Rate the race: 2015 Russian Grand Prix

2015 Russian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Russian Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2015 Russian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (4%)
  • 9 (6%)
  • 8 (25%)
  • 7 (36%)
  • 6 (16%)
  • 5 (6%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (2%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (1%)

Total Voters: 621

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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See the results for past seasons here:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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191 comments on “Rate the race: 2015 Russian Grand Prix”

  1. Best Russian Grand Prix ever!

    1. I haven’t seen the one over a century ago, so I am not going to say that for certain @stigsemperfi, but it was clearly better than last year’s race here.

      1. 4 Russian GPs so far, all won by Mercedes-Benz!

        1. @fastiesty It was so long ago that the brand name Mercedes-Benz wasn’t a thing yet, but that’s a stat!

          1. @peartree Yep, first two races won by Benz, second two by Mercedes AMG.

        2. As far as I know the 1913/4-events were called “Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de St. Petersburg” and not ‘Russian GP’.

          1. But anyway, we are somehow considering them as “Russian Grand Prix”.

    2. The start was good stuff, fight for third place was brilliant. Seb vs Bottas was not bad, it’s a 7 for me.

      The odd way Putin positioned himself on the podium and the presence of the “rebel team” Force India on the podium added a bit of “spicy” to the dish. Overall, not one of my worst Sundays this year.

      1. Raikonen should be punished to last place with more grid penalties in the next race. It shows that he is only a fast driver – and not a thinking driver.
        But – as I’ve said before – this is F1 – which stands for Ferrari 1 – and they will get away with it again as per normal.
        Also loved the way Putin got ignored by the drivers where in the room – what was he doing there anyway?
        Should not have been allowed in there.

        Otherwise – I think it was pretty bad with the Diesel spill on Friday – hope the Russians get punished for that.

        The race – it was OK – sad Rossberg got mechanical failure – shame Hulkenberg lost it – he would have been on the podium I think. Massa did well in the race – I think because others are now aware what he is like and stay clear of him. Very poor excuse about his qualifying about others on the track – again, Massa will always blame others.

        I thought in all it was worth a 5 out 10 – looking forward to the next one.

    3. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
      12th October 2015, 7:23

      I agree!

  2. Actually had a good time watching this race! No battle for the lead or second, but a great podium battle!

    1. A shame it was decided by DRS passes and crashes, though…

      1. Yeah, should say DRS was definitely too strong.

        1. With Bottas and Raikkonen stuck behind Ricciardo for so long, not sure how the DRS was too strong.

        2. DRS was only too strong if you’re driving a McLaren, I thought it was hardly noticeable for most of the other battles.

      2. @kanil It really wasn’t. I can’t remember much races where there were so many attempts to overtake outside the DRS whilst the DRS zone is so, so long.

        @philereid DRS wasn’t at all too strong if you look at how long it took for Bottas to get by Ricciardo. Massa also couldn’t really get anywhere near other cars with DRS even though they both had the highest top speed.

        1. @xtwl I’m glad it’s not just me who thought there was less DRS, a lot of people are saying it was too strong but for once I thought there was more overtakes without it.

          1. @glynh More importantly pdrivers (PER, RIC, etc) actually defended on that long straight despite DRS.

        2. @xtwl I think the problem was that when the cars got within 0.5-0.6 seconds of the car ahead, they seemed to breeze passed. Perhaps I’m thinking too much about certain moves that are clouding my judgement. But Bottas should not have been able to just drive passed Ricciardo like he did.

          1. @philereid Kimi was so on two occasions on Bottas – both did not result in a pass.
            Massa was so on several occasions on Nasr and Kvyat – neither resulted in a pass.

            Once the cars are ligned up perfectly (which as a sim racer you know isn’t always easy) even without DRS a good slipstream catapults a driver ahead. Take into account the great difference between several engines and top speeds differing 15kph, yeah it happens.

          2. And Bottas was in the region of 0.5-0.8s behind Perez for quite a few laps, unable to overtake too, until nearly the end @philereid, @xtwl, true both Merc. engines, but I didn’t really think DRS was too strong here. Still not that many places to overtake here though.

        3. @xtwl Huh? Raikkonen and Bottas both blew by Ricciardo, Bottas got alongside Perez in a DRS zone and forced him wide for Raikkonen, and then Raikkonen collided with Bottas. That was the extent of the position changes during the battle for the podium, and with the exception of Bottas’ overtake of Perez, none of them were especially exciting.

          It wasn’t necessarily boring, but it was definitely a little anticlimactic.

          1. @kanil Yes, that one time they got their car ligned up perfectly and used all the boost right, but that wasn’t after three or four failed attempts.

  3. 5/10. Some good battles and drama but a lot of dull moments (nearly fell asleep twice), and we were denied a battle at the front.

    1. Get a good sleep next time, you probably partied hard last night. It was a better race than Hungary.

    2. All you old boys who I see saying “fell asleep” or “nearly fell asleep” probably need to see a doctor or something. I have a little boy, who loves to get up at 5am, and I get plenty tired, but that has never happened to me during the day – during F1 or anything else!

      1. Might have been watching WEC Fuji or Bathurst 1000 ;)

      2. I started watching F1 in 98 and sadly the modern F1 cant get even near to what it used to be from 98 to 2003. Not to mention that before it was even better. This button pressing for overtaking and penalty for every touch that happens on the track + tarmac runoff areas which are awarding drivers for their mistakes instead of punishing them. This year for the first time ever i fell asleep during all morning races and even at some that were in the afternoon. So far only 2 races were interesting in this season. Hungary and Sochi. Everything else was dull and disapointing. DRS should be banned. Ridiculus punishemnts should be banned. We need more reliability issues as well, which means enginering should be pushed further and further every season.

        1. Tell McLaren about the need for reliability issues and for that matter Rosberg today. RedBull as well come to mention it. Far more action today than nearly every race 98-03 for me. Real overtaking? In that era the most lauded overtake was in 2000 Hakkinen on Schumacher but it was the same as a DRS past one car a lot faster than the other in a straight line. Then again how else can you overtake.

  4. ColdFly F1 (@)
    11th October 2015, 13:43

    6/10 – better than last year, but it remains a DRS-fest.
    Funny track-marshalling. The guy with the broom was the first to attend to Grosjean. And then the guy trying to a bullfight with Vettel.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      11th October 2015, 13:48

      should have waited with voting.
      What are all those suits doing in the winners room? Perez is my hero ignoring them as much as possible!!

      1. Did he? He wasn’t any friendlier nor colder than Hamilton and Vettel. Hand shake, smile, and go.

        1. Plus he was the only one to actually hug Putin while getting to his place on the podium.

          1. Putin needs to be careful, hugging men in public. People will start to talk.

          2. @jules-winfield He kissed Hamilton, which I think Hamilton was a little surprised about, maybe he thought he was just going to say something in his ear.

          3. ColdFly F1 (@)
            11th October 2015, 17:42

            @woodyd91, actually I think he only said something in Hamilton’s ear. We all know that men kissing in Russia is rather frowned upon.
            He probably just whispered his room number in Hamilton’s ear ;-)

          4. Put In is acctualy funny name for a homofobic…

          5. @coldfly I thought the same but there he went to the other side of his face…

            Those he protest so much…

          6. Then*

      2. @coldfly If you had somewhat reasonable power in the organisation of a GP, and you’re quite the fan, wouldn’t you somehow find a way to be in that room too?

        1. This is a joke, right? If yes, it’s actually a good one, “they are there because they’re fans of F1!”.

          If not, holy molly…

        2. ColdFly F1 (@)
          11th October 2015, 14:24

          or should you have said:

          and you’re quite the fan of annexing areas, wouldn’t you somehow find a way to be in that country too?

          It does happen, but it does not make it right.

          PS – my answer is NO! Being on the podium would be enough as it is for most ‘sponsors’.
          @xtwl

          1. Podium Photograph of a World Champion clearly demostrating how the Dark Lord
            can suddenly appear at his shoulder and in the most inappropriate of places can
            force EVEN YOU to wear a seriously stupid hat.

            ‘Because that is the way that I have decreed it shall be’

        3. Putin’s only reason for being on that room is to be seen on TV and to help his image as a Mother Russia’s strongman who wrestles grizzly bears blindfolded and eats glass. It’s propaganda, nothing more. And then there’s Bernie, sucking up to Putin. That on its own should be sufficient reason to find it all rather distasteful.

          If you think he’s at all interested in F1, let alone a fan, you are sorely mistaken. None of the other big cheeses go in that room – witness Prince Harry at Silverstone, for example.

          1. @coldfly said ‘suits’, not Putin, @jules-winfield.

          2. @xtwl Another joke, right? Because if not you’re trying waaaay too hard now.

  5. 10/10 sublime racing, loved it. Pity about Bottas and Kimi but that’s hard racing.

  6. Great race, shame the first corner robbed us of seeing Hulkenburg and Verstappen in the thick of it. Proper action, not bad at all.

  7. I liked it. Not great, but very good. 8. Shame for Nico, great drives from Vettel, Bottas and Perez. Raikkonen, bad.

    1. You forgot Sainz, somehow half of them didn’t get their rewards

      1. @itswais77 Actually he was my DOTW-runner up before the two spins in two minutes. I know it was a brake-temperature issue, but I can’t find anywhere if it was driver error, or not. Or half-half.

  8. Better than I expected. Once again lacked a battle for the lead, but otherwise some good stuff on the track. 6/10

  9. 10. That had everything I wanted from a race. – It was unpredictable up to the end, we had overtakes everywhere, retirements, a new team on the podium and crashes.

    Also I’ve come round to liking this track, it’s got little run off like alot of people have been asking for but it remains safe and has fast sections as well as unique corners.

    1. You don’t want a battle for the win from a race?

      1. It would have been nice, I was actually supporting rosberg so was a bit disappointed when he retired but there was plenty of other entertainment.

      2. @weeniebeenie For that, I think we’d need to fix the noses if we want a non-DRS battle for the win.

    2. good joke mate

    3. Clearly you have absolutely no idea how to rate an F1 race @glynh

    4. The perfect race?! Wow…

      1. @insilico It’s fine if you don’t agree but you could say why, I don’t go insulting other people for their opinion of a race. I enjoyed it and I’m sure many others did too.

        In a race I look for close racing, multiple overtakes, a few crashes to show they’re on the edge and unpredictable results now and then. Today we had all of that so I gave it a ten. That doesn’t mean it’s perfect, nothing ever is, but it had enough excitement that I felt it was one of the few races to warrant a 10.

        1. I have to say I agree with you. Peoples standards are so high that unless there’s wheel to wheel racing over the top 3 positions every lap of the race, it gets called boring. The fight for third lasted, what, 20 laps with drivers making attempts without succeding, making attempts with mistakes and having to come back again and finally succeeding. Those laps went by really fast for me with feelings of excitement(when BOT and RAI dropped behind the midfield after pitstop), dissapoinment(when they seemed not to be able to overtake RIC), ashtonishment(with the wheel to wheel racing and overtake attempts) and finally horror to see them crash. But overall happiness that they seemed to give it everything they got without giving up. That was some good racing.

          So where you fan of RIC, PER, BOT or RAI you should have felt atleast one of those emotions. And fans of racing should have enjoyed it just for the driving. But i guess if you were a hardcore fan of some of the other drivers without finding anyone else iteresting, you could be bored with a race like that.

          I did give it 8/10 before analyzing my feelings. Maybe should have given it a 9 or 10.

        2. @glynh @aalate I’m not insulting you. Too often I see people rating races way too highly in the rate the race articles and it does annoy me a bit. If this race was a 10/10 race then Canada 2011, Brazil 2012 and Suzuka 2005 should be 15-16 out of ten according to that logic. But 10 is the maximum and incredible races like I mentioned should be kept in mind when submitting a rating, otherwise the poll will be full of inaccurate submissions. My standards are not high when it comes to races. I enjoyed this race even if nothing really dramatic happened. I don’t expect every race to be full of insane excitement yet I still rate races truthfully and keep in mind the very best races in history. It’s the best way to have an actually accurate opinion poll and it would be better if more people did this.

          From mid-way through 2013 until now, F1 has been pretty horrible overall. So in boring seasons when we finally come across a good race people tend to be way over-generous in their ratings. It’s like being in a desert with no water and you’re really thirsty. When you finally find a bottle of water to drink you love it way more than you would in other circumstances. The same principle applies here.

          1. @insilico There was some research recently that showed F1F voters on average gave a 1.5 score more in ‘hype’ if you like, than mathematical average. If you consider that here, then 8.5/10 is not an unreasonable vote for someone who really enjoyed the race?

          2. @insilico No problem. I see where you’re coming from. I think we just rate different ways which, as long as we’re consistent, doesn’t matter to the results of a survey like this since it will average out.
            It seems like you would give a race a 10 only if it was one of the all time best (which is admittedly hard to judge without hindsight) but when I rate 10 it doesn’t mean it was the best ever just that I didn’t need anything more and really enjoyed the race. I try to take each race as it’s own event rather than comparing it to other races this year or in the past.
            Also I don’t think the past couple of years are any worse than other seasons since I started watching F1 so I guess it’s just what we look for in F1.

          3. @fastiesty That’s interesting. Do you mean overall the average is 7 for all votes instead of 5.5? Although as I rate them I would see that as an average race it’s surprisingly high given the number of low votes.

          4. @glynh Yes, and if I think about it, to be honest I think that applies to myself, I have 6 as slightly boring, 7 average, 8 good, 9 great, 10 one of those rare handful of races like Brazil 2012, 2008 etc.

  10. Great race ! loved the fights behind Lewis.
    Disappointed that Ros had to retire.

    btw they didn’t show the mercs much again eh?

    1. yea, the ‘blackout’ continue, the guy in mercedes will say.

    2. Was there something to show? After Nico’s retirement it wasn’t any less than Vettel in 2013. Even Infiniti was bothered back then.

    3. Plus when there wasn’t really much going on they showed Hamilton for half a lap on more than once occasion.

  11. 7/10

    We had good battles behind Hamilton. If Rosberg didn’t retire, it could have been a great GP, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

  12. first half of the race… most boring thing I’ve seen ever

    second half was worth waiting for I guess, averages to 6/10

  13. Get the hell out of Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Syria! 0 points from me. Won’t watch Russian GPs until that.

    1. I’m not a fan of Putin’s political fest after the race, but please spare us the pointless political banter in this comment section.

      1. Enjoy him on the podium!

        1. Already turned off :-)

          1. No other way with it! No I have 2 races I haven’t seen in the last 10-15 years (maybe 20). At least managed to follow the results live, not a bad way to follow a race for a change.

        2. @f1lauri Would’ve been great if Hamilton had sprayed Putin with champagne. I would’ve! :-P

          1. I believe he did! Not directly but……

    2. Hows that investigation into NATOs 30 minute pounding of the Hospital in Kunduz going? BTW get the hell out of Syria, Iraq, Japan and Afghanistan. Hypocrites.

    3. I will still watch f1 even if they raced in Syria. Just a track and cars politics can stay at the entry gate. Like the track, race was good it’s F1 not for them to right perceived wrongs in the world. Some probably will get annoyed with F1 unless they find peace in the middle east and win 10 straight noble peace prizes.

      1. Kurdish GP? Call it the European GP! We’re probably more likely an IS GP though..

        1. Avoid making jokes. You’re terrible at it.

          1. Lighten up a bit. We caused most of the trouble in that region for oil (which is why we should be helping to sort it out) – and if you can’t laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? I hope you don’t think I was laughing at them, as that would be tasteless.

          2. Eh? Nothing of that makes your joke any less terrible.

          3. Haha, fair enough.

    4. oh bore off, please

      1. ‘politics can stay at the entry gate’, is that a joke? Politics was being shoved in our faces by Putin positioning himself in front of the drivers on the podium. Just imagine David Cameron doing that at Silverstone! Heck, why do you think Russia is even going to the expense of hosting the race – it’s all politics.

        Mind you, I did love the fact Putin had to listen to the British and German national anthems. Could only have been sweeter if a Finn had been up there.

        1. @11mcgratht Haha, Rossi won in GP2 and they all had to listen to the American national anthem!

        2. Putin was not in the race. Yes he was on the podium but I can put up with it I liked the race and don’t care much for what a country does elsewhere it is not important to me,:each to their own.

        3. @ tom…i share your sentiments. i simply see putin as the political face of evil. is this the guy that would’ve signed off on the missile destruction of the malaysian airliner? is this the guy that protects the callous murderers of litvinenko? yes, we see lots of despots from time to time but they all pale to insignificance alongside this criminal. he has no place in the cool room or the dais.

          1. I could say the same of Winston Churchill for selling Poland out to Russia after the war……….and in Argentina Thatcher was the worst leader in history, depends on perspective, I don’t like the guy but the reasons given can often apply to numerous other world leaders especially from Team America World Police.

            I liked the race, like the track and would one day like to go and see this race. I though it was far better than the British Grand Prix this year.

    5. @f1lauri I’d posit that we are not any better, and that’s without even knowing where you are at, lol.

    6. Soy you will not be watching the following Grand Prix as well? And neither the British one.

      1. sergei kildakweenov
        11th October 2015, 22:11

        Well if we do not watch a particular race due to a country’s history or political activities the UK and US races would have less people than Russia watching. What people think of Russia in the West is what Russians think of the US and Britain, although the British maybe less so as they are too small to be important to Russia.

        1. @ sergei….obviously the russians support the killing of all the passengers on the malaysian airliner. so if that is the russian way you are welcome but putin and the rest of his clique should face the firing squad for crimes against humanity. innocent civilians died as a result of that and you claim it’s OK. F1 is not about politics and therefore by allowing putin to preside is a politicisisation.

    7. @f1lauri
      Now I’m curious, what country do you come from ?

  14. The atmosphere in the podium room with Putin there is horrible! Very cringeworthy

    1. It is a real pitty this is happening :(

    2. And then we regularly get people arguing how we should not bring in political opinions on races. Shows clearly what this race is about yeah @malcolmtucker, @f1lauri

      1. Exactly! You can’t argue that F1 is non-political and then at the same time have Putin on the podium smiling and shaking hands. If this is not double standards, then what is?

        1. If this is not double standards, then what is?

          @f1lauri Saying the Russian Pirelli hats are inappropriate but finding the Texan hats in the innaugural Austin GP just fine. I find them both rather funny and ridiculous.

          1. We’re not talking about hats, but about the biggest agressor in the world today.

          2. @f1lauri Yes, I understood that…

          3. @f1lauri So Russia is the only agressor (fine they might be the biggest – won’t bother to check)…….

        2. that’s GP2 way of judging things, Lauri (with all due respect to the racing series), way too far from the essense of the discussion. One can actually end up mixing politics issues with just anything, it is not a such a great trick. It loks like a rather boring old men habit. Feel like spanking Russia ? Among many other causes for it that diesel spillage seems to be the right one. I’d easily give the race 7 out of ten, deploying safety car proves fun is here.

      2. ColdFly F1 (@)
        11th October 2015, 14:13

        Fully agree guys.
        I try to just focus on the race; but they make that quite difficult here!

      3. @bascb @malcolmtucker @f1lauri

        Surely the argument here though isn’t that F1 is being associated with politics. Because if that were the case then you should also take issue with Monaco, Bahrain, and plenty of others.

        What this is really about, is your objection specifically to Russia/Putin. Which is fine, but I think it’s hypocritical to moan about F1 and politics when you clearly turn a blind eye when it’s politics from nations/regimes you don’t mind.

        1. Not sure what you are wanting to say there @mazdachris.

          I was reacting to the endless cases where Todt and Bernie (and in their trail quite a few media and off course a section of fans) have argumented that politics should not have a place in sport / doesn’t have a place in sport. As is the case in Russia, in Bahrain, was the case in China at least in its early years and more or less everywhere a country heavily supports having a race, it will always be used for political ends. Putin on the podium clearly showcases it.

          As for my opinions on Russia and its current regime, yeah, not a fan, other races here are not really to the point though, as we are rating the Russian race, not one in Bahrain, China, Germany or Japan.
          I am however convinced, that many a Briton would have negative remarks if Mr. Cameron would impose himself on the Silverstone GP like that!

  15. I wonder if Hulkenberg still thinks he doesn’t need FP1 and FP2. Hue hue.

  16. Kimi: I know what I’m doing!
    Everyone: Uh, no you don’t. Time to retire old boy!

    1. He should get punished for that but I see no difference with this and Ricciardo punting him off in Monaco and no action was taken there.

      1. ricciardo’s pass on raikonnen was totally different that’s why ricci wasn’t punished.

    2. If that was the case, Lewis should have retired in 2011.

      1. That was Hamilton’s fourth season, he was young and still has plenty of time to learn and iron his issues out (which he did).

        It’s very hard to believe Raikkonen has the same cappability to do that this late in his career.

    3. Vettel: Thats a very brave Russian!
      Everyone: Yep, thats where you lost WW2.

  17. If I had to rate this race as I would rate any other race, I’d give it a 5 or maybe 6.
    If I had to rate this race in comparison to races this season, I’d give it a 7 or 8, because even though this wasn’t anything special, this race certainly was much more entertaining than pretty much 90% of races this year.

  18. A 5 for me.

    A relatively dull race enlivened only by collisions and retirements.

    Sochi really is a dreadful circuit.

  19. Above average I would say, I’m going with 6. I would have rated it higher had the moments of excitement not primarily come from issues/crashes/mistakes. The battle at the end was ruined by Kimi’s mistake.

  20. I wish they’d stop putting Eddie Jordan on the podium. He’s terrible! It’s so awkward watching him bumbling around with his fake excitement, interrupting drivers and saying stupid things.

    1. +100000000000

      1. I’m not sure if the podium interviews work at all to be honest, it’s nice to get the drivers opinions before they’ve been ‘briefed’ but it always seem a bit awkward and just them thanking the team and the crowd to every question. I suppose it’s good for the people at the track though.

        1. I’m not sure if the podium interviews work at all to be honest

          @glynh I think they do because many broadcasters don’t stick around for the post race press whilst they do for the ‘podium’ which used to be celebrations but now also include those few questions.

          1. @xtwl Yeah that’s a good point, I suppose you can get some interesting answers quickly there then can choose to watch the press conference for more detail.

          2. @glynh Wait, they’ve still got that press conference we had before the interviews?

          3. @davidnotcoulthard I’m not a hero on socail media usage but Twitter fits right in my needs.

          4. @xtwl Forgive me for asking this but what has https://www.racefans.net/2015/10/11/rate-the-race-2015-russian-grand-prix/comment-page-1/#comment-3029572 (the comment above) got to do with me?

    2. He is such an embarassment. Especially cringeworthy when you compare DC’s professionalism.

    3. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
      11th October 2015, 14:18

      I love how he cut off Hamilton mid sentence at the end, lol.

      1. @come-on-kubica He was clearly being told to wrap up the podium.

    4. I found it amazing he had such lack of awareness that he started talking to Perez about the Mexican GP.. Sergio thought better of it and redirected the conversation to Russia, but hot damn is it foolish to talk about another host while you don’t exactly have the crowd on hand..

    5. Let’s not stop at podiums, I’ll happily see him cut from TV all together.

      1. eddie jordan is an embarrassment and should be banned forever. his fake attempts at showmanship are some of the most cringeworthy i have seen. stupid questions and a wardrobe out of hand me downs from bobo the clown. when are the F1 marketing people going to get their act together. surely they can’t be that hard up?

  21. Surprisingly good race. Shame about DRS (as always) and Rosberg going out, but as my expectations were so low maybe that had an influence in giving it an 8. I also think the camera work was very good at giving a sense of speed at this race, many static cameras. It made up for the surroundings somewhat.

  22. It was a bit beige. Not terrible, but not great either.

    Felt sorry for Rosberg, he seemed to have the pace to beat Hamilton this time. With him out there literally was no fight at the front at all and given the Merc’s car domination it was a bit boring.

    Then again the Ferrari’s battling and then the fight for 3rd was nice. Although happy for Perez, desperately sad for Bottas – he fully deserved that place. And double points finish for McHonda!

    Although I’m a fan of Raikkonen… what on earth was he doing? Scrappy against Vettel and sloppy lunge into Bottas? He was a bit of a mess today.

  23. So much drama in the last few laps. A solid 8 out of 10.

  24. Where are all the Sochi haters?

    Hulk is right about lack of practice, this brings interesting races :D

    1. @itswais77

      Hulk is right about lack of practice

      Funny how he didn’t get past the first curve

  25. Checo rocks and he has an uncanny knack of maximizing his opportunities. For all those who still believe Hulk deserves a better team … keep hoping. Still chasing a 1st podium.

    Was Perez lucky to see the back of McLaren. He didn’t deserve them . would be good to see if Checo could sport red overalls if keeps at it.

    Exciting race no doubt and an 8 for me.

    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      12th October 2015, 12:07

      Perez was in Ferrari’s sights back at Sauber, but he made his bed he put on the McLaren overalls in 2013

  26. Too many safety cars in the early stages, dull middle period followed by a lively finish. 6/10.

  27. 8/10 I really enjoyed that race, some great battles and Perez’s achievement is much like I said about Grosjean’s achievement in Spa, its what F1 needs, sure two of the drivers I really like had to fall by the wayside but we need unexpected people on the podium just because all we do is complain that its the same old so we need some surprises every once in a while

  28. 8. Thought it was a decent race.

  29. 8/10 – if ROS could have battled for the lead then it would have been a 10/10. But the other battles throughout the field made up for it and Vettel and Lewis showed again their class today.

    1. @tmf42

      Lewis showed again their class today

      By being outpaced by his teammate the whole weekend?

  30. I think it was a very good race. When I saw Rosberg with problems I thought: “ok, the race is done, it’s going to be a walk in the park for everyone”. But then the SC came and there were different strategies. The battle between Bottas and the two Ferrari was interesting and the last few laps were a bit crazy. Also very good to see an underdog on the podium.
    8/10

  31. What’s with the hats, eh? They put them on the grid girls and then the drivers. Surprised Putin and Bernie didn’t wear one. The race itself was OK, there was enough entertainment to actually enjoy it, unlike last year.

    1. “Austin and their cowboy hats… What do Americans know about hats? We will show them a good hat.” – Putin

  32. I always thought Sochi Autodrom is a very decent track and 2014 GP turned out to be dull just because of overly conservative tire compounds. Today’s race proved that I was right. 7/10.

  33. 7/10 Pretty standard 2015 race in my opinion, lots of DRS action and stuff. Sadly we lost Rosberg right at the start, but Grosjean’s accident meant that a couple of drivers did an alternative strategy, which pretty much made the rest of the race interesting. So yeah, probably would have given it an 8/10 if it weren’t for this absolutely dull race track (I hope they will re-design turn 2 to remove that second apex, that’s still absolutely horrible).

  34. Despite the fact I hate the layout, the 2015 Russian GP was a good race. There were battles everywhere at some point of the race. 8

  35. 4/10

    – Boring Tilke drome
    – DRS
    – Putin Propaganda

    + The small ammount of action
    + Battle for third
    + Tire tactics

    That it from me. Now quickly onwards to Austin!

    1. @force-maikel Did you even watch the race? There was a lot of of non-DRS action, way more than average. And tons of other stuff.

  36. A solid 7 for me, the early safety cars mixed up the strategy and helped the fuel consumption a bit, which made the last 10 laps or so very exciting.

  37. I went in to this race expecting a borefest, especially since I had watched the Bathurst 1000, the Fuji 6 hours and the support races beforehand (insomnia does have its perks sometimes), but I was pretty well amused despite the terrible track (I still have no idea which corner is which) and DRS.

    Then again, it were moments and a handful of battles wrapped around a standard 2015 race. Hence a 7/10; better than average, but not by much.

  38. 7/10

    It was a decent race. Sad Rosberg had to retire the car so early that we couldn’t get the battle for lead. Otherwise there were good battles down the field. Vettel-Kimi battle, then Kimi-Bottas battle ( definitely not the right way it ended), nice strategic decision by FI, both Mclarens in points :D I really enjoyed it.

    Great drives from Vettel, Perez, Bottas, Massa and Nasr

    1. Also DRS was just about alright here,…not too powerful, good enough to bring the car behind close to the car ahead and then drivers using their skill to overtake.

  39. It had most of what you can hope to see from a good race. Plenty of wheel to wheel racing, incidents where thankfully no one was hurt, DRS didn’t seem to interfere a great deal as drivers were still having to outbrake and make the move stick round the corners and the finishing order wasn’t finalised until the very last laps. We were robbed of a battle for the lead unfortunately which is why I’ve only given it 8/10.

    People scoring this below 6/10 I honestly have to wonder how they’ve actually signed up to a site call F1 Fanatic and what they actually expect to be happening in a race?

    1. @philipgb

      People scoring this below 6/10 I honestly have to wonder how they’ve actually signed up to a site call F1 Fanatic

      Presumably because they liked previous races better.

  40. I wasn’t sure whether to give it a 7 or 8. Gave it an 8 in the end, because compared to last year this race was a stunner, despite being a 1-stopper.
    The only thing that was missing was a fight for the lead. Unfortunately Rosberg had to retire and the Ferraris aren’t yet ready to challenge the Mercs every race weekend.

    I’m surprised some many are complaining about DRS in this race. It wasn’t really that powerful around here.
    It took Bottas a lot of laps to get close enough to pass Ricciardo into Turn 2 and Kimi couldn’t come close enough to pass Bottas at all, which is why he tried that silly move into Turn 4.
    Was it really a surprise that the Honda & Renault-powered cars get passed at the end of the start/finish-straight? I don’t think so.
    On the final lap Kimi was 0,36 behind Bottas over the line, but couldn’t even come close enough to outbrake the Williams into Turn 2, despite having a lot more grip at this point. This shows that the DRS was fine this weekend and not too powerful.
    In fact a lot of overtakes were done without DRS, i.e. BOT on Kimi at the restart, Seb on Kimi into Turn 5, plus a lot of fight were fought in the corners.

    1. I am very against DRS but it didn’t really bother me this afternoon. As you said, Ricciardo getting high-way passed can be attributed to Renault power. Once Honda and Renault get their act together then we will see even less of those type of passes. The rest of the racing was spot on and very enjoyable to watch.

    2. Well said!

  41. Unsurprisingly it was better than last year. Thankfully in the end the safety cars didn’t alter the results too much. No battle for the lead was disappointing but there were some nice moments, especially Raikkonen vs Bottas pt. I. However, DRS is still very much a thing which is entirely unnecessary. F1 got lucky here because the safety cars arguably made that race. I must emphasise however that the Sochi circuit is still an absolutely woeful racing facility not fit for any motor racing (the support races emphasise this) in a country I’m not exactly the most fond of.

  42. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    11th October 2015, 15:22

    10. So. Utterly. Unbelievable.

  43. I was about to give 5/10, but thanks to last laps battle, I give 6/10.

    1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
      12th October 2015, 12:08

      My thoughts exactly

  44. tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
    11th October 2015, 16:14

    My heart sank when Rosberg retired and Hamilton pulled away from the pack, but actually it was a very good race behind him. Bottas and Raikkonen provided a lot of excitement and Perez’s race had a well-deserved outcome. I don’t think much to the circuit, but I enjoyed that, I gave it a 7.

  45. I gave it a 6.
    Not really boring, we are lucky to have some god fights in the middle field, because if we had to count on the usual 3/4 first ones, we could easily go to sleep.
    Amazing how secure the F1 have become, I am happy that Romain got out unhurt, big crash, 15/20 years ago…prefer not to think about it.
    Bravo to the FIA for that, it will never be enough said me think…

  46. Enjoyed that – good race. I’ve been generous with an 8 but I enjoyed Raikkonen sparkling along the last lap so much it was worth an extra point.

  47. 7/10. A good scrap for 3rd, which is all we can realistically expect this year. I was cheering on Perez so very happy that the drama resulted in a surprise podium. Sloppy from Kimi but considering how much of a push over Bottas has been lately i can understand why he took the risk, hoping that Bottas would leave room.

    Roll on the double header!

  48. 10. Boring in the middle perhaps but I didn’t mind it. Awesome towards the beginning and end. I actually didn’t mind Putin. I think if Obama had visited the gp they would’ve made it a big deal as well. As with any major world leader. So I don’t really see the argument.

  49. My race takeaways:

    There will never be a Sunday morning in which I can handle Eddie Jordan’s enthusiasm.

    Raikkonen looked extremely tentative in all his attempted overtakes. Really, really poor form out of him. I also think it’s absolutely unfair, penalty notwithstanding, that Bottas went from gaining 3 points on Kimi to losing 4. That shouldn’t be able to happen.

    When did Lewis become Putin’s travel minister? He’s so naive. If he spent less time playboying away on planes and yachts, he could represent his country, and team’s country, with a little more dignity and awareness.

    I don’t think the TV covered McLaren once this race. And frankly, it made me happy. It’s nice to see them treated like a Manor-caliber team, as they currently are.

    1. @chaddy
      While I am not a fan of Hamilton, I don’t really get your gripe with him. I actually think he did rather well and shown some respect by learning a few phrases in Russian and, most importantly, saying them with a decent accent. I could remember a dozen Britons who wouldn’t get near that pronunciation even after a week’s training. So I think he did represent Britain well. Mind you, we Russians have no beef with Britain and British people. We do have an issue with your Russophobic media and politicians, but that’s something else. And there are very many Hamilton’s fans in Russia too.

  50. Vettel: Thats a very brave Russian!
    Everyone: Yep, thats where you lost WW2.

  51. Thoroughly enjoyed this one! By no means a classic, but I loved the battle for third. It might not have been for the win, but that fight was some hugely enjoyable racing. A solid 7 from me.

  52. Similar to last years. No fight for the lead, retirements that thinned the pack and DRS either made overtaking ridiculous or impossible because 2 cars on DRS can’t really fight with each other, you better have none on DRS. Mercedes managed to spoil the Rosberg threat and keep Lewis happy but failed to not win the championship in the US. Merc however can still win the drivers in the US which is surely what Daimler wants, we saw this week that Mercedes has a net loss in f1, so they need to squeeze the marketing out for sure, or else they would save RB and scrap the Brackley team.

  53. 8/10. Good race by Hamilton, Vettel, Perez, Massa, Kyat, Nasr, Sainz, Ricciardo and Bottas.

  54. Gave it a 7, -2 points for Putin being all over the screens again.

  55. I voted an 8 because of V Bottas, Perez, Massa, actually racing …. Seems Kimi had a bit of a brain fade and V B suffered big time as there is no penalty that can replace a podium finish … Nico and Romain, two of my several favorite drivers, can not get a break and they surely must be getting a tad disillusioned after this race. BUT there is next year or maybe miracles can still happen for these guys in the next races… hope so. Also happy and concerned that Sainz raced and did well but as we know concussions are tough to detect and sometimes show up much later. Surprised that D Kvyat did not get more mention as he worked his way up into the points. Thanks, Norris

  56. The moment I clicked 8 I regretted it. Maybe more like 7.5. Anyhow, it wasn’t actually that far off: Vettel battled with Raikkonen and fought strategically with Bottas. Rosberg added drama in the first laps but his bad luck robbed us of an extra fight with Hamilton. Raikkonen did pretty much everything he could do, crashing at the last lap so we got to see all of his moves. Perez got in front and was caught, then everything went *boom* for the third time. Verstappen didn’t recover, Sainz did but retired, McLaren stayed on the edge of the points, Ricciardo was up there, Massa gradually earned position on position, Nasr was 7th. We had two different strategies going on which meant unexpected half-way standings and in the end the fights for on-track position did shape up nicely. And this circuit really is tough on drivers, who make mistakes at every possible corner. Turn 2, turn 3, turn 4, turn 7, and turn 13 of course all saw something happen. DRS was powerful but slipstreams alone also were, and in GP2 it was very well measured. Force India were strong, but you can’t give a low rating when Perez ends up on the podium! Mercedes, Ferrari and Williams each had a driver eliminated from the contest, and that shook up the order.

  57. I rate 8/10, It had some exciting parts.

  58. This is why I love F1, what a great race!
    Drama, Drama, Drama…I did not know what was going to happen next!

  59. A bit dull for some long periods.

    I was only woken from my doze by Kimi’s over optimism on the final lap.

    Rosberg’s retirement robbed us of some form of battle at the front.

    There was some action, so not the worst race this season, not by any means. Still, this Sochi circuit hasn’t won me over yet.

    Post race penalties also make the race feel tainted. I wish they’d try something else and apply a suitable penalty for the proceeding race, or something. Although the penalties seem fair, I don’t like the race result being changed hours after the flag has dropped.

    I gave 5/10…

  60. After watching a real racing for 6 hours before this (Bathurst) I couldn’t give it more than 2. It deserved 1 for all the Putin advertisement but Perez on the podium added an extra 1. The level of driving in F1 really goes down recently. It’s the second race in a row this year that I stopped watching half-way and watched highlights afterwards. Yet I could stay over 6 hours to watch mount Panorama. Just an opinion though.

  61. 6 for on track action. -5 for Putin. Overall 1/10

  62. Despite the disaster on the last lap between Bottas and Raikkonen (I happen to be a Finn) was a super race wasnt it! Complete opposite what we saw last year with extreme fuel saving and probably the most boring race of the season. Replace Russian marshals with competent ones and it wouldve been near perfect, counting out the rainy practice sessions.

  63. I was tempted to give it an 8 for the constant battles going on throughout the field. However, the as the battle for the win ended abruptly and the battle for 2nd did too I can’t give it that higher rating.

    I was eagerly anticipating a bit of a scrap between Nico & Lewis for the win as they looked closely matched in the first few laps but unfortunately Nico’s luck was out. They say these things even out and I think they are over 2014 & 2015.

    I went for a 7 instead.

  64. Honestly, Red Bull should be ashamed of themselves for letting Renault down so horrifically by building such a sub-standard chassis that just broke out of the blue, not allowing the Renault Power Unit to show what it could really do.

  65. Better than last year,
    Safety concerns, Puttin making me cringe with the manhugs, Kimi making my angry, Rossberg “its still possible” making me laugh, cheering the guys on the podium, yeah a decent race, bring on USA

  66. Matt (@hamiltonfan1705)
    12th October 2015, 13:39

    Great race, lots of action. Shows Sochi is a good track and not the boring track everyone says it is. Shows it can produce exciting racing. So happy Perez got a podium!!

  67. I gave the race a 7.

    After Rosberg managed to retain the lead at the start I thought we might have a good battle for the win between the two Mercedes drivers, unfortunately another reliability problem for Rosberg put paid to that, and it was another straight forward victory for Hamilton.

    With some drivers going for a different strategy and pitting during the second safety car period it set the race up nicely, I think without that everyone would probably have had similar strategies and the race probably wouldn’t have been as good.

    I was set to give the race a 6 until the final few laps when then the battle for the final podium position came alive and that upped it to a 7 for me.

    I felt sorry for Bottas who was robbed of a podium by Raikkonen’s reckless overtaking attempt, but it was nice to see Perez get third position instead.

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