2020 Russian Grand Prix

The 2020 Russian Grand Prix (officially known as the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020) was a Formula One motor race held on 27 September 2020 at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia. The race was the tenth round of the 2020 Formula One World Championship, ninth running of the Russian Grand Prix and the seventh time held in Sochi. The 53-lap race was won by Valtteri Bottas of the Mercedes team, with Max Verstappen of Red Bull placing 2nd, and Lewis Hamilton taking the final podium place.

2020 Russian Grand Prix
Race 10 of 17[lower-alpha 1] in the 2020 Formula One World Championship
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Layout of the Sochi Autodrom
Race details
Date 27 September 2020
Official name Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020
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 Sunny
Pole position
Driver
Mercedes
Time 1:31.304
Fastest lap
Driver Valtteri Bottas Mercedes
Time 1:37.030 on lap 51
Podium
First
Mercedes
Second
Red Bull Racing-Honda
Third
Mercedes

Background

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
See also: 2020 Formula One World Championship § Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and COVID-19 pandemic in Russia

The 2020 championship was heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile to draft a new calendar. However, the Russian Grand Prix kept its original date. Up to 30,000 fans were expected to attend the race with social distancing measures in place.[1] Haas driver Romain Grosjean expressed discomfort over the handling of the pandemic situation at his hotel.[2]

Entrants
Further information: 2020 Formula One World Championship § Entries

Ten teams (each representing a different constructor) each entered two drivers. The drivers and teams were the same as those on the season entry list with no additional stand-in drivers for either the race or practice.[3]

Tyres
See also: Formula One tyres

Sole Formula One tyre manufacturer Pirelli supplied their C3, C4 and C5 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the three softest compounds available.[4]

Practice

The first free practice session ended with Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas quickest, followed by Daniel Ricciardo of Renault and Max Verstappen of Red Bull. The session was disrupted first by McLaren driver Carlos Sainz Jr.'s spin in turn seven, which caused damage to his rear wing and triggered a virtual safety car. Nicholas Latifi of Williams spun in turn ten causing severe damage to his car and triggering another red flag.[5]

The second practice session ended with Bottas ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton and Ricciardo.[6] The third practice session ended with Hamilton fastest ahead of Bottas and Sainz Jr.[7]

Qualifying

Hamilton took pole, 0.563s ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Valtteri Bottas finished 3rd with Sergio Pérez in 4th for Racing Point. Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo qualified 5th followed by Carlos Sainz Jr., Esteban Ocon, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon.

Out in Q1 (the first part of qualifying) were Romain Grosjean, Antonio Giovinazzi, Kevin Magnussen, Nicholas Latifi and Kimi Räikkönen. In Q2, Charles Leclerc finished 11th, missing out on Q3 after his teammate Sebastian Vettel crashed, bringing out the red flag and Hamilton making it to the line to set his final lap in Q2 seconds before the chequered flag came out to end the session. Daniil Kvyat was 12th followed by Lance Stroll, whose engine overheated preventing him from going out for a second run in Q2, Williams driver George Russell and Vettel.[8]

Qualifying classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Qualifying times Final
grid
Q1 Q2 Q3
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:32.983 1:32.835 1:31.304 1
2 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:33.630 1:33.157 1:31.867 2
3 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:32.656 1:32.405 1:31.956 3
4 11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 1:33.704 1:33.038 1:32.317 4
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:33.650 1:32.218 1:32.364 5
6 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 1:33.967 1:32.757 1:32.550 6
7 31 Esteban Ocon Renault 1:33.557 1:33.196 1:32.624 7
8 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 1:33.804 1:33.081 1:32.847 8
9 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Honda 1:33.734 1:33.139 1:33.000 9
10 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda 1:33.919 1:33.153 1:33.008 151
11 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:34.071 1:33.239 N/A 10
12 26 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri-Honda 1:33.511 1:33.249 N/A 11
13 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 1:33.852 1:33.364 N/A 12
14 63 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 1:34.020 1:33.583 N/A 13
15 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:34.134 1:33.609 N/A 14
16 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 1:34.592 N/A N/A 16
17 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:34.594 N/A N/A 17
18 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 1:34.681 N/A N/A 18
19 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 1:35.066 N/A N/A 201
20 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 1:35.267 N/A N/A 19
107% time: 1:39.141
Source:[9][10]

Race

Kimi Räikkönen started his 322nd Grand Prix, tying Rubens Barrichello's record. Carlos Sainz Jr. took to the run off area and hit the wall trying to rejoin the circuit at the race start. Charles Leclerc collided with Lance Stroll causing the latter to hit a wall.

Lewis Hamilton was handed down two 5-second penalties for doing practice starts outside the designated areas, which he served on his first pitstop. Hamilton was also initially given two penalty points on his FIA Super Licence which would have left him on 10 penalty points for the last 12 months period, only two penalty points short of a race ban. However, these penalty points were rescinded after stewards received information that team radio communications had advised Hamilton about where he could or could not do a practice start and the team was fined instead for their error.[12][13][14] Both Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon were given a 5-second penalty for exceeding the track limits at turn 2.

The race was won by Valtteri Bottas ahead of Max Verstappen and Hamilton. The result left Hamilton leading the championship with 205 points from team mate Bottas on 161 points.[15][16]

Race classification
Pos. No. Driver Constructor Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 53 1:34:00.364 3 261
2 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing-Honda 53 +7.729 2 18
3 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 53 +22.729 1 15
4 11 Sergio Pérez Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 53 +30.558 4 12
5 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 53 +52.0652 5 10
6 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 53 +1:02.186 10 8
7 31 Esteban Ocon Renault 53 +1:08.006 7 6
8 26 Daniil Kvyat AlphaTauri-Honda 53 +1:08.740 11 4
9 10 Pierre Gasly AlphaTauri-Honda 53 +1:29.766 9 2
10 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Racing-Honda 53 +1:37.8602 15 1
11 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 17
12 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 18
13 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 52 +1 lap 14
14 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 19
15 4 Lando Norris McLaren-Renault 52 +1 lap 8
16 6 Nicholas Latifi Williams-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 20
17 8 Romain Grosjean Haas-Ferrari 52 +1 lap 16
18 63 George Russell Williams-Mercedes 52 +1 lap 13
Ret 55 Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren-Renault 0 Accident 6
Ret 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point-BWT Mercedes 0 Collision 12
Fastest lap: Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) – 1:37.030 (lap 51)
Source:[10][17][18]
Notes
  • ^1 – Includes one point for fastest lap.
  • ^2 – Daniel Ricciardo and Alexander Albon both received a five-second time penalty for failing to follow the race director's instructions at turn 2.[17]

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

Notes
  1. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic saw several Grands Prix cancelled or rescheduled. The revised calendar consisted of seventeen races.
  2. Racing Point was deducted 15 points after a protest from Renault was upheld regarding the legality of their car.[19]

References
  1. Smith, Luke; Karpov, Oleg (12 August 2020). "Sochi targeting 30,000 F1 fans for Russian Grand Prix". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  2. Vinel, Benjamin; Smith, Luke (2 October 2020). "Small rise in F1 COVID cases not linked to fans attending Russian GP". Autosport.com. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  3. "2020 Russian Grand Prix – Entry List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  4. "2020 Tuscan and Russian Grands Prix - Tyre compound choices". Pirelli. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  5. "FP1: Bottas quickest, Latifi brings out the reds". PlanetF1. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  6. Kalinauckas, Alex (25 September 2020). "F1 Russian GP: Bottas beats Hamilton to Sochi FP2 top spot". Autosport. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  7. "FP3: Hamilton blitzes Bottas in final practice". PlanetF1. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  8. "Hamilton survives Q2 scare to beat Verstappen to Russia pole, as Vettel crashes heavily". formula1.com. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  9. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020 – Qualifying". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  10. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020 – Starting Grid". Formula1.com. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  11. "Albon and Latifi take grid penalties for Russian GP after gearbox changes". formula1.com. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  12. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/54318727
  13. "Hamilton's penalty points rescinded, Mercedes fined instead". The Race. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  14. "Why FIA went back on 'inappropriate' Hamilton penalty points". The Race. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  15. "Russia 2020 - Championship". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  16. "Valtteri Bottas wins Russian GP as time penalty denies Hamilton's record bid". Guardian. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
  17. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020 – Race Result". Formula1.com. Formula One Administration. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  18. "Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020 – Fastest Laps". Formula1.com. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  19. "Racing Point deducted 15 points and fined heavily as Renault protest into car legality upheld". formula1.com. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
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