ADVERTISEMENT
Straight to the grid
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Fernando Alonso predicts a tough battle in the midfield this season

    Fernando Alonso to race for Aston Martin from 2023 in light of Sebastian Vettel retirement

    Verstappen

    Max Verstappen sails to the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix – Driver’s comments

    Russell

    Qualifying results: George Russell secures pole as Verstappen lands unfamiliar start for Hungarian GP

    practice session hungary

    FP3 Report Hungary: Williams’s surprise jump to the top as Latifi goes fastest at a wet Hungaroring

    Charles Leclerc

    FP2 Report Hungary: Ferrari continue to lead with Leclerc in first as McLaren improve but Mercedes lag

    Carlos Sainz

    FP1 Report Hungary: Carlos Sainz leads first hour on track at the Hungaroring

    Hungaroring

    Hungarian Grand Prix: Here’s the full weekend schedule for Irish viewers

    standings

    Max Verstappen and Red Bull lead the championship standings ahead of final race before summer break

    Sebastian Vettel

    Sebastian Vettel to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen

    French GP Race Report: Red Bull win, Mercedes improvements and Ferrari double-disaster

    Leclerc

    Qualifying results: Charles Leclerc on Pole for the French Grand Prix

    Verstappen

    FP3 Report: Max Verstappen dominated last hour on track ahead of Qualifying

    FP2 Report: Ferrari’s Friday success as Carlos Sainz tops later timesheets in France

    FP2 Report: Ferrari’s Friday success as Carlos Sainz tops later timesheets in France

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Driver News
    • Latest
    • Team News
    Fernando Alonso predicts a tough battle in the midfield this season

    Fernando Alonso to race for Aston Martin from 2023 in light of Sebastian Vettel retirement

    Verstappen

    Max Verstappen sails to the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix – Driver’s comments

    Russell

    Qualifying results: George Russell secures pole as Verstappen lands unfamiliar start for Hungarian GP

    practice session hungary

    FP3 Report Hungary: Williams’s surprise jump to the top as Latifi goes fastest at a wet Hungaroring

    Charles Leclerc

    FP2 Report Hungary: Ferrari continue to lead with Leclerc in first as McLaren improve but Mercedes lag

    Carlos Sainz

    FP1 Report Hungary: Carlos Sainz leads first hour on track at the Hungaroring

    Hungaroring

    Hungarian Grand Prix: Here’s the full weekend schedule for Irish viewers

    standings

    Max Verstappen and Red Bull lead the championship standings ahead of final race before summer break

    Sebastian Vettel

    Sebastian Vettel to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the 2022 season

    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • All
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    Verstappen

    French GP Race Report: Red Bull win, Mercedes improvements and Ferrari double-disaster

    Leclerc

    Qualifying results: Charles Leclerc on Pole for the French Grand Prix

    Verstappen

    FP3 Report: Max Verstappen dominated last hour on track ahead of Qualifying

    FP2 Report: Ferrari’s Friday success as Carlos Sainz tops later timesheets in France

    FP2 Report: Ferrari’s Friday success as Carlos Sainz tops later timesheets in France

    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
  • Races
    • Race Calendar
    • Championship standings
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions
No Result
View All Result
Straight to the grid
No Result
View All Result

Two reasons why Mercedes have a ‘calm determination’ heading to Sochi this weekend

Ireland

Credit: Steve Etherington

The Mercedes team seem calmer than ever heading to Sochi this weekend with a number of things in their favour as they look to extend their championship lead.

Lewis Hamilton is five points behind the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, however, the Dutch driver will be enduring a three-place grid penalty carried over from the Italian GP after stewards decided he was at fault for the collision with his closest rival.

The Red Bull team may be subject to a second penalty this weekend – much to the delight of Mercedes – as the team is yet to replace Verstappen’s damaged engine from the past Silverstone crash.

If they do decide to change the engine, he’ll have to take another penalty and start from the back.

“We are limited on the engine side,” team official Dr. Helmut Marko told RTL.

“We have to replace the engine somewhere in the coming races because of the damage to the Silverstone engine.

“We will wait for qualifying, we’ll wait for the weather, and then we’ll make a decision.”

The Silver Arrows will also have plenty of potential for a podium in Valtteri Bottas – the Finnish driver has an outstanding record of results at the Russian circuit.

Mercedes
Credit: Jiri Krenek

So far in his career, Bottas has clinched two wins and three podiums at Sochi, so will likely be playing a vital role in pushing the team farther ahead of the charging bulls this weekend.

Ahead of the race, Team Principal Toto Wolff said: β€œOur aim is to pull together a strong weekend, starting in FP1 and building one session at a time.

“Lewis is in the 10th championship battle of his F1 career, and he is laser-focused on what he needs to deliver in the next eight races.

β€œAs for Valtteri, he’s driving better than ever, as we saw in Monza – and he will be flat out every weekend.

“There’s a calm determination about the team right now and the business end of a season, fighting for championships, is exactly what we enjoy the most.”

Speaking about their plan of action, Wolff said; β€œWe’re looking forward to racing again in Russia, it is a circuit we’ve gone well at over the years and both our drivers have enjoyed great results in Sochi.

Mercedes
Credit: LAT Images

β€œWe’re hoping to continue our run of success in Russia but know that this year is an entirely different beast, and we’re expecting another intense weekend.

“The pleasing thing is that the W12 looks competitive and with just eight races to go, now is the time to use our experience and focus on the details and processes which will get us over the line,” he concluded.

Mercedes are currently 18 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, and while Hamilton is five points behind Verstappen in the driver standings, a potential combination of penalties could ensure a breeze of a weekend for the team.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Related

Tags: Lewis HamiltonMercedesRussian GPSochiValtteri Bottas
Previous Post

GPDA to hold talks with Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen over on track antics

Next Post

Haas confirm Schumacher and Mazepin for 2022

Related Posts

Fernando Alonso predicts a tough battle in the midfield this season
Latest

Fernando Alonso to race for Aston Martin from 2023 in light of Sebastian Vettel retirement

Verstappen
Latest

Max Verstappen sails to the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix – Driver’s comments

Russell
Latest

Qualifying results: George Russell secures pole as Verstappen lands unfamiliar start for Hungarian GP

practice session hungary
Latest

FP3 Report Hungary: Williams’s surprise jump to the top as Latifi goes fastest at a wet Hungaroring

Charles Leclerc
Latest

FP2 Report Hungary: Ferrari continue to lead with Leclerc in first as McLaren improve but Mercedes lag

Carlos Sainz
Latest

FP1 Report Hungary: Carlos Sainz leads first hour on track at the Hungaroring

Next Post
Hungaroring

Hungarian Grand Prix: Here's the full weekend schedule for Irish viewers

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

30 years ago Jordan Grand Prix made its Formula One debut

Jordan

INTERVIEW: Eddie Jordan is an ‘irrepressible character’ who ‘ducked and dived’ to make it in F1

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

standings

Championship Standings: Max Verstappen leads as we head to Texas

Hungaroring

Hungarian Grand Prix: Here’s the full weekend schedule for Irish viewers

Carlos Sainz

FP1 Report Hungary: Carlos Sainz leads first hour on track at the Hungaroring

Charles Leclerc

FP2 Report Hungary: Ferrari continue to lead with Leclerc in first as McLaren improve but Mercedes lag

practice session hungary

FP3 Report Hungary: Williams’s surprise jump to the top as Latifi goes fastest at a wet Hungaroring

Fernando Alonso predicts a tough battle in the midfield this season

Fernando Alonso to race for Aston Martin from 2023 in light of Sebastian Vettel retirement

Verstappen

Max Verstappen sails to the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix – Driver’s comments

Russell

Qualifying results: George Russell secures pole as Verstappen lands unfamiliar start for Hungarian GP

practice session hungary

FP3 Report Hungary: Williams’s surprise jump to the top as Latifi goes fastest at a wet Hungaroring

Recent News

Fernando Alonso predicts a tough battle in the midfield this season

Fernando Alonso to race for Aston Martin from 2023 in light of Sebastian Vettel retirement

Verstappen

Max Verstappen sails to the win at the Hungarian Grand Prix – Driver’s comments

Russell

Qualifying results: George Russell secures pole as Verstappen lands unfamiliar start for Hungarian GP

practice session hungary

FP3 Report Hungary: Williams’s surprise jump to the top as Latifi goes fastest at a wet Hungaroring

Popular Stories

  • Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

    Latest figures show F1 to be the second fastest growing major sports league on the planet

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Yuki Tsunoda and Mick Schumacher apologise to teams for Quali-ending crashes

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Here’s the full lineup of new liveries taking to the track for the season opener in just 1 day

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Daniel Ricciardo ready for β€œfull attack” at Italian GP after securing P2 start

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Charles Leclerc wins Australian GP for Ferrari

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid

Straight to the Grid is Ireland's first exclusive Formula One news source, bringing fans all of the latest
news, results, interviews, features and much more!

Navigation

  • Catch up
  • Competitions
  • Driver News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Irish F1
  • Latest
  • News
  • Quiz
  • Race Reports 2020
  • Race Reports 2021
  • Race Reports 2022
  • Team News
  • Uncategorized

Instagram

  • Highlights from the Hungarian GP where Max Verstappen took his eighth win of the season πŸ†
  • Max Verstappen has won the French Grand Prix
  • Three days to the  #frenchgp
  • Charles Leclerc wins the Austrian Grand Prix - his first since Australia
  • Carlos Sainz has won the British Grand Prix - marking the first win of his career
  • Max Verstappen has won the Canadian Grand Prix πŸ†
  • πŸ‡¨πŸ‡¦
  • Sergio Perez wins the Monaco Grand Prix
  • πŸ‡ͺπŸ‡ΈπŸŽ 

πŸ”œ Monaco
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Latest
    • Driver News
    • Team News
  • Features
    • Interviews
    • Race Reports 2020
    • Race Reports 2021
    • Race Reports 2022
  • Races
    • Championship standings
    • Race Calendar
  • More
    • Quiz
    • Competitions

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.