Sochi Autodrom

Sochi Autodrom
Location Sochi, Krasnodar Krai, Russia
Time zone MSK+0 (UTC+4)
Coordinates 43°24′37″N 39°58′06″E / 43.410278°N 39.968271°ECoordinates: 43°24′37″N 39°58′06″E / 43.410278°N 39.968271°E
FIA Grade 1
Broke ground July 2011
Opened 21 September 2014[1]
Architect Hermann Tilke
Major events FIA Formula One
Russian Grand Prix (from 2014)
GP2 Series (from 2014)
GP3 Series (from 2014)
TCR International Series (from 2015)
Russian Touring Car Championship (from 2014)
Grand Prix circuit
Length 5.848 km (3.634 mi)
Turns 19
Lap record 1:40.896 (Finland Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 2014, F1)
Short circuit
Length 2.313 km (1.437 mi)

The 55,000[2] capacity Sochi Autodrom (Russian: Автодром Сочи),[3] previously known as the Sochi International Street Circuit[4] and the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit, is a 5.848 km Formula One racing street circuit in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.[5][6]

The circuit is similar to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the Sydney Olympic Park Circuit in that it runs around a venue used for Olympic competition; in this case, the Sochi Olympic Park site, scene of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The inaugural World Championship Russian Grand Prix took place in 2014, beginning a seven-year contract.

Development

Earlier the International Olympic Committee was given the power to delay the race until 2015 if preparations for the race interfered with the Winter Olympics,[7] though the Games started without interruption. In October 2011, the Russian government set aside US$195.4 million for the construction of the circuit.[8]

The construction of the Sochi Olympic Park Circuit marked the end of a thirty-year campaign for a Russian Grand Prix, with plans for a "Grand Prix of the Soviet Union" originating as early as 1983 before being abandoned for "bureaucratic reasons"[9] and several failed attempts[10][11][12] in the intervening years.

The circuit received its final approval from the FIA in August 2014.[13]

The circuit

The start of the 2014 Russian Grand Prix

The 5.848-kilometre (3.634 mi) circuit is the third-longest circuit on the Formula One calendar, behind Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Silverstone in the UK.[14] The circuit is built around the Sochi Olympic Park, that is the coastal cluster of Olympic venues built for the 2014 Winter Olympics that have hosted competitions in ice hockey, speed skating, curling, figure skating, short track etc., and Fisht Olympic Stadium where Opening and Closing ceremonies were held. The surface was not laid until after the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics.[15]

The track, under construction in the Sochi Olympic Park, in April 2014.

The circuit, designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, has the start grid on the northern edge of the Olympic Park next to the railway station, heading southwest towards the Black Sea coast. Then it runs along the outer edge of the central Sochi Medals Plaza, that is the podium for Olympic medal ceremonies, then circles the plaza counterclockwise and makes three turns around the Bolshoy Ice Dome. Then follow series of tight corners before turning north where the track skirts the edge of the Olympic Park, above the main Olympic Village and the Adler Arena Skating Center. Then it passes the skating and curling centres, before funneling up behind the pit paddock toward the train station, and completing a circuit with two ninety-degree right turns. Some 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) of its length the circuit shares with public roads.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sochi Autodrom officially opened in Russia". Formula1.com (Formula One Administration). 22 September 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.zie.nl/video/algemeen/Russia-Formula-1-star-Lewis-Hamilton-massively-excited-about-historic-Sochi-race/d1wzku4fhj5d
  3. ↑ "2014 Formula 1 Russian Grand Prix". Formula 1.com. Formula One Administration. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Kabanovsky, Aleksander (22 April 2013). "Vettel impressed by Russian circuit after first visit". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Collantine, Keith (14 October 2010). "Russia to join F1 calendar in 2014". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). Retrieved 25 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "OMEGA". OMEGA (Developer). Retrieved 26 October 2011.
  7. ↑ "IOC threatens to postpone Russian Grand Prix". GP Update. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  8. ↑ Elizalde, Pablo (26 October 2012). "Russia to spend $200m on F1 track". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  9. ↑ Формула нелюбви
  10. ↑ Lenta.ru: Москва возвращается к проекту трассы "Формулы-1"
  11. ↑ Formula Onovich: Russian Grand Prix gears up again – Autoblog
  12. ↑ Еще одна трасса для «Формулы-1»
  13. ↑ Baldwin, Alan (20 August 2014). "New Sochi circuit wins FIA seal of approval". reuters.com (Reuters). Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Collantine, Keith (24 October 2014). "India’s F1 track: Another cookie-cutter circuit?". F1 Fanatic (Keith Collantine). Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  15. ↑ Saward, Joe (23 January 2012). "Meanwhile on the Russian Riviera". Joe Saward blogs about the world of F1 (WordPress). Retrieved 28 January 2012.

External links

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