page_title: Russian Grand Prix
section_title: Formula One
hierarchical_section_title: Russian Grand Prix / Formula One
caption_attribution_description: English: 2014 Russian Grand Prix start lane. Русский: 2014 Гран-при России начинают полосу.
context_page_description: The Russian Grand Prix is an annual auto race held at Sochi Autodrom – a street circuit built around Olympic Park in Sochi, Russia, as part of the Formula One World Championship.
  The race was first held briefly in the 1910s in Saint Petersburg of the Russian Empire. Plans were made to host a Formula One event in Moscow for the 1983 season as the Grand Prix of the Soviet Union, but these plans fell through. In 2010, it was officially announced that the Russian city of Sochi, which was also preparing to host the 2014 Winter Olympics, would host a new event on the Formula One calendar, beginning in 2014 under a seven-year deal.
  The Russian Grand Prix is notable for having only ever been won by Mercedes.
context_section_description: Plans for a Grand Prix in Russia emerged in the early 1980s, with a proposed circuit in Moscow to be run under the title of the "Grand Prix of the Soviet Union". The race was included on a provisional calendar for 1983, but bureaucratic barriers prevented the Grand Prix from being held, and the race was removed from all subsequent revisions of the calendar. Nevertheless, Bernie Ecclestone continued in his quest to organise a race behind the Iron Curtain. Instead, Hungary became the first communist country to host a race, joining the calendar in 1986.
  In 2001, Vladimir Putin, then serving as President of Russia, expressed personal support to the project of the "Pulkovskoe Ring" near the Pulkovo Airport, but the race never came to fruition. Another attempt was made in 2003, with the Moscow council approving a project to build a track in Molzhaninovsky District of Moscow. The project was abandoned after a dispute over the commercial contract. In September 2008, it was revealed that work was to begin on a Formula One circuit to be located at the village of Fedyukovo, Volokolamsky District of the Moscow Province, approximately 77 kilometres (48 mi) away from Moscow. Known as the Moscow Raceway, the track was designed by Hermann Tilke to host both Formula One and Moto GP races. The plan to host a Grand Prix at the Moscow Raceway was never realised, but unlike the Pulkovskoe Ring and Nagatino Island projects, the circuit was completed, and in 2012, hosted rounds of the Formula Renault 3.5 and 2.0 Series – which became the first internationally accredited motorsport events to hold a round in Russia – as well as the FIA GT1 World Championship, and the Superbike World Championship.
  Vitaly Petrov became Russia's first Formula One driver in 2010, when he joined Renault, adding further momentum to the project. Bernie Ecclestone expressed a desire to see Formula One travel to Russia at a circuit in or near Moscow or at the resort city of Sochi. After several decades of attempting to re-establish the race, the new Russian Grand Prix was officially announced on 14 October 2010 for a debut in 2014, running through to 2020. The race is held in the resort city of Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, at the Sochi Autodrom – a 5.9 km street circuit which passes around the venues of Sochi's Olympic Park.
caption: The starting grid at the 2014 Russian Grand Prix
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