When was the track built?
Designed by Hermann Tilke, the Sochi Autodrom is effectively a street circuit, evolving out of the internal roads of the park built for the city’s 2014 Winter Olympics.
When was its first Grand Prix?
Formula 1’s first ever Russian Grand Prix took place on October 12 2014. The race was won by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who was midway through a five-race winning streak that would ultimately see him clinch that year’s drivers’ title.
What’s the circuit like?
Looking at a map of the track, your eye can’t help but be drawn to the epic Turn 3, a 750m constant-radius left-hander taking the drivers around the outside of the dramatic Poyushchiye fountain. The rest of the track is characterised by a series of 90-degree bends coupled to some rapid, flowing straights-that-aren’t-straight.
