2014 Russian Grand Prix – The Grid: Williams to Surprise Mercedes?

After the qualifying session that took place early Saturday afternoon, which you can read the summary on MotorsInside.com, the editorial team offers you a recap of the starting grid.

The penalties were, in order, imposed on Pastor Maldonado (+5 places of the 10-place penalty not fully served in Japan), Nico Hülkenberg, Kevin Magnussen, and Max Chilton, all three penalized 5 places after a premature gearbox change.

The tires

Despite the urban nature of the Sochi circuit, Pirelli played it safe by bringing the soft (yellow) and medium (white) tires. In these conditions, with a more grippy asphalt than expected and tires that don’t wear out quickly, the Italian manufacturer believes that a one-stop strategy is the fastest (further reinforced by the reduction of pit lane speed from 80 to 60 km/h during the weekend).

The ideal is to start on soft tires and then stop on lap 34 out of 53 to go until the end on medium tires. The other strategy, equally fast according to Pirelli, is to start on mediums (which only drivers not participating in Q3 can consider) and stop on lap 18 to put on soft tires.

The fastest two-stop strategy involves starting on soft tires, fitting a new set of soft tires on lap 20, making a final stop on lap 50, and switching to mediums for the last three laps.

The forces in presence

Untouchable, the Mercedes? The question remains the same before this sixteenth round of the season. The Friday afternoon sessions seemed particularly strong for the Williams, who could take advantage of high top speed to surprise the Silver Arrows, whose pace remains among the best.

Behind, the McLarens are slightly off the pace but could score big points, just like the Toro Rossos whose pace was impressive during Friday’s session. The Ferraris could be on par with the Woking cars while the Red Bulls might struggle against the Force Indias.