Ferrari is on fire right now. Mercedes is looking to end the Italian outfit’s recent resurgence at a circuit is has never failed to win — the Sochi Autodrom, host of the Russian Grand Prix.
What time does it start? How can I watch it?
This weekend’s Russian Grand Prix is set to get underway at 14:20 local time (GMT+3), 8:05 Eastern Time. All of this weekend’s sessions are live on ESPN:
U.K. viewers can watch every session live on Sky Sports F1. Check local listings for all other territories.
What to watch out for
Can Ferrari make it four in a row?
Ferrari is on form at the moment, having won each race so far in September. Charles Leclerc claimed victories in Belgium and Italy, before Sebastian Vettel ended his win drought at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Ferrari hasn’t won three races in a row since 2008 — on that occasion, it added a fourth afterwards. Mercedes has won every Russian Grand Prix since it joined the calendar in 2014, but Ferrari is riding high and will feel confident about ending that streak.
Tensions at the front?
The Singapore GP was fascinating from an intra-team rivalry perspective. Valtteri Bottas felt Lewis Hamilton had compromised his all-important preparation lap in qualifying — the Finn was then asked to slow Alexander Albon during the race to help Mercedes recover a blunder on Mercedes’ strategy. He will be looking to return to winning ways at the Russian Grand Prix, where he claimed his first F1 victory in 2017.
As for Ferrari, Leclerc left Singapore seething at seeing Vettel being handed what, in hindsight, was clearly the better of any strategy in play during the race. Leclerc is still performing at the best level of his career so far and he will hope to make up for that lost win in Sochi.
McLaren vs Renault
The battle for the ‘best of the rest’ spot — otherwise known as 4th position — in the championship is hotting up. McLaren holds a moderately comfortable points buffer given its more consistent season overall, but Renault has made big strides forward recently.
McLaren’s Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz join Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo as some of the grid’s in-form drivers, adding another dimension to this contest. McLaren still leads by 22 points, but that’s the amount of points Renault claimed at the Italian Grand Prix alone earlier this month. One more big weekend for the French manufacturer and all bets might be off.
Tyres
Available compounds: Hard C3 (white), Medium C4 (yellow), Soft C5 (red)
Weather forecast
The early forecasts suggest rain throughout Saturday and Sunday, which would certainly spice up what has tended to be quite a processional race in the past. Aside from the chaos of the German Grand Prix, wet-weather running this year has been minimal, which adds another unknown variable into that equation.
ESPN’s prediction
Charles Leclerc will be back on the top step of the podium. Lewis Hamilton doesn’t need to win races to take the title, Max Verstappen will start down the order with a grid penalty, so I think the stage is set for Ferrari to make it a clean sweep of races in September.
Winner: Charles Leclerc