2016 Russian Grand Prix - Sochi, Apr. 29 - May 01

[Mansell89]

On a side note, I find Russia one of the most mind-numbing Grand Prix tracks in history.

Woeful again today whilst we have France, Turkey, and many others on the sidelines.

Where on earth are we as a sport in 2016. Concerned is not the word.

[Edax]

Some of you need to calm down.
I am not saying Nico did not have a problem or that traffic did not slow him down and Lewis was flying after him with sheer unrivalled pace.
I agree that Nico had a slight problem with his ERS and that gave Lewis the chance to cut down the gap, especially with the help of traffic. What i am suspicious about is Lewis' car having a "water pressure problem" which stymied his natural progress of catching Nico in a car that was not going as fast as it should. It's just weird a water pressure problem would come and then fix itself when the car isn't really operating much differently; a bit slower yes but not drastically slower.

I think that is not too far fetched. It certainly isn't without precedent.

It wouldn't be in the interest of the team to have Hamilton breathing down Nico's neck when he needed to recover the car. Just look how Iannone and Dovizioso managed to spoil a perfect Ducati team finish in Houston last month. Radio rules don't allow for calls for specific engine modes anymore so this is a way to do it. Don't think there is any favorism going on or moral thoughts on who deserves it. Mercedes interest would be at securing a 1-2 for the WCC

Slowing down Hamilton in qualifying doesn't make sense to me though.

Personally I do like Hamilton to win the WDC over Rosberg because I consider him a better driver. However as a F1 fan I like to see good racing. And I really liked Raikkonen Hamilton and Bottas squaring it out on track. Especially the overtake of Hamilton on Bottas was a beauty. Maybe not spectacular, but very difficult to set up and clinically executed. Of course there was a chassis advantage but same engine and same tires. So I take this over a boring win anyday.

Perhaps for the next race we should have the top ten qualifiers draw straws on their starting position.

[dans79]

- Whole Kvyat situation is a storm in a tea cup because Ferrari was involved. Bad driving bad not as criminal as this whole shouting suggested. .

Kvyat is a morn as far as I'm concerned, Ves can't replace him soon enough!

That's all we need, one fast-tracked hype job replaced with another one with 10x the temper tantrums.

They have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

I'll take temper tantrums over someone who runs into another car twice in the same race.

[Sevach]

Did Kvyat ever get investigated for the lap 1 incident?

EDIT: ah right, he got the penalty during the race, neve mind.

Plus 3 points on his license (very lenient if you ask me).

[f1316]

On a side note, I find Russia one of the most mind-numbing Grand Prix tracks in history.

Woeful again today whilst we have France, Turkey, and many others on the sidelines.

Where on earth are we as a sport in 2016. Concerned is not the word.

Couldn't agree more. Imola's another great track imo.

This one is awful; reminds me a bit of the Vegas car park track only much blander. It's also bizarre that at the track which has the most problems with tyre warm up we didn't see the ultra soft; dull one-stoppers nailed on at a boxy 90 degree cornered track.

And to it off we have to see bloody Putin turning up - at least he had his shirt on.

[ringo]

I think that is not too far fetched. It certainly isn't without precedent.

It wouldn't be in the interest of the team to have Hamilton breathing down Nico's neck when he needed to recover the car. Just look how Iannone and Dovizioso managed to spoil a perfect Ducati team finish in Houston last month. Radio rules don't allow for calls for specific engine modes anymore so this is a way to do it. Don't think there is any favorism going on or moral thoughts on who deserves it. Mercedes interest would be at securing a 1-2 for the WCC

Slowing down Hamilton in qualifying doesn't make sense to me though.

Personally I do like Hamilton to win the WDC over Rosberg because I consider him a better driver. However as a F1 fan I like to see good racing. And I really liked Raikkonen Hamilton and Bottas squaring it out on track. Especially the overtake of Hamilton on Bottas was a beauty. Maybe not spectacular, but very difficult to set up and clinically executed. Of course there was a chassis advantage but same engine and same tires. So I take this over a boring win anyday.

Perhaps for the next race we should have the top ten qualifiers draw straws on their starting position.

Qualifying was simply down to poor mechanic work. I don't think there is a conspiracy there. They simply put the wrong guys on Lewis' car for the year, Nico's old mechanics; which i find is a next problem in itself.

[ringo]

And to it off we have to see bloody Putin turning up - at least he had his shirt on.

Hey maybe because i don't live in europe, but why is this guy so disliked?
I don't think he's much different than any of the other leaders in Europe.

[cooken]

Just look how Iannone and Dovizioso managed to spoil a perfect Ducati team finish in Houston last month.

Don't you mean Austin? And if so....don't you mean Argentina??

I agree with the rest of your points. We want to not only see racing, but racing for the top step of the podium. I am a Hamilton fan, but I honestly don't give a --- if he loses to Nico...as long as he actually loses to Nico and not to Mercedes (reliability) or other nonsense.

[superdowg316]

The problem F1 has is not the racing, but where the racing is. 1st runs off into the distance while 2nd-11th are all close to each other in most races, so it's more trying to get the second group closer to the guy in first. If that can happen, then we can get some good racing.

[LionKing]

By the way people keep saying Mercedes switched the crews for Lewis and Nico. I believe they just mixed them up when they sensed a growing division in the garage.

[LionKing]

First lap was pretty crazy, but after that it was pretty much business as usual. Great comeback from Lewis. Though his luck is atrocious. I think he was fastest in Q1 & Q2,

Nope, Nico's Q2 lap was the fastest time of the weekend and was also half a second quicker than Lewis.

[Nathanael F1]

What was Kvyat thinking? What an idiot.

[Pierce89]

And to it off we have to see bloody Putin turning up - at least he had his shirt on.

Hey maybe because i don't live in europe, but why is this guy so disliked?
I don't think he's much different than any of the other leaders in Europe.

"People" say that he feigns democracy while actually being a dictator. Me? I say if Russians want him fine, but I wouldn't want him in charge of the US.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

First lap was pretty crazy, but after that it was pretty much business as usual. Great comeback from Lewis. Though his luck is atrocious. I think he was fastest in Q1 & Q2,

Nope, Nico's Q2 lap was the fastest time of the weekend and was also half a second quicker than Lewis.

Because by Q2, Lewis had already suffered a failed MGU-H.

[Sevach]

Hamilton took an engine in China, what is his engine situation now?