The Sochi Autodrom, home to this weekend's fourth round of the 2017 Formula One World Championship, is one of the many new Formula One circuits designed by Hermann Tilke.
It is an exceptionally technical circuit, characterized by hard braking into low-speed corners, however, it is also the fourth longest track in Formula One, behind Spa-Francorchamps (7.004 kilometers), Baku City Circuit (6.006 kilometers) and Silverstone (5.891 kilometers).
While the first race of Modern Formula One was held here in 2014, an event won by three time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who won again in 2015 while his Mercedes teammate won in 2016, the original Russian Grand Prix was held 103 years ago in St. Petersburg and it was won by a local, Georgy Suvorin, in a Mercedes.
The race was run again the following year, won by German driver Willy Scholl, again in a Mercedes. So of the five times races have been contested here, only a Mercedes driver has stood up on the top step of the rostrum, something Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel will be aiming to change this coming weekend.
In total, there are 12 right-hand and six left-hand corners on this track, with a 650-meter (2,133 foot) straight between the first and second turns. Of Sochi's 5.848-kilometer layout, 1.7 kilometers are run on public roads. The surfaces of both the public road and the purpose-built portions are incredibly smooth, and the track remained consistent between its debut and last year's event.
Tyre degradation is minimal compared to most tracks, allowing for teams to employ a one-stop strategy while still giving drivers the freedom to push hard and that is one thing that will be giving Mercedes the added boost they need right now as they have revealed that tyre issues are the main thing holding them back in the opening rounds of the season so far.
The Sochi Autodrom is also one of four Formula One venues with ties to the Olympics.
Sochi hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics and the city's massive build-up was specifically for those games.
Prior to Sochi, the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya was home to the start/finish line for the road team time trial cycling event when Barcelona hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The back-straight at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal runs adjacent to the Olympic rowing basin used during the 1976 Summer Olympics and the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City, in which the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is located, hosted numerous events during the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.
Drivers will race around the venue a total of 53 times on Sunday afternoon and as it stands, Nico Rosberg holds the race lap record (1:39.094), set here last year. However, with the extra speeds we have seen at other venues this year, we can expect this time to be beaten.
During the course of the weekend, lows will range from 11-13 degrees Celsius to highs of 21-23 degrees Celsius and some say that it can be extremely chilly here, despite it being on a coastal resort.
Fans can expect to see the battle between Mercedes and Ferrari intensify with Red Bull refusing to give up the fight. Will Sebastian Vettel make it three wins from four? Or will Lewis Hamilton even the score?
Also, after Valtteri Bottas' strong performance in qualifying last time out in Bahrain, could he join in and make it a three way fight, in fact even a four way fight if his fellow Finn, Kimi Raikkonen, puts his Ferrari in the firing line as well?
Tune in and find out! We here at Zero Throttle will bring you all the news and views from the Russian weekend, on site, Facebook and Twitter. So come and join the fun!
For all the facts and figures on the Russian GP click here.
