| 2020 Russian Grand Prix | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Race 10 of 17[a] in the2020 Formula One World Championship
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 Layout of the Sochi Autodrom | |||||
| Race details | |||||
| Date | 27 September 2020 | ||||
| Official name | Formula 1 VTBRussian Grand Prix 2020 | ||||
| Location | Sochi Autodrom Adlersky City District,Sochi,Krasnodar Krai,Russia | ||||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||||
| Course length | 5.848 km (3.634 miles) | ||||
| Distance | 53 laps, 309.745 km (192.467 miles) | ||||
| 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 | ||||
Lap leaders | |||||
The2020 Russian Grand Prix (officially known as theFormula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2020) was aFormula One motor race held on 27 September, 2020 at theSochi Autodrom inSochi,Russia. The race was the tenth round of the2020 Formula One World Championship, ninth running of theRussian Grand Prix and the seventh time held in Sochi. The 53-lap race was won byValtteri Bottas of theMercedes team, withMax Verstappen ofRed Bull placing 2nd, andLewis Hamilton taking the final podium place.
This race wasScuderia Ferrari's 1000th start in a World Championship event as a team.[2]
The2020 championship was heavily affected by theCOVID-19 pandemic. Most of the originally planned Grands Prix were cancelled or postponed, prompting theFédération Internationale de l'Automobile to draft a new calendar. Ahead of the Russian Grand Prix, Formula One confirmed that it had recorded the biggest coronavirus spike of the year.[3]
In spite of this, the Russian Grand Prix kept its original date. Up to 30,000 fans were expected to attend the race withsocial distancing measures in place.[4]McLaren driver,Lando Norris, noted the lack of meet and greets and photo opportunities with fans.[5]Haas driverRomain Grosjean expressed discomfort over the handling of the pandemic situation at his hotel.[6]
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Ten teams (each representing a differentconstructor) 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.[7]
Sole Formula One tyre manufacturerPirelli supplied their C3, C4 and C5 compound tyres for teams to use in the race, the three softest compounds available.[8]
The first free practice session ended withMercedes driverValtteri Bottas quickest, followed byDaniel Ricciardo ofRenault andMax Verstappen ofRed Bull. The session was disrupted first byMcLaren driverCarlos Sainz Jr.'s spin in turn seven, which caused damage to his rear wing and triggered a virtual safety car.Nicholas Latifi ofWilliams spun in turn ten causing severe damage to his car and triggering another red flag.[9]
The second practice session ended with Bottas ahead of teammateLewis Hamilton and Ricciardo.[10] The third practice session ended with Hamilton fastest ahead of Bottas and Sainz Jr.[11]
Hamilton took pole, 0.563s ahead ofRed Bull’sMax Verstappen.Valtteri Bottas finished 3rd withSergio Pérez in 4th forRacing Point.Renault’sDaniel Ricciardo qualified 5th followed by Carlos Sainz Jr.,Esteban Ocon,Lando Norris,Pierre Gasly andAlexander Albon.[12]
Out in Q1 (the first part of qualifying) wereRomain Grosjean,Antonio Giovinazzi,Kevin Magnussen,Nicholas Latifi andKimi Räikkönen. In Q2,Charles Leclerc finished 11th, missing out on Q3 after his teammateSebastian 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 byLance Stroll, whose engine overheated preventing him from going out for a second run in Q2, Williams driverGeorge Russell and Vettel.[12]
Kimi Räikkönen started his 322nd Grand Prix, tyingRubens 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 withLance Stroll causing the latter to hit a wall. The safety car was sent out to clear the debris at the second turn.[16][17]
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 hisFIA 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.[18][19][20] BothDaniel Ricciardo andAlexander Albon were given a 5-second penalty for exceeding the track limits at turn 2.[16][17]
The race was won byValtteri Bottas ahead ofMax Verstappen and Hamilton. The result left Hamilton leading the championship with 205 points from teammate Bottas on 161 points.[21][22]
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