Coming off an incredible race last week in the Tuscan GP The Formula One Championship is in Russia for the Sochi Grand Prix.
This is know for being a Mercedes dominated track with the silver arrows winning every single race since its debut in 2013. Lewis Hamilton is the favourite as he has won four out of six races held at the Sochi Autodrome .
Hamilton has a chance to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 91 wins this weekend, but he will have to look out for his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Bottas, who like Hamilton has a win in Russia, and Max Verstappen, who is the closest car to Hamilton in the Championship, will be looking to make improvements on some poor recent races.
Verstappen said: “I think in general we know that this track is not the best for us.”
Verstappen’s record at this track is not the best, having not achieving a podium in his time in F1 at Russia.
Obviously depending on how qualifying goes this race could go either way. It could be a walk in the park for Mercedes as it has always been in Russia but lets have a look at each team and how I think they will do :
Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton (1st) – Lewis has proved consistently that he can get a win when it is needed and this may be one of the most important personal races because if he wins he will have equalled Schumacher’s record of 91 wins. If Lewis does this it will make the rest of the season very interesting as it will be hunting for the 92nd to gain the record.
Valteri Bottas (2nd) – Valteri has always been the second string driver and I don’t see that changing. He is a man who is a team player and even if he is leading Mercedes will make the call to switch them because well to put it politely they care more about Lewis than him and will want all the plaudits if Hamilton does win.
Red Bull
Max Verstappen (3rd) – Even though Max has said that he doesn’t believes the car has pace he knows how to get a podium and think there will be a fire lit underneath him from the 2 DNF’s in the previous two races.
Alex Albon (5th) – Alex will have the momentum of the podium in the Tuscan GP to carry him through this race unfortunetly he hasn’t been able to challenge Max this season and I don’t see this changing.
McLaren
Carlos Sainz Jr (8th) – This will be tough for Carlos as he hasn’t that best races since being announced as Ferrari driver it seems like the Spanish man has a curse on him and I think that his teammate will only just beat him and make his move to Ferrari not as smooth as he would like.
Lando Norris (7th) – Lando has had success this season getting the podium at the start of the season and has been proving why he is the next generational talent. Before the race Lando said this about the upcoming weekend ‘I’m feeling a bit more confident going into tomorrow – but we’ve still got some work to do if we want to be as competitive as our rivals.’
Racing Point
Sergio Perez (6th) – Poor Sergio Perez a man who unfortunetly lost his seat to politics really has got to have some good performances to round out the season to see if he can get a seat for 2021. I can this being one , with all the information coming to light about Racing Point possibly keeping information hidden from him maybe this is the perfect time for him to prove why they should have kept him.
Lance Stroll (9th) – Lance , what to say about Lance even though that the way he got his seat is controversial he really has proved that he can compete with some key performances in the Spanish and Italian GP we know he can fight I just think Perez will have more aggression this race.
Renault
Daniel Ricciardo (4th) – It’s bold but I think its coming , there have been some standouts this year in the midfield and I feel Daniel is one , with his impending move to McLaren he has been churning out consistent performance and I think he has a genuine chance to get 4th this week.
Ferrari
Charles Leclerc (10th) – To round of the top 10 I’ve gone for Charles , the car is not quick and reliable but the driver is. With Sebastian Vettel seeming non-existent at some points this season and with his move to Aston Martin , Charles can really use this to his advantage and pip him out for the final point.
The race starts at 12:10 UK time and it can go two ways and it may and with Mercedes having Netflix filming them we know that the Netflix curse can be well and true in effect. Can the Red Bulls slow down a Mercedes win or will a surprise diver take a win .
