Russian Grand Prix in F1: every race in Sochi, the winners and the track

How many times was the Russian Grand Prix held

Eight times, from 2014 to 2021, and always in Sochi. All eight races were won by Mercedes drivers: Lewis Hamilton five times, Valtteri Bottas twice and Nico Rosberg once.

The poles were spread more widely: two each for Hamilton and Rosberg, and one each for Sebastian Vettel, Bottas, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. Hamilton finished on the podium in Sochi seven times out of eight, and Bottas five times.

The race was held in the autumn, in September or October, except in 2016 and 2017, when the Russian Grand Prix took place in the spring as the fourth round of the season.

The Sochi Autodrom

The Sochi Autodrom was designed by Hermann Tilke around the Olympic Park of the 2014 Winter Games. The track runs around the venues used for ice hockey and skating at the Games, and the stadium in which the opening and closing ceremonies took place.

The circuit was completed just before the Grand Prix. The final layer of asphalt was laid on 1 August 2014, and the circuit was officially opened on 20 September, three weeks before the race. The race distance was 53 laps, about 310 km; only in 2017 were 52 laps run.

The FIA’s preview of the first Grand Prix said the new layout had been likened to a mix of the Valencia Street Circuit and the Korean International Circuit. According to the preview, it blends medium and low-speed corners with two long fast sections. The circuit map is on the Sochi page.

What the Sochi races are remembered for

The Drivers’ title was never decided in Sochi, but the Constructors’ Championship was, twice. The main moments, year by year:

• 2014: the first Russian Grand Prix in the World Championship, round 16 of 19. Hamilton won, and in this race Mercedes won the Constructors’ Championship for the first time.
• 2015: Mercedes again clinched the Constructors’ Championship early, in Sochi.
• 2016: Rosberg won from pole and set the fastest lap, a hat-trick.
• 2017: Bottas’s first win in Formula 1.
• 2019: Hamilton lapped in 1:35.761, which remained the circuit’s lap record.
• 2021: Norris took the first pole of his career, Hamilton won for the 100th time, and Max Verstappen finished second after starting 20th.

Russian drivers at their home Grand Prix

The best result by a Russian in Sochi is fifth place, by Daniil Kvyat for Red Bull in 2015. Kvyat raced at home six times and scored points twice: in 2015 and in 2020, when he finished eighth.

In 2014 Kvyat started fifth, the highest a Russian has ever started on the home grid. Sergey Sirotkin drove in Friday practice in Sochi, for Sauber in 2014 and for Renault in 2016 and 2017, and so did Artem Markelov, for Renault in 2018. Vitaly Petrov never raced in Sochi: his last race was in 2012. Every Russian driver and their career is covered in the article “Russian F1 drivers”.

F1 circuits in Russia

World Championship races in Russia were held only in Sochi. On 26 June 2021 Formula 1 announced that from 2023 the Russian Grand Prix would move to Igora Drive, 54 km from St Petersburg. That circuit was also designed by Tilke and was given Grade 1 status, the FIA’s highest, at the end of 2020. According to Formula 1, Igora Drive has 10 different track layouts over approximately 100 hectares. No World Championship race was ever held there.

Before the World Championship, a Russian Grand Prix was held twice, in 1913 and 1914, in St Petersburg. The first was won by Georgy Suvorin and the second by Willy Scholl, both driving Benz cars. These races are not part of the World Championship.

Why the Russian Grand Prix is no longer held

On 1 March 2022, upon proposal of the F1 Commercial Rights Holder, the FIA World Motor Sport Council cancelled the 2022 race, scheduled for 25 September in Sochi, for reason of force majeure. On 3 March Formula 1 terminated its contract with the Russian Grand Prix promoter and said that Russia would no longer have a race in the future.