2015 Russian Grand Prix

The 2015 Russian Grand Prix (formally the 2015 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix) was the 15th race of the 2015 Formula One season. It was the second running of the Russian Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship. It was held between 9 October and 11 October 2015.
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==Background==
Unlike the previous year's event, soft and super soft tyres were used.
The race marks Fernando Alonso's 250th Grand Prix, although he would start from the back of the grid after receiving a 35-place grid penalty for changes gone over the limit by to some of his car's components. Roberto Merhi also had component changes gone over the limit, giving him a 20-place grid penalty.
==Entry list==
No. 	Driver 	Entrant 	Constructor 	Chassis 	Engine 	Model 	Tyre
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W06 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	 	W06 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	Infiniti Red Bull Racing 	 	RB11 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	Infiniti Red Bull Racing 	 	RB11 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	Williams Martini Racing 	 	FW37 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	Williams Martini Racing 	 	FW37 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	SF15-T 	 	059/3 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	Scuderia Ferrari 	 	SF15-T 	 	059/3 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	McLaren Honda 	 	MP4-30 	 	RA615H Hybrid 	
22 	Jenson Button 	McLaren Honda 	 	MP4-30 	 	RA615H Hybrid 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM08 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	Sahara Force India F1 Team 	 	VJM08 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR10 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	Scuderia Toro Rosso 	 	STR10 	 	Energy F1-2015 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E23 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
13 	Pastor Maldonado 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E23 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
28 	Will Stevens 	Manor Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR03 	 	059/3 	
98 	Roberto Merhi 	Manor Marussia F1 Team 	 	MR03 	 	059/3 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C34 	 	059/3 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	Sauber F1 Team 	 	C34 	 	059/3 	
Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only 	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only	Free Practice 1 only
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	Lotus F1 Team 	 	E23 Hybrid 	 	PU106B Hybrid 	
source 	source 	source 	source 	source 	source 	source 	source
==Practice Overview==
===FP1===
The first practice session was shorter than scheduled, due to that a track cleaning machine had spilled diesel fuel sometime before the session's scheduled time. It took thirty minutes for marshals to clean the track before the session was actually started. When it did, all of the drivers went out, with Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa both going on wet tyres while the others went on intermediates. However, Sebastian Vettel complained during his first lap that the track was still not cleared, as saying: "What a mess!"
No one switched to slick tyres until Marcus Ericsson, who put on soft tyres. However, it took twenty minutes for anyone to set a lap time, when Fernando Alonso set a time of 2:00.736, before going faster with 1:53.854. Twenty minutes later, Ericsson became the second driver to set a time in the session, being second behind Alonso. As the rain began to fall, Jenson Button became second fastest while running on soft tyres. With only fifteen minutes left, more drivers went out onto the track, with Kimi Räikkönen being left tenth at the end of the session following a spin at Turn 8, the turn which was most affected by the diesel spillage. Ferrari was later fined €1,200 for speeding in the pit lane twice. The session ended with Nico Hülkenberg going fastest with a time of 1:44.355. Nico Rosberg followed him, with Vettel third. Lewis Hamilton finished seventh after having a spin at the penultimate corner on his final lap, which could have improved his time, and Massa had a spin in front of him at Turn 8, putting the Williams driver into twelfth place. Bottas was also reprimanded after crossing the white line at the pit entry.
===FP2===
Due to the heavy rain, several drivers did not decide to take part. Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean, Pastor Maldonado, Felipe Nasr, Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi stayed in the pits, while Rosberg, Ericsson, Hamilton, Sergio Pérez, Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo did not set timed laps, leaving only eight drivers with timed laps. Massa went fastest with a time of 2:00.458, followed by Vettel and Bottas. After getting fifth place behind Max Verstappen, Alonso soon had a technical problem that made his car go slowly.
===FP3===
The third and final practice session was dry unlike the other two, but Rosberg, Vettel and Räikkönen did not go out at the very start. At first, Kvyat was fastest with 1:46.856, but about twenty minutes later, Bottas went faster with 1:40.884, before having problems with the ERS. His teammate Massa then went second, but soon made a complain about the gear selections not working perfectly. The Ferraris eventually came out fifteen minutes later, with Vettel on soft tyres and Räikkönen on supersoft tyres. The latter went third to overtake Vettel in the session, but both of them were soon pushed down by Nasr, and later pushed out of the top ten. Rosberg went out in thirty minutes to set a time of 1:38.941 and overtake Bottas. He then set a faster time of 1:38.561. Meanwhile, Hamilton had lock-up on his first lap, but his next lap was clean, putting him up to third. The session was soon red-flagged when Sainz's car went out of control, hit the wall while approaching Turn 13, and went underneath the barriers. It was not restarted, leaving Rosberg as the fastest driver. Sainz was not seriously injured, and was taken to the medical centre, which he gave a thumbs-up to the camera to show that he was still conscious. At the hospital, he was soon confirmed to be okay, but did not have enough time to compete in qualifying. Speaking about the accident, Franz Tost believed that it was due to the steering wheel's brake shape being changed and more braking in the rear tyres which caused them to lock up. The crash also led to the first 2015 Sochi GP3 race being postponed until Sunday, when the second race was also on.
===Practice Results===
No 	Driver 	Team 	FP1 	 	FP2 	 	FP3 	 	 	 	 	 	
No 	Driver 	Team 	Time 	Pos 	Time 	Pos 	Time 	Pos 	 	 	 	 	
3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	1:45.233	5 	No Time 	14 	1:43.347	18 	 	 	 	 	
5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	1:44.986	3 	2:00.659	2 	1:42.686	16 	 	 	 	 	
6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	1:44.407	2 	No Time 	9 	1:38.561	1 	 	 	 	 	
7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	1:46.215	10 	No Time 	– 	1:42.297	12 	 	 	 	 	
8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	 	No Time	– 	1:42.371	13 	 	 	 	 	 	
9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	1:54.272	19 	No Time 	10 	1:42.450	14 	 	 	 	 	
11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	1:45.146	4 	No Time 	12 	1:39.616	4 	 	 	 	 	
12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	1:46.747	13 	No Time 	– 	1:41.229	10 	 	 	 	 	
13 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	1:48.006	15 	No Time 	– 	1:40.767	8 	 	 	 	 	
14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	1:47.443	14 	2:01.077	5 	1:41.200	9 	 	 	 	 	
19 	Felipe Massa 	 	1:46.333	12 	2:00.458	1 	1:39.875	5 	 	 	 	 	
22 	Jenson Button 	 	1:46.231	11 	2:02.845	8 	1:40.581	7 	 	 	 	 	
26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	1:48.096	16 	2:01.418	6 	1:41.358	11 	 	 	 	 	
27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	1:44.355	1 	No Time 	13 	1:39.917	6 	 	 	 	 	
28 	Will Stevens 	 	1:58.254	20 	No Time 	– 	1:47.249	20 	 	 	 	 	
30 	Jolyon Palmer 	 	1:49.094	17 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
33 	Max Verstappen 	 	1:46.203	9 	2:00.806	4 	1:43.089	17 	 	 	 	 	
44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	1:45.691	7 	No Time 	11 	1:39.363	3 	 	 	 	 	
55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	1:45.488	6 	2:02.805	7 	1:42.683	15 	 	 	 	 	
77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	1:45.746	8 	2:00.688	3 	1:39.287	2 	 	 	 	 	
98 	Roberto Merhi 	 	1:52.994	18 	No Time 	– 	1:46.767	19 	 	 	 	 	
Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:	Source:
==Qualifying==
===Q1===
===Q2===
===Q3===
===Qualifying Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Q1 	Q1 	 	Q2 	Q2 	 	Q3 	Q3 	Grid
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Team 	 	Pos 	Time 	 	Pos 	Time 	 	Pos 	Time 	Grid
1 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	 	1 	1:38.343 	 	1 	1:37.500 	 	1 	1:37.113 	1
2 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	 	3 	1:38.558 	 	2 	1:37.672 	 	2 	1:37.433 	2
3 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	 	2 	1:38.448 	 	3 	1:38.194 	 	3 	1:37.912 	3
4 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	 	4 	1:38.598 	 	5 	1:38.402 	 	4 	1:37.965 	4
5 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	 	7 	1:39.207 	 	4 	1:38.224 	 	5 	1:38.348 	5
6 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	 	8 	1:39.250 	 	6 	1:38.727 	 	6 	1:38.659 	6
7 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	 	12 	1:39.617 	 	8 	1:38.914 	 	7 	1:38.691 	7
8 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	 	6 	1:39.056 	 	7 	1:38.754 	 	8 	1:38.787 	8
9 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	 	9 	1:39.411 	 	10 	1:39.119 	 	9 	1:38.924 	9
10 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	 	10 	1:39.574 	 	9 	1:39.005 	 	10 	1:39.728 	10
11 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	 	11 	1:39.580 	 	11 	1:39.214 	 	 	 	11
12 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	 	15 	1:40.042 	 	12 	1:39.323 	 	 	 	12
13 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	 	14 	1:39.739 	 	13 	1:39.763 	 	 	 	13
14 	13 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	 	13 	1:39.724 	 	14 	1:39.811 	 	 	 	14
15 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	 	5 	1:38.926 	 	15 	1:39.895 	 	 	 	15
16 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	 	16 	1:40.144 	 	 	 	 	 	 	19*
17 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	 	17 	1:40.660 	 	 	 	 	 	 	16
18 	28 	Will Stevens 	 	 	18 	1:43.693 	 	 	 	 	 	 	17
19 	98 	Roberto Merhi 	 	 	19 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	18†
107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227	107% time: 1:45.227
NC 	55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr. 	 	 	– 	no time 	 	 	 	 	 	 	20‡
Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source: 	Source:
** Fernando Alonso was given a 35-place grid penalty for going over the limit of the number of changes on his car's components.
*† Roberto Merhi was given a 20-place grid penalty for using more than the limit of component changes.
*‡ Carlos Sainz, Jr. did not take part in qualifying due to his accident in the third practice session. He was given permission from the stewards to race, although he still had to do a medical test, which was successfully passed. With changes to his gearbox, engine and turbocharger, he was given a 20-place grid penalty.
===Grid===
Source
** Roberto Merhi was given a 20-place grid penalty for using more than the limit of component changes.
*† Fernando Alonso was given a 35-place grid penalty for going over the limit of the number of changes on his car's components.
*‡ Carlos Sainz, Jr. did not take part in qualifying due to his accident in the third practice session. He was given permission from the stewards to race, although he still had to do a medical test, which was successfully passed. With changes to his gearbox, engine and turbocharger, he was given a 20-place grid penalty.
==Race==
===Report===
===Results===
Pos. 	No. 	Driver 	Constructor	Laps 	Time/Retired	Grid 	Points
1 	44 	Lewis Hamilton 	 	53 	1:37:11.024 	2 	25
2 	5 	Sebastian Vettel 	 	53 	+5.953 	4 	18
3 	11 	Sergio Pérez 	 	53 	+28.918 	7 	15
4 	19 	Felipe Massa 	 	53 	+38.831 	15 	12
5 	26 	Daniil Kvyat 	 	53 	+47.566 	11 	10
6 	12 	Felipe Nasr 	 	53 	+56.508 	12 	8
7 	13 	Pastor Maldonado 	 	53 	+61.088 	14 	6
8* 	7 	Kimi Räikkönen 	 	53 	+72.358 	5 	4
9 	22 	Jenson Button 	 	53 	+79.467 	13 	2
10 	33 	Max Verstappen 	 	53 	+88.424 	9 	1
11† 	14 	Fernando Alonso 	 	53 	+91.210 	19 	
12 	77 	Valtteri Bottas 	 	52 	Collision 	3 	
13 	98 	Roberto Merhi 	 	52 	+1 Lap 	18 	
14 	28 	Will Stevens 	 	51 	+2 Laps 	17 	
15 	3 	Daniel Ricciardo 	 	49 	Suspension 	10 	
16 	55 	Carlos Sainz, Jr.	 	47 	Brakes 	20 	
17 	8 	Romain Grosjean 	 	12 	Accident 	8 	
18 	6 	Nico Rosberg 	 	7 	Throttle 	1 	
19 	27 	Nico Hülkenberg 	 	0 	Collision 	6 	
20 	9 	Marcus Ericsson 	 	0 	Collision 	16 	
Source:	Source:	Source: 	Source: 	Source:	Source: 	Source:	Source:
** Räikkönen was given a 30-second time penalty post-race after his collision with Bottas on the final lap.
*† Alonso was given a 5-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
==Milestones==
*First race to be held on October 11.
*200th race entry for .
*Fernando Alonso's 250th grand prix entry (249th start).
*Felipe Massa's 225th race start (227th entry).
*Lewis Hamilton's 42nd victory, placing him third on the all-time list, equal with Sebastian Vettel, also placing him second on the all-time points list between Vettel and Fernando Alonso.
*Sergio Pérez's 5th podium finish.
* secure their second consecutive Constructor's Championship at Russia.
==Standings after race==
==Notes==
Category:Grand Prix articles
Category:2015 Grands Prix
Category:Russian Grand Prix