Mercedes are undefeated in Russia, Red Bull have taken just a single podium result in Sochi and Team Silverstone has never failed to score at the track. Here’s everything you need to know about each team’s history at the Russian Grand Prix!
MERCEDES
WINS: 7, POLES: 5, PODIUMS: 12
2020 RESULT: BOTTAS 1st, HAMILTON 3rd
Mercedes remain undefeated at the Russian Grand Prix. The Benz team even won the pre-F1 1913 and 1914 Russian Grands Prix, meaning the team have dominated the event for 107 years. In addition to winning every race so far at the Sochi Autodrom, they’ve also taken 1-2 finishes in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2019. Nico Rosberg’s retirement from the event in 2015 and Lewis Hamilton’s fourth place in 2017 are the only two occasions on which a Mercedes driver hasn’t finished on the podium at the track. Last year, Valtteri Bottas won the race with Hamilton finishing third after picking up time penalties.
A Mercedes car has never failed to reach the final part of qualifying at the Sochi circuit. Lewis Hamilton’s tenth place in qualifying here in 2016, the result of a hybrid system failure, is the worst qualifying slot for a Mercedes driver so far at the track. They’ve taken pole in five of the seven races here, and locked-out the front row in 2014, 2015 and 2018. The 2017 race, in which Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton lined up third and fourth respectively, is the only time a Mercedes hasn’t appeared on the front row of the grid at the Russian Grand Prix. Lewis Hamilton qualified on pole last year while Valtteri Bottas lined up third on the grid.
In 2020, Max Verstappen became the first Red Bull driver to finish on the podium at the Russian Grand Prix. Verstappen had recorded the team’s best result to date at the circuit in 2019 with fourth place, before finishing as runner-up last year. Both Red Bull drivers have scored in all of the past three seasons at Sochi Autodrom, while 2019 is the only time that both drivers have finished the race in the top five positions. 2016 is the only season where the team have walked away from the circuit without any points, in a race which saw Daniil Kvyat ruin the team’s chances of scoring.
With grid penalties awaiting them, neither Red Bull driver put in the effort to reach the final part of qualifying here in 2018. It’s the only occasion that neither Red Bull driver has appeared in Q3 in Sochi. Max Verstappen recorded the team’s best qualifying effort so far in 2019 with fourth but a grid penalty dropped him to ninth on the final grid. In 2020, Verstappen bettered that by qualifying on the front row. 2020 was the first season since 2017 in which both Red Bull drivers qualified in the top ten at the track. After crashing in Q1, Alex Albon recorded the team’s first Q1 exit at the Sochi Autodrom in 2019.
RED BULL
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 1
2020 RESULT: VERSTAPEN 2nd, ALBON 10th
McLAREN
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0
2020 RESULT: NORRIS 15th, SAINZ DNF
McLaren have not finished in the top five at the Russian Grand Prix since the first race at the Sochi Autodrom in 2014. Both cars finished in the top five on that occasion, with Jenson Button recording the team’s best result here so far with fourth place. Since then, both cars have finished in the points in both 2016 and 2019. The team failed to score in 2017, 2018 and 2019. There have been only two occasions on which a McLaren driver has failed to reach the chequered flag at the Russian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso recorded a DNS in 2017, coming to a halt on the formation lap, while Carlos Sainz crashed out on the opening lap in 2020.
In 2019, McLaren qualified in the top ten at the Russian Grand Prix for the first time since 2014. Each time they have reached Q3, they have done so with both cars – repeating the feat once again in 2020. Jenson Button’s fourth on the grid in 2014 remains the team’s best Saturday result so far at the track. 2018 is the only season that both McLarens have been eliminated in Q1 at the Sochi Autodrom. In the last two years, McLaren have qualified in sixth and eighth for both Sochi races.
Team Silverstone have never failed to score at the Russian Grand Prix. Sergio Perez scored a podium finish for Force India in the 2015 Russian Grand Prix, marking the team’s best result here. He also recorded the team’s best result at the track since then with fourth for Racing Point last year. 2017 and 2018 are the only years that both of the team’s cars have finished in the points here. The team have entered only five cars at the circuit which have failed to score. They have recorded three retirements here. Nico Hulkenberg was out in both 2015 and 2016, while Lance Stroll retired on the opening lap last year.
Sergio Perez recorded the team’s best qualifying result at the Russian Grand Prix to date last year with fourth place. The team reached Q3 with at least one car in every season between 2015 and 2018, with both drivers appearing in Q3 in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Lance Stroll recorded the team’s worst qualifying position to date at the track in 2019 with fifteenth. None of the team’s drivers have had a Q1 exit in Sochi.
ASTON MARTIN
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 1*
2020 RESULT: PEREZ 4th, STROLL DNF
ALPINE
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0
2020 RESULT: RICCIARDO 5th, OCON 7th
For the first time at the Russian Grand Prix, Team Enstone scored with both cars in 2020. Daniel Ricciardo recorded the team’s best result to date at the track with fifth place, while Esteban Ocon finished seventh. 2014, under their Lotus guise, and 2018, as Renault, are the only seasons in which this team has failed to score at Sochi Autodrom. The team have recorded three retirements at the event. For Renault, Jolyon Palmer retired on the first lap in 2017 and Daniel Ricciardo retired in 2019, while Romain Grosjean crashed out while racing for Lotus in 2015. In their Lotus guise, the team’s only points-scoring finish was seventh place for Pastor Maldonado in 2015.
Both Renault cars reached Q3 in each of the last two seasons at the Russian Grand Prix. Daniel Ricciardo recorded the team’s best qualifying result at the circuit to date last year with fifth on the grid. Before 2019, the team had recorded only two Q3 appearances at the circuit. Romain Grosjean qualified eighth for Lotus in 2015, while Nico Hulkenberg qualified eighth for Renault in 2017. The team recorded their only double Q1 exit at the circuit in 2016.
Ferrari are yet to win the Russian Grand Prix. 2020 was the first time since 2014 that no Ferrari drivers finished on the podium at Sochi Autodrom. 2017 is the only year in which both Ferraris have finished on the podium here, with Sebastian Vettel finishing a very close runner-up to Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen coming home in third. Last year, Ferrari recorded the lowest points total yet at the circuit, with Charles Leclerc finishing sixth and Vettel only thirteenth. Vettel’s DNF in 2016, a result of being hit twice in two corners by Daniil Kvyat, and his DNF in 2019 after a loss of power, are the only retirements for Ferrari so far at this track.
Ferrari have taken pole position twice at the Russian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in 2017, while Charles Leclerc was on pole in 2019. 2017 is the only time that Ferrari have locked-out the front row here. In 2020, Vettel and Leclerc became the first Ferrari drivers to fail to reach Q3 at the track, both being eliminated in Q2.
FERRARI
WINS: 0, POLES: 2, PODIUMS: 6
2020 RESULT: LECLERC 6th, VETTEL 13th
ALPHATAURI
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0
2020 RESULT: KVYAT 8th, GASLY 9th
Until 2020, the former Toro Rosso team had scored only two points at the Russian Grand Prix. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz both finished tenth in 2015 and 2017 respectively. In 2020, both Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly scored for AlphaTauri, finishing in eighth and ninth respectively, In 2018, both Toro Rosso drivers retired on the first lap of the Russian Grand Prix with similar brake issues. Having also recorded a further two DNFs in 2015 and 2016, Toro Rosso have the lowest finish rate of any team at the track, with four DNFs in total.
The inaugural race at the Sochi Autodrom is the only time so far that both Red Bull junior drivers have reached the final part of qualifying at the Russian Grand Prix, with Daniil Kvyat picking up their best qualifying position at the track with fifth on the grid. Since then, the team have reached Q3 on only three occasions, in 2015, 2016 and 2020. Toro Rosso have suffered three Q1 exits here – with Carlos Sainz, who failed to set a time following a monster shunt in Free Practice Three in 2015; Brendon Hartley, who qualified sixteenth in 2018; and Daniil Kvyat, who failed to set a time in 2019.
The former Sauber team have scored only twice at the Russian Grand Prix. Felipe Nasr finished sixth in 2015, while Charles Leclerc finished seventh in 2018. With eleventh place last year, Antonio Giovinazzi recorded the team’s best Sochi result since their last points-scoring appearance. Marcus Ericsson’s first lap collision in 2015 is the only time the team have failed to finish a race here.
2018 is the only time that the team have reached Q3 at the circuit, doing so with both cars. Charles Leclerc qualified seventh, while Marcus Ericsson set the tenth fastest time. 2014 is the only other season that the team have not recorded a Q1 exit. Both cars were out in Q1 in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Last season, Antonio Giovinazzi qualified seventeenth while Kimi Raikkonen qualified last on the grid.
ALFA ROMEO
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0
2020 RESULT: GIOVINAZZI 11th, RAIKKONEN 14th
HAAS
WINS: 0, POLES: 0, PODIUMS: 0
2020 RESULT: MAGNSUSSEN 12th, GROSJEAN 17th
The Haas team have scored three times so far at the Russian Grand Prix. The team’s best result at the track is eighth place for Romain Grosjean in 2016 and Kevin Magnussen in 2018. 2017 and 2020 are the only years in which they’ve failed to score in Sochi. Grosjean is the only Haas driver to have failed to finish a race at the track, retiring in both 2017 and 2019.
2018 marked the first time Haas had reached the final part of qualifying in Russia, with both cars qualifying in the top ten. Kevin Magnussen recorded the team’s equal-best qualifying result with fifth while Romain Grosjean qualified in ninth place. In 2019, Grosjean qualified in ninth while Magnussen was out in Q2. Both drivers were eliminated in Q1 last year.
Williams have failed to score at all of the last three Russian Grands Prix. Valtteri Bottas took Williams’ only podium finish so far at Sochi Autodrom as he finished third in the inaugural event. While more top five finishes followed in the next two seasons for the team, since 2017 they have scored only two points, with Felipe Massa finishing ninth in 2017. 2016 is the only season where Williams have finished the Russian Grand Prix with both cars scoring points, while 2019 is the only year in which the team have recorded a double DNF here.
In all of the first three years of F1 visiting the Sochi Autodrom, Valtteri Bottas qualified in third place for Williams here, and he even started from the front row in 2016. 2016 is the only time that both Williams cars have appeared in Q3 at the track. The team had both drivers eliminated in Q1 in 2018 and 2019 and, while Nicholas Latifi was eliminated in Q1, George Russell reached Q2 at the circuit last year.
