2021 Russian Grand Prix

2021 Russian Grand Prix
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Round	15 of 2021
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Race Details
Date	September 26, 2021
Race Number	1050
Official Name	Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2021
Location	Sochi Autodrom Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Course	Temporary street circuit 5.848 km (3.634 mi)
Distance	53 laps, 309.944 km (192.590 mi)
Pole Position
Driver	Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:41.993
Fastest Lap
Driver	Lando Norris McLaren-Mercedes
Time	1:37.423 on lap 39
Podium
First	Lewis Hamilton
Second	Max Verstappen
Third	Carlos Sainz Jr.
Lap Leaders

The 2021 Russian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 VTB Russian Grand Prix 2021) was the 15th race of the 2021 FIA Formula One World Championship, held at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia between September 24 and September 26 2021.

In a drying qualifying, Lando Norris took a surprise maiden pole position ahead of Carlos Sainz, Jr. and George Russell, while Lewis Hamilton qualified fourth after failing to improve. Hamilton however took his 100th race victory as Norris, who had been leading, dropped down to 7th in the closing stages when rain fell, with Max Verstappen, who started from last with an engine penalty, coming in second and Sainz in third.

Background

Entry List

The full entry list for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix is outlined below:

No.	Driver	Entrant	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	Model	Tyre
3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL35M	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
4	Lando Norris	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	MCL35M	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Aston Martin	AMR21	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43B	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C41	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
9	Nikita Mazepin	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
10	Pierre Gasly	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri	AT02	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing Honda	Red Bull	RB16B	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine F1 Team	Alpine	A521	Renault	E-Tech 21 1.6L V6t	P
16	Charles Leclerc	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	Ferrari	SF21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Cognizant F1 Team	Aston Martin	AMR21	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri Honda	AlphaTauri	AT02	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine F1 Team	Alpine	A521	Renault	E-Tech 21 1.6L V6t	P
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda	Red Bull	RB16B	Honda	RA621H 1.6L V6t	P
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	F1 W12	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
47	Mick Schumacher	Uralkali Haas F1 Team	Haas	VF-21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	Ferrari	SF21	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
63	George Russell	Williams Racing	Williams	FW43B	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	F1 W12	Mercedes	M12 1.6L V6t	P
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN	Alfa Romeo	C41	Ferrari	065/6 1.6L V6t	P
Source:

Practice Overview

The full practice results for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix are outlined below:

No.	Driver	Team	FP1		FP2
			Time	Pos	Time	Pos
3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	1:36.877	14	1:35.630	17
4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	1:35.959	8	1:34.154	4
5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1:35.781	5	1:34.837	9
6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.155	18	1:35.411	16
7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:36.952	15	1:35.052	12
9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas-Ferrari	1:38.586	19	1:36.099	19
10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:35.794	6	1:33.845	3
11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:36.188	9	1:34.938	11
14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	1:36.225	10	1:34.762	8
16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:35.117	4	1:34.925	10
18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	1:36.522	12	1:35.334	15
22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda	1:37.794	16	1:35.954	18
31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	1:36.236	11	1:34.402	5
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	1:34.654	3	1:34.621	6
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:34.638	2	1:33.637	2
47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	1:38.977	20	1:36.230	20
55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Ferrari	1:35.811	7	1:34.678	7
63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.013	17	1:35.094	13
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:34.427	1	1:33.593	1
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	1:36.795	13	1:35.178	14
Source:

Qualifying

Q1

After FP3 was canceled due to heavy rain, the weather improved as the qualifying session began. Hamilton topped the session with Raikkonen, Schumacher, Giovinazzi, Mazepin and Verstappen, who was due to start with an engine penalty and therefore only completed an installation lap, eliminated from Q1.

Q2

Hamilton once again topped Q2 with Russell advancing into Q3 for the third time in the season, while eliminated from Q2 were Vettel, Gasly, Tsunoda, Latifi and Leclerc, both of whom would also be starting from the back from engine penalties.

Q3

Hamilton set the fastest time on intermediate tires as the track began to dry up, leading to drivers changing into dries for the final half of the session. Hamilton collided with the barrier at pit entry and therefore, lost time to warm up his tires after having his front wing changed, and spinning on his final flying lap, ending up in fourth while Norris took a surprise maiden pole position ahead of Sainz and Russell.

Qualifying Results

The full qualifying results for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Team		Q1			Q2			Q3		Grid
					Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time		Pos.	Time
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes		5	1:47.238		4	1:45.827		1	1:41.993	1
2	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Ferrari		8	1:47.924		10	1:46.521		2	1:42.510	2
3	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes		11	1:48.303		9	1:46.435		3	1:42.983	3
4	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1	1:45.992		1	1:45.129		4	1:44.050	4
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes		13	1:48.345		8	1:46.361		5	1:44.156	5
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault		7	1:47.877		3	1:45.514		6	1:44.204	6
7	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes		2	1:46.396		2	1:45.306		7	1:44.710	16*
8	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes		12	1:48.322		7	1:46.360		8	1:44.956	7
9	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda		3	1:46.455		5	1:45.834		9	1:45.337	8
10	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault		9	1:48.099		6	1:46.070		10	1:45.865	9
11	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes		4	1:47.205		11	1:46.573				10
12	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda		6	1L47.828		12	1:46.641				11
13	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda		15	1:48.854		13	1:46.751				12
14	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes		10	1:48.252		14	No time set				18*
15	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari		14	1:48.470		15	No time set				19†
16	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		16	1:49.586							13
17	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari		17	1:49.830							14
18	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari		18	1:51.023							17‡
107% Time: 1:53.411**
19	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas-Ferrari		19	1:53.764							15
20	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda		20	No time set							20§
Source:

• Bold indicates the fastest driver's time in each session.
• * Bottas and Latifi were required to start from the back of the grid for exceeding their quota of power unit elements.
• ^† Leclerc was required to start from the back of the grid after changing into a new power engine specification, and also for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.
• ^‡ Giovinazzi was given a 5-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change. This made little difference as he qualified near the back of the grid.
• ^§ Verstappen was originally given a 3-place grid penalty for his collision with Hamilton in the previous race. He was then required from the back of the grid for exceeding his quota of power unit elements.
• ** As qualifying was held on a wet session, the 107% Rule was not enforced.

Grid

The starting grid of the feature race of the 2021 Russian Grand Prix is outined below:

Show Grid

	Pos.	Pos.
	Driver	Driver
	______________
Row 1	1	______________
	Lando Norris	2
	______________	Carlos Sainz, Jr.
Row 2	3	______________
	George Russell	4
	______________	Lewis Hamilton
Row 3	5	______________
	Daniel Ricciardo	6
	______________	Fernando Alonso
Row 4	7	______________
	Lance Stroll	8
	______________	Sergio Pérez
Row 5	9	______________
	Esteban Ocon	10
	______________	Sebastian Vettel
Row 6	11	______________
	Pierre Gasly	12
	______________	Yuki Tsunoda
Row 7	13	______________
	Kimi Räikkönen	14
	______________	Mick Schumacher
Row 8	15	______________
	Nikita Mazepin	16
	______________	Valtteri Bottas
Row 9	17	______________
	Antonio Giovinazzi	18
	______________	Nicholas Latifi
Row 10	19	______________
	Charles Leclerc	20
	______________	Max Verstappen

Race

Report

At the start, which was dry, Sainz took the lead from Norris coming out of Turn 2, with Hamilton dropping to 7th place behind Ricciardo, Stroll and Alonso, with Stroll getting to fourth behind Russell. Among those starting from the back, Leclerc made the best start into 13th. Hamilton passed Alonso on the next lap, with Sainz and Norris pulling away as Russell held a train of cars behind him. Verstappen and Bottas meanwhile, started carving up the field, though Verstappen had a better recovery drive.

After briefly dropping back, Norris began to close into Sainz, and passed him on the 13th lap. Stroll was the first of the runners to pit on Lap 12, with Russell following suit on the following lap but failed to undercut him. Sainz then pitted, and rejoined in front of Stroll. Ricciardo, who was trailed by Hamilton and Perez after those in front of them had pitted, stopped on Lap 22 but a relatively slow stop left him out of podium contention. Hamilton, now with clear air, started to close the gap to his countryman Norris. He then pitted on Lap 26, at the same time as Vettel and Verstappen. Norris then pitted two laps later and emerged in front of Gasly, thus handing Perez into the lead with Alonso and Leclerc behind, all three of whom are on hard tires and are yet to stop. Hamilton soon was 8 seconds behind Norris after passing driver by driver, and began to carve into Norris, though biding his time as both of them had matching paces. Schumacher meanwhile had his first career retirement when he came into the pits on Lap 32 due to a hydraulic issue.

With almost ten laps remaining, rain began to fall. As rain intensified in the next few laps, with drivers losing control and spinning, the majority started pitting for intermediate tires, while the leaders still stayed out for several laps, Norris keeping the lead despite running off a few times. Stroll meanwhile forced his Aston Martin team-mate Vettel into the wall, before tipping Gasly into a spin, damaging his front wing and sliding into the barriers, yet continued with little damage. With three laps remaining, Hamilton pitted for intermediates, as Norris, unlike most drivers, stayed out. He eventually paid the price when he ran deep at Turn 5 and dropped down, allowing Hamilton through.

Hamilton ultimately led the last tours without incident and came home to take his 100th race victory, becoming the first driver to reach the centurious record, at the same time maintaining Mercedes' 100% win record at Sochi, by nearly a minute from Verstappen, who made a podium finish after starting from last, with Sainz following behind. Bottas finished an impressive fifth place behind Ricciardo, having been one of the first drivers to make the switch to inters. Completing the points-finishing positions were Alonso, Norris, Raikkonen, Perez and Russell, Perez dropping down from the front as he was among those the last to swap to intermediates.

Post-race, Norris was given a reprimand for a pit entry violation, while Stroll was given a 10-second post-race penalty for the collision with Gasly.

Results

The full results for the 2021 Russian Grand Prix are outlined below:

Pos.	No.	Driver	Constructor	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	53	1:30:41.001	4	25
2	33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing-Honda	53	+53.271	20	18
3	55	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	Ferrari	53	+1:02.475	2	15
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+1:05.607	5	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	53	+1:07.533	16	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Alpine-Renault	53	+1:21.321	6	8
7	4	Lando Norris	McLaren-Mercedes	53	+1:27.224	1	7FL
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	53	+1:28.955	13	4
9	11	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull Racing-Honda	53	+1:30.076	8	2
10	63	George Russell	Williams-Mercedes	53	+1:40.551	3	1
11	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin-Mercedes	53	+1:56.198*	7
12	5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin-Mercedes	52	+1 lap	10
13	10	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri-Honda	52	+1 lap	11
14	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine-Renault	52	+1 lap	9
15	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	52	+1 lap	19
16	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo-Ferrari	52	+1 lap	17
17	22	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri-Honda	52	+1 lap	12
18	9	Nikita Mazepin	Haas-Ferrari	51	+2 laps	15
19†	6	Nicholas Latifi	Williams-Mercedes	47	Accident damage	18
Ret	47	Mick Schumacher	Haas-Ferrari	32	Hydraulics	14
Source:

• * Stroll received a 10-second post-race time penalty for causing a collision with Gasly.
• ^† Latifi was classified for completing 90% of the race distance.

Milestones

• Final Russian Grand Prix held, as the race was discontinued the following year due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
• 300th race entry for AlphaTauri, including their previous name as Toro Rosso.
• Maiden pole position for Lando Norris.
  • Norris becomes the 102nd different person to achieve pole position. He is also the fifth youngest driver to achieve his maiden pole position.
• McLaren's 156th pole position, their first since the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix.
• First front row start for Carlos Sainz, Jr.
• 100th race victory for Lewis Hamilton.
• First retirement for Mick Schumacher.

Standings

Hamilton's win predictably saw him reclaiming the drivers' championship lead, though by two points due to Verstappen's second place finish. Their team-mates' finishing positions meant that Mercedes extended their advantage ahead of Red Bull by 15 points to 33 points. Bottas managed to extend his gap from Norris to 12 points after Norris' late-race heartbreak, with Sainz getting ahead of his team-mate as the Monegasque dropped out of the points positions. Raikkonen came to within one point of Latifi with his and Alfa Romeo's best finish of the season so far.

Sainz' podium finish meant that McLaren only extended the gap from Ferrari by four points, while the difference between Williams and Alfa Romeo was reduced to 16 points.

Drivers' World Championship Pos. Driver Pts. +/- 1 Lewis Hamilton 246.5 ▲1 2 Max Verstappen 244.5 ▼1 3 Valtteri Bottas 151 — 4 Lando Norris 139 — 5 Sergio Pérez 120 — 6 Carlos Sainz, Jr. 112.5 ▲1 7 Charles Leclerc 104 ▼1 8 Daniel Ricciardo 95 — 9 Pierre Gasly 66 — 10 Fernando Alonso 58 — 11 Esteban Ocon 45 — 12 Sebastian Vettel 35 — 13 Lance Stroll 24 — 14 Yuki Tsunoda 18 — 15 George Russell 16 — 16 Nicholas Latifi 7 — 17 Kimi Räikkönen 6 — 18 Antonio Giovinazzi 1 —

Constructors' World Championship Pos. Team Pts. +/- 1 Mercedes 397.5 — 2 Red Bull Racing-Honda 364.5 — 3 McLaren-Mercedes 234 — 4 Ferrari 216.5 — 5 Alpine-Renault 103 — 6 AlphaTauri-Honda 84 — 7 Aston Martin-Mercedes 59 — 8 Williams-Mercedes 23 — 9 Alfa Romeo-Ferrari 7 —

Only point-scoring drivers and constructors are shown.

References

Images and Videos:

References:

V T E	Russian Grand Prix
Circuits	Sochi Autodrom (2014-2021) • Igora Drive (2023 onwards)
Races	2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019 • 2020 • 2021 • 2022

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