33.643 1:33.517 8
10 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:34.138 1:33.862 1:33.661 10
11 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 1:34.456 1:33.950 N/A 161
12 11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 1:34.336 1:33.958 N/A 11
13 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:34.755 1:34.037 N/A 12
14 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:33.889 1:34.082 N/A 13
15 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 1:34.287 1:34.233 N/A 14
16 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:34.840 N/A N/A 15
17 63 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1:35.356 N/A N/A 17
18 88 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 1:36.474 N/A N/A 182
19 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:39.197 N/A N/A PL3
107% time: 1:39.544
DNQ 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda No time N/A N/A 194
Source:[8][9]
Notes
  • ^1 – Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly both received a five-place grid penalty for exceeding their quota for power unit components.[10]
  • ^2 – Robert Kubica was required to start from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota for power unit components.[11]
  • ^3 – Alexander Albon initially received a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his quota for power unit components,[10] but due to crashing in qualifying he was required to start the race from the pit lane for changing the floor.[12]
  • ^4 – Daniil Kvyat was initially required to start from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota for power unit components,[10] but he did not take part in qualifying and was allowed to race at the stewards' discretion.[13]

Race

Before the lights went out, Kimi Räikkönen made a false start and was later issued a drive-through penalty. As the cars set off, Sebastian Vettel was aided by the slipstream on the straight before turn two, overtaking Lewis Hamilton and pole-sitter Charles Leclerc for the lead. Carlos Sainz Jr. also benefited from this effect, overtaking Valtteri Bottas into the same corner. On the opening lap, Antonio Giovinazzi was squeezed by Romain Grosjean and Daniel Ricciardo going into turn five. Grosjean was launched into the barriers, causing his seventh retirement of the season. Ricciardo and Giovinazzi both took aerodynamic damage in the incident, with Ricciardo also suffering a left-rear tyre puncture, but both cars were able to continue the race for the time being. The safety car was deployed whilst Grosjean's car was recovered, during which Ricciardo and Robert Kubica made pit stops for new tyres. Williams then decided to pit Kubica again on the following lap to switch from hard to medium-compound tyres. The stewards later deemed the three-car collision a racing incident, and no action was taken.

Racing resumed at the end of lap three. During the following few laps, it emerged via team radio that Ferrari had anticipated Vettel would utilise the slipstream to overtake Leclerc at the start of the race. The team's plan was to build a gap to Hamilton in third, and then order Vettel to move aside and allow his teammate to retake the lead. However, Vettel refused to yield, claiming that Leclerc was too far behind and slowing to let his teammate through would risk also letting Hamilton through. Bottas made it past Sainz's McLaren on lap seven, and by lap 17, Max Verstappen had passed Sainz to take fifth place after starting the race in ninth.

After Leclerc had previously told his team over radio that he expected to be swapped with Vettel later into the race, Ferrari brought him in for a pit stop at the end of lap 22. Vettel was left out until the end of lap 26, by which point his tyres had degraded and he emerged from the pits behind his teammate, as Leclerc had requested. At the same time, Ricciardo's car was retired from the race after Renault decided that the damage suffered in the first lap incident was too great to continue. On his out-lap from the pits, Vettel reported the failure of the MGU-K, a part of the car's hybrid power unit. Initially hoping he could make it back to the pits to avoid a safety car being deployed, he was forced to pull over to the side of the track at turn 16 after the team were concerned that going any further would cause more damage to the car. A virtual safety car period was initiated whilst Vettel's car was recovered, during which the two leading Mercedes cars made their pit stops, allowing Hamilton to take over the lead of the race from Leclerc.

On lap 28, during the virtual safety car period, George Russell went straight on at turn nine and into the barriers. Williams later revealed that this was caused by a wheel nut issue.[14] At the end of the same lap, Williams decided to retire Kubica in order to conserve parts for the next race, leading to a double retirement for the team. The virtual safety car was upgraded to a full safety car after Russell's crash. Ferrari brought Leclerc in for a pit stop on lap 30, during the safety car, switching him to soft-compound tyres, the same as the leading Mercedes cars even though it meant Leclerc dropped from second to third place.

The safety car came in on lap 33. During the next 20 laps, Leclerc attempted to catch up with and overtake Bottas, but was ultimately unsuccessful. Kevin Magnussen ran wide at turn two on lap 44 after an overtake attempt by Sergio Pérez. Magnussen failed to drive around both penalty bollards, and was later issued with a 5-second time penalty as a result. This dropped him from eighth to ninth place at the end of the race. Alexander Albon, who started the race from the pit lane and was in ninth place at the safety car restart, fought through the field and overtook Sainz for fifth place on lap 49, equalling his best career finish. Hamilton crossed the line to take victory, marking his and Mercedes's first win since the summer break, and Bottas finishing second resulted in the first Mercedes 1–2 finish since the British Grand Prix.

Race classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 1:33:38.992 2 261
2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 +3.829 4 18
3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 +5.212 1 15
4 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 53 +14.210 9 12
5 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda 53 +38.348 PL 10
6 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 53 +45.889 5 8
7 11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 53 +48.728 11 6
8 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 53 +57.749 7 4
9 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 53 +58.7792 13 2
10 27 Nico Hülkenberg Renault 53 +59.841 6 1
11 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 53 +1:00.821 14
12 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 53 +1:02.496 19
13 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 53 +1:08.910 15
14 10 Pierre Gasly Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda 53 +1:10.076 16
15 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 53 +1:13.346 12
Ret 88 Robert Kubica Williams-Mercedes 28 Withdrew 18
Ret 63 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 27 Wheel/Accident 17
Ret 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 26 Power loss 3
Ret 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 24 Collision damage 10
Ret 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 0 Collision 8
Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 1:35.761 (lap 51)
Source:[9][14][15][16][17]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
  • ^2 – Kevin Magnussen originally finished 8th, but received a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and not re-joining as instructed.[18]

Championship standings after the race
Note
  • Only the top five positions for each set of standings are shown

See also

References
  1. "Russia 2019". Formula1.com. Formula One World Championship Limited. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  2. "Grand Prix Winners 1895–1916". www.kolumbus.fi. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  3. "Grands Prix – Russia". StatsF1. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. "Singapore 2019 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  5. "2019 Russian Grand Prix – Entry List". FIA. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  6. "Russian Grand Prix 2019 qualifying report: Sensational Leclerc takes stunning Sochi pole". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  7. "Alex Albon to start Russian GP from pit lane after Q1 crash". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  8. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019 – Qualifying". formula1. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  9. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019 – Starting Grid". formula1. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  10. "2019 Russian Grand Prix: Red Bulls and Toro Rossos set for engine changes and grid penalties". www.formula1.com. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  11. "Offence – Car 88 (PU elements)". FIA. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  12. "Alex Albon to start Russian GP from pit lane after Q1 crash". www.formula1.com. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  13. "Decision – Car 26 (failure to set a time in qualifying)". FIA. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  14. "Wheel nut retainer caused Russell retirement in Sochi, say Williams". formula1.com. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. "Russia 2019 – Result". StatsF1. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  16. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019 – Race Result". formula1. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  17. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2019 – Fastest Laps". formula1.com. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  18. "Russian GP penalty led frustrated Magnussen to produce 'best laps of weekend". www.formula1.com. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  19. "Russia 2019 – Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
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