Vettel enters last chance saloon in championship race

With six races remaining in the Formula One calendar, Sochi takes centre stage for the Russian Grand Prix, and with Lewis Hamilton holding a healthy 40-point lead over Sebastian Vettel in the drivers' championship, will Mercedes once again prove dominant in Russia?

CIRCUIT DEBRIEF

• About a third of the track is run on roads open to the public.
• Likely to be a one-stop race due to low tyre wear.
• Features a mix of tight and twisty corners, with two fairly long straights.
• The circuit is not extensively used, so the track will evolve throughout the weekend.

WHO’S IN CONTENTION FOR THE WIN?

Sebastian Vettel heads to Sochi with a 40 point deficit to Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ championship but insists he still has a “fair chance” of bringing home a fifth world title at the end of the season.

With Hamilton having won four of the past five races, Vettel has seen his championship hopes fade and now must raise his performance and also hope for some fortune in the remaining six races if he is to claim an unlikely fifth world title.

Vettel did come close to winning last year’s race, but in reality, it has not been a happy hunting ground for Ferrari since the race was added to the calendar back in 2014.

Mercedes have led all but 8 laps here in the previous four Russian Grands Prix, and Hamilton himself claimed back-to-back wins here in 2014-15.

Last year’s victor Valtteri Bottas is without a win this year and the Finn admits it’s starting to affect his motivation as the season enters its closing stages. He’s accepted his fate as Hamilton’s ‘wingman’ and says he will support the Brit’s title bid in the remaining races.

In contrast, his compatriot Kimi Raikkonen is more likely to be focused on ending his 109 race win drought than playing a supporting role to Vettel, given that he’s leaving the team at the of the season.

WILL TORO ROSSO CONFIRM A NEW DEAL FOR DANIIL?

It’s widely expected that Toro Rosso will confirm a deal for local favourite Daniil Kvyat to return to F1 next season, ironically, with the announcement at the circuit which kick-started his demise just two years ago.

A clumsy first-lap shunt with Vettel in the 2016 race here led to him being demoted back to Toro Rosso, and after a poorn run of form he was out of F1 altogether less than 18 months later.

Now, almost a yer on from his last F1 appearance, the most unexpected of comebacks could be confirmed this weekend with Kvyat earning a second, or third (but who’s counting?), bite of the F1 cherry after patching things up with Messrs Horner and Marko.

MIDFIELD TEAMS LOOKING OVER THEIR SHOULDER

Force India, or Racing Point Force India to refer to their new name, have scored 32 points since being ‘reborn’ at the Belgian Grand Prix three races ago, and are already ahead of Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso in the standings.

Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished in a strong sixth and seventh place in last year’s Russian Grand Prix, and a repeat performance this year would put the team in striking distance of McLaren in the constructors’ standings.

The fact they’ve fought back so well in just three races, also shows what a poor season McLaren are having, and perhaps why Perez had no interest in returning to his former team after admitting he had held talks with them earlier this summer.

GROSJEAN ON ‘THIN ICE’ AFTER PENALTIES

Hass team boss Gunther Steiner says his driver is on “thin ice” going into the next few rounds, after picking up three penalty points for ignoring blue flags at the previous race in Singapore.

Now Grosjean, who is prone to the odd error, must avoid any further misdemeanours as the Frenchman is just three points away from a one-race ban.

Ironically, the current rules on penalty points were brought in after Grosjean himself was banned back in 2012 after a series of incidents, including a now infamous crash at the Belgian Grand Prix that wiped out several cars at the first corner.