Season 1 Race 16

==Q==
==Race==
Sochi had a bigger attendance, only by one driver, Mika Hakkinen, yet the grid felt much bigger.
Mercedes and Arrows had completed their new upgraded parts for this race and have both brought them in.
And it seems to have paid off, as the gap to Mars Tech went from 1 second to only 6 tenths. But it was of course the Mars-Tech double like everyone expected. Returnee Mika Hakkinen had a poor day and qualified only 10th, while his teammate was 3rd leading the two Mercedes'
The getaway was poor for the Arrows guys again and Mika found himself all the way down in 14th place, meanwhile Schumacher had fallen behind Alesi. It proved difficult to overtake even if the car was much faster - that is what Mika Hakkinen has shown being stuck behind Irvine, and both the Manors being stuck behind both Ciders. After "Plan A" didn't work, both teams went to "Plan B", which was seemingly to pit both cars in an attenpt to get an undercut. However their quest for points was now everything but possible. However for Hakkinen it was over again, as once Villeneuve pitted he rejoined behind the Canadian, who was on hard tyres and going till the end, while the Finn had one more stop to go. At this moment Mercedes realised they will have to 2-stop, this went much into the favour of Michael Schumacher. However, the German later retired with a throttle problem from a promising 3rd place, making his 4th retirement in 6 races. Mercedes clawed their way through the field to get a 3-4, after Alesi couldn't overtake Coulthard, while the Mars-Tech cars went on to win 1-2 after their cars suffered no reliability issues. This is the team's first 1-2 finish and they are the second team to score one, after Arrows did it 3 times.
==FL==
Category:Races
Category:Season 1 Races