For the 2014 Olympic Games, which took place in Sochi, it was decided to build a race track in the city. The circuit is located on the territory of the city Olympic Park. Prior to the Olympic Games, several events were held in the city to increase interest in car driving in the Russian Federation. In the winter of 2013, the city of Sochi was visited by Bernie Ecclestone to observe the progress of construction work on the highway.
The first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Russia: Sochi 2014
The first race on the track took place in mid-September 2014 a week before the official opening of the track. One month later, the circuit took one of the stages of the Formula 1 series. According to the results of the Sochi 2014 Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton managed to get a victory in a tough fight. Hamilton’s Mercedes partner was the German pilot Nico Rosberg. Finn Valtteri Bottas was in third place. It was he who showed the fastest time in one of the circles of the first Formula 1 grand prix in Sochi, having driven the last 5848 m in 1.40.896 minutes.
The day before the race, these pilots completed the qualification in the same order. Briton Jenson Button and Russian Daniil Kvyat in Saturday qualification took 4th and 5th places respectively. In Sunday's race, the Button repeated the result of qualification, and Quat was in 14th position.
2015 Grand Prix
The second Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi was held in 2015. According to the results of the qualification, Nico Rosberg took the first place. The second pilot, who got the opportunity to start from the first field, was another Mercedes pilot Lewis Hamilton, and the third was Valtteri Bottas. Thus, for the second season in a row, the same riders took the first three places in the Saturday qualification, but the pilots of the Mercedes changed positions.
On Sunday, the winner of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi was the second year in a row Briton Hamilton. The second was the German Sebastian Vettel, representing "Scuderia", and the third place was taken by the Mexican Perez. The German showed the fastest lap time - 1.40.071 min.
Nico Rosberg, who won pole position on Saturday, was forced to end the race ahead of schedule due to a failure of the gas pedal. Valtteri Bottas, who started from the third position, had an accident and did not finish, but he was counted 12th because the Finn traveled 90% of the distance.
Formula 1 in Sochi in 2016
The most popular stages in the world took place on the Sochi highway for the third time in a row in 2016. The first two places in the qualifying Saturday race took the Germans Rosberg and Vettel. The third and fourth were the Finns Bottas and Raikkonen, respectively, and the Brazilian Felipe Massa took the 5th place.
On Sunday, the race was won by the pilot of the Mercedes Nico Rosberg. The second was Lewis Hamilton, who rose to second place from tenth. Felipe Massa remained fifth, and the Finns switched places - Raikkonen became the bronze medalist of the race, and Valtteri Bottas remained out of the podium. Race winner Nico Rosberg became the author of the fastest lap, having completed 52 laps in 1.39.094 minutes.
2017 Grand Prix
In April 2017, the fourth Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi was held for the fourth time in 4 years. According to the results of the qualification, the pole position was won by the German Vettel from Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen took second place. Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton, who took 3rd and 4th places, respectively, started from the second line.
The Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi in 2017 was won by Finn Bottas, who moved to Mercedes after Nico Rosberg announced his retirement. Valtteri's teammate British pilot Lewis Hamilton finished fourth in the race. Between the two pilots of the Mercedes there are two Scuderia race cars - Sebastian Vettel became the second, and Kimi Raikkonen took the third place. The best lap time was set on the 49th lap by Kimi Raikkonen - 1.37.844 min.
Thus, for 4 years of the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Sochi, each time the victory was celebrated by the racer of the Mercedes team - Hamilton twice, and once by Rosberg and Bottas.