Rate the race: 2017 Russian Grand Prix

2017 Russian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Russian Grand Prix.

Since 2008, F1 Fanatic has held polls on every F1 race to find out which fans thought of each round of the season.

Join in the latest poll and give your verdict on the race: 10 being the highest and 1 the lowest. Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

What were the best and worst moments of the race? What was the main thing you’ll remember about it? Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2017 Russian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (1%)
  • 9 (3%)
  • 8 (5%)
  • 7 (14%)
  • 6 (20%)
  • 5 (17%)
  • 4 (14%)
  • 3 (12%)
  • 2 (7%)
  • 1 (7%)

Total Voters: 662

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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214 comments on “Rate the race: 2017 Russian Grand Prix”

  1. I’m giving it an 8.
    IMPRESSIVE start by Bottas. The middle of the race was typical Russian GP, but oh god.. those last laps with Vettel chasing. I was pressing my face into the screen almost, amazing! Well deserved win for Bottas!

    1. 8 as well – tense slow burn for the bulk of the race

      1. The only thing burning this race was Ricciardo’s rear brake.

        1. no no no. was like a chess match boring. nascar is now far better and entertaining

          1. Chess match is not boring! Even in F1. But this was no chess match.

            +1 for the number of passes during the race (I think it was just one indeed, after Safety Car)
            +1 New race winner (very happy for Bottas, he seems a very nice down-to-Earth guy)
            +1 Just a hint of a chance for Vettel for a pass (but not at the end but in-between BOT and VET pitstops).
            -1 Cringeworthy Putin in the pre-podium room
            —–
            2/10

            Seriously, I don’t need overtaking for a good race. But after 2 laps after the SC it was clear that gaps would be very large very quickly due to aerodynamics and heat. They barely managed to get close to backmarkers and it was obvious that overtaking was impossible without a serious mistake of the one ahead. That’s why I wasn’t even excited when Vettel got close to Bottas towards the end as it would have been highly unlikely to be able to pass.

    2. The race director followed first 4 cars for much of the start of the race, so if there were passes early on I didn’t see them. The result was good, but not much happened in the race after the first corner.
      Even though Mercedes and Ferrari were close on pace, after 10 laps each of the first 4 were 2 or 3 seconds apart and not able to follow closer. In Hamilton’s case there was overheating, I didn’t hear the same from Ferrari over the radio but I’m guessing they had similar issues.
      I see that many enjoyed the end, but I really doubt Vettel had the pace to pas Bottas in the end. It seemed to me that the lapped cars helped Vettel more than Bottas (everyone was having issues following even cars that were significantly slower).

    3. A good race ruined by Felipe Massa and Williams’ unsporting behavior. The team should have warned him well ahead of time that he was in front of a battle for the lead, and that he was not in a battle himself. He should have made a clear move to one side and let both cars past together, not moved back in front as soon as the first was past and then continued to block the second car for several corners afterwards.

      1. Your making a mountain out of mole hill. It was a minor incident at best. Catching is one thing passing is another. I think the merc was quicker down the straight as well.

  2. Yawn. Most boring race ever

    1. Rubbish.

      Sure, most of the race wasn’t particularly exciting, but saying this was the most boring race ever is a disservice to the battle between Vettel and Bottas during the final few laps.

      1. Battle, what battle. Once Vettel came close he would drop back due to the tracks nature. The only way he could have fought for the win is if Bottas took another pitstop. From the pit stop you could see that they could have waved the flag after the first 2 laps.

        1. @bazzek Bottas was just better in the third sector, all weekend long, has nothing to do with the track nature.

          1. No the Ferraris were better at S3. Mercedes car have insane advantage in S1.

          2. The nature of the track is that you cannot setup perfect for all three sectors and have to compromise one. Hence Vettel could never even have passed Bottas because of the nature of the track (it is a sheer impossible task at Russia, even if you can setup perfect for all three sectors).

          3. In Soviet Russia, the track overtake you.

          4. @bazzek Just narrow corners 4 to 10 and last two to 8-10 meters with walls right next to the track.

            @shrieker quit ethnicist jokes.

        2. Nonsense. He was appreciably closer and closer towards the end, as the lap times clearly show. Yes, he dropped back occasionally, whether due to mistakes or to cool his car a little, but each time he caught back up and got a little closer than the previous time.

          Would he have gotten past before the end? Probably not, but due to the unsporting behavior of Felipe Massa and Williams, we’ll never know. But to pretend it wasn’t a race is just nonsense.

        3. Agree.

      2. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
        30th April 2017, 14:44

        It was hardly a battle, the closest he ever got was about 6 tenths, there was never an attempt at a pass and never looked like he would. Same for the whole field, not one overtake or even attempt.

      3. Most boring race l have seen in many years..it was so dull it looked contrieved , happy for Bot hope it is first on many

    2. Pretty happy for Bottas, I’ve always supported him, but the race is still really poor, Bottas nerves helped the ending. I was right to bet on Mercedes, close though.
      I saw no overtake after turn 1, incredible. I don’t like DRS but it’s proven even from last year that you barely can get to the 1 sec mark. End DRS.

      To Sky. You commentated on the less eventful race in years yet you couldn’t follow the race properly. Why did Croft bashed Ferrari all the time.

      1. There was 1 overtake: Wehrlein past Ericsson after the Safety Car restart, but that was missed by the tv-director.

        1. Okay, i adjust my -17 to a -16 then… 1 point per corner that had action going on raised to 4 points. Still -20 for that mobster.

    3. I think anyone complaining should firstly watch some races from early 2000s, this is typical F1 – tenths of seconds difference and almost impossible to pass on track. We were spoiled by DRS and artificial tyres in recent years. It was quite nice race, not the best but had some moments.

      We wanted durable and push-enabled tires, we want to get rid of DRS – so don’t expect every race to be eventfull. Had Vettel managed to pass Bottas, it would be remembered for years. Of course, track layout doesn’t help – but Sochi was politics and as we can see, nothing will change under Liberty Media.

      1. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
        1st May 2017, 1:02

        We wanted tyres without the thermal degradation enabling them to push more but we still wanted tyres that degrade in wear. When the “ultra” soft tyre is doing 40 laps of any track then the range are too far hard IMO.

    4. Don’t need overtakes to be exciting, unless you’re a very casual viewer.

    5. agree F1 cars looking much better but races are boring.

      1. I’m glad Bottas won the parade.

    6. 5/10 for me. Would have been a 7 if Vettel passed Bottas. But in the end it was a race without overtakes

    7. It had a very good start but evolved to a massive bore fest, the final laps got a bit interesting due to Bottas managing his tyres after that lock-up but overall the race was far from good. However, I liked the result because it put Bottas in the mix.

      Lets hope Red Bull’s upgraded package is good enough to give them a shot to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes.

  3. 8/10. I enjoyed the whole race, even if a bit boring at times, but what an ending! Other than Abu Dhabi last year, I’ve not felt that tense watching F1 for years!

    1. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
      30th April 2017, 14:48

      I mean you’re entitled to your opinion but I’m curious what you saw that I didn’t. Boring at times? There was zero overtakes, zero attempts at an overtake and for 90% of the race the field was well spread out. Yes, Vettel catching at the end was fairly interesting but he never got that close, not even a hint of an overtake attempt. As I say you’re entitled to your opinion but i’m not sure what you saw in that which made it an 8/10 overall.

      1. I don’t think the race was 8/10 (i give it 6/10) but i genuinely felt nervous at the end for Bottas. It was an intense finish were anything could’ve happened. I think some of us are just more invested in the sport, the teams, the drivers, the story, just everything really. I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again; I do not judge a race on the amount of overtakes. This was a straight fight between Vettel and Bottas and i enjoyed watching it.

        1. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
          30th April 2017, 15:40

          I do not judge a race on the amount of overtakes.

          Nor do I but there wasn’t even a hint of any overtakes, there was no battling of any sort. Vettel and Bottas got close, of course, but he never really looked like threatening properly. It was still fairly entertaining but for me one nearly-battle isn’t enough to make the whole race worth a high ranking. The other cars did virtually nothing.

          1. @weeniebeenie Crikey, you must be thoroughly depressed? You’ve chosen F1 because you are (or were) under the impression it’s full of overtakes.

            It’s not full of overtakes.

            It never has been full of overtakes.

            DRS is artificial, they don’t count.

            50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s and now the 10s.

            Always the same inevitability. The margins are too small in F1.

            Highly skilled drivers, in purpose built machines, developed to the state of the art of mechanical and (later) aero engineering will not produce the type of racing you desire. You need to drop down the formulas or, follow a different type of motorsport.

          2. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
            30th April 2017, 17:40

            @psynrg I’m not sure how you’ve come to that conclusion when I started my sentence by saying that I don’t judge a race on overtakes. Battling is far more important and interesting to me but there wasn’t any of that either today. Remember Schumi vs Alonso, San Marino 2005, for example? There was no overtake but it was damn exciting to see them battling, Schumi doing everything he could to pass. That was far more exciting than highway DRS passes.

            But again, there was nothing today with the one exception of Vettel closing on Bottas. None of the other drivers ever got close to the one in front, let alone had some semblance of a battle.

          3. It’s not the lack of overtakes that bothers me @psynrg. It’s the fact the field was so spread out there wasn’t even a hint of an overtake that might happen.

            Glad you enjoyed the race, I’m happy to see the battle between the two top teams is on. But I really need more action in the mid field or I might just switch off mid race in the future.

    2. You must have loved the European GP’s at Valencia and Baku.

  4. What a terrible circuit this is, even with a new winner, a very non-watchable race. And back are the procession times. Can’t wait for baku, hungary and singapore…

    1. Don’t forget Monaco!

      1. Actually Melbourne, Russia, Spain, Monaco, Baku, Austria, Hungary, Monza, Singapore, Mexico and Abu Dhabi are all circuits that are likely to deliver a bore-fest.

        Former tracks like Valencia, Nurnburgring, Magne-Cours, Imola, Estoril, Aidelade, Buenos Aires, Indianapolis, Korea and South Africa were like that as well (India was quite good actually).

        This is one of the reasons I hate losing a good circuit like Sepang (despite the low fan attandence) and potentially Brazil now.

    2. @favomodo You are right those tracks are great in comparison. I didn’t really noticed it before, but there’s a lot of aero reliance on this track, long straights but all of those 90º corners do test the medium speed and low speed aero that in the end wins championships but destroys racing.

  5. An absolutely terrible race with a very, very promising last few laps ruined by backmarkers (thanks Sainz and Massa), what a shame.
    But great for Bottas, massively deserved. Very, very happy to see him taking it to Hamilton. Differences in levels not nearly what they’ve been cracked up to be.

    1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      30th April 2017, 16:16

      @haholstolze great race for Valtteri – questionable if he won when Lewis was .5 seconds off pace. It’s possible Lewis poled and won the race were he driving a Mercedes (which he wasn’t today). Interesting how this will play out over the season.

      1. Exactly!! I am astounded nobody else realized this.
        If Bottas loses we can agree he was slower, but if he is in front, then that’s got to be something wrong with Lewis’ car, just like every single time he was behind Rosberg last year, clearly.

  6. 3/10. The end was good, but my god… we don’t deserve this track. Horrible, uninteresting, stupid problematic second corner, Putin-in-da-house moments that steal the TV when you most want to watch the race…

  7. First four positions decided by corner 3 of the first lap. I fail to see how this makes exciting racing. All I saw were cars trying to get close, having cooling issues and failing to overtake. If I wanted to watch a procession, I’d go back to the 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix.

    1. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
      30th April 2017, 15:06

      First four positions decided by corner 3 of the first lap.

      I think you mean all positions. That was dire.

    2. @franton agreed, except they didn’t even try to overtake …

  8. John Toad (@)
    30th April 2017, 14:27

    Lot’s of promise before the start but little excitement during the race with almost nobody even close to DRS range throughout the race

  9. 3/10 – not 1 single overtake; not even an attempt at one.
    Even the entrance of Putin was more exciting!

    Well done Bottas; good race Vettel.

  10. I think this may get mixed reviews as a race. I have it a 4. For me it was slightly below average. Most of the race was… Dull. There was no real chance of any racing. A bit of excitement at the end dragged it out of the very very low scores, but not enough to get it back up to average. Especially as there was practically no chance Vettel would get past without a mistake from Bottas.

  11. 4/10. +3 for Bottas’ first win and +1 for last 10 laps. Overall very dull race, absent of any racing down the field, apart from Vettel pursuit of Bottas. A shame, because the location is spectacular but Sochi is cementing its place as the worst circuit on the current calendar.

  12. One dude, who likes to annex and shoot down passenger airplanes, will ruin it all now…

  13. From the pit stop on it was a good race.
    But before, awful.
    It was a tense ending, which is great, gave it a 6.

    But this track has to go, absolutely horrible track to race at.

  14. 4/10 Boring race. I would swap this for Istanbul Park in a heardbeat

  15. Dull race, but impressive drive by Bottas. Self-induced, but the amount of vibration in his wheel–evident on the cooling-down lap–demonstrates how well Bottas dealt with a charging Vettel in the closing laps.

  16. As always exciting races on this circuit. To bad zero is not a valid option.

  17. Calum Menzies
    30th April 2017, 14:30

    We have 10 points to rate this race with and it was absolutely awful. It has to be rated significantly under 5 as it was one of the worst races I have seen.

    Ask yourself what the top 3 overtakes were today before voting?

    This track does not suit Grand Prix racing and the Sky hype summary is a bit embarrassing.

    2 out of 10.

    (Please remember I am not voting on entertainment. Take nothing away from the fine Bottas performance to win)

  18. 7. Not the best race we’ve had their but tense right up to the end.

  19. Michael Brown (@)
    30th April 2017, 14:30

    Was there really hardly any overtaking or was it because half of the coverage spent on close-ups of Toto Wolff’s face? It was a borefest until the last laps. 3/10. It was going to be 2/10 but we got a new winner.

    1. @mbr-9 Yes, the coverage has been atrocious, everything camera positioning, angles, directing,

      The worst is having to watch someone watching the race and then watching them watching their faces of them trying to watch the race which is impossible as they are watching themselves watching the screen.

      1. Can this be COTD? XD

  20. Dull race, but impressive drive by Bottas. Self-induced after the double lock-up, but the amount of vibration in his wheel–evident on the cooling-down lap–demonstrates how well Bottas dealt with a charging Vettel in the closing laps. Reminds me of Raikonnen at the Nurburgring (but that ended much worse for Kimi).

  21. 3. Tension at the end changed my vote, which was a 1.5.

    Quite good for a race in Sochi

    1. Same here. I was going to give it a 2, as it was probably one of the most boring races I’ve ever seen.

      But I gave it +1 for the last 10 laps… as it’s been a while since I’ve seen a battle for the win.
      I gave it a +0.5 because of F1’s own clowns (Palmer and Stroll)
      I gave it +0.5 more because of Putin’s awkward conversation with the podium finishers.

      So .. a 4/10 for me

      1. @todfod I think you’re dissapointed because Bottas can challenge Hamilton. Something that Alonso wasn’t capable of. Truth hurts.

        1. @huhhii

          I think you need to get your head checked.

  22. No overtake, field too spread out too quickly. Valtteri brilliant start and late Sebastian charge aside, is a very dull race. Worst track bar Yas Marina.

  23. 6/10

    A race where there was not much going on. Except for Vettel’s final push, cars couldn’t get close to each other. +1 for the close competition at the end and a good Qualy session.

    1. Voted same, for same reasons.

  24. Another boring race. What kind of tracks are being built?!?!! The tires suck and these tracks suck. Formula one isn’t what it was once.

    I never liked Ecclestone but his idea to get rid of Monaco was perfect, too bad it was only a wish. Either get rid of these tracks or bring back the early 2000’s rules and regs.

    1. nelson piquet
      30th April 2017, 15:20

      sure, the absolutely not processional exciting early 2000s

  25. Nice to see Bottas first win, but it was a very boring race.

  26. 6/10. Huge congrats to Bottas. Did everything he needed to do to win and he was quick all weekend. Seb pushed him but at least he extended the championship lead over Hamilton who was poor all weekend. Perez and Ocon are a brilliant double act and the Hulk did a really good race

  27. This race was really boring. The only interesting thing in the first 20 laps was Stroll dropping out of Kvyat’s DRS range. Hamilton was right: the cars just cannot follow each other anymore and that’s terrible for racing, even though the slow battle for the lead at the end of the race was nice.

  28. Welcome to F1 in 2017. No unusual circumstances and this is what you get. The Australian GP was no fluke.

    The incredible period in F1 racing that started in 2011, with an unusual series of highly exciting, action-packed races, has ended. It’s back to 90’s. Somebody call Jarno Trulli…

    1. Yeah but if the drivers were underwhelmed with the challenge then it’s no good either. The phase that F1 is in now is a necessary adjustment.

  29. 1 point per corner of actual action (3), then substract 10 for putin being more important then the race and 10 points off for him being in the drivers post race room. So actual score is -17. So 1 and that is more generous then Putin deserves.

    1. A race can’t be defined by someone that happens to be watching!

  30. 6/10… great start by Bottas, yet another first lap safety car (RG at fault).

    Processional middle, edge of the seat finish, but great for the Finnish…

    Bottas a deserved Driver of the day…

  31. Probably the worst track on the calendar. Gave the race a solid…2.

  32. A 3/10 race that I promoted to a 4/10 for the genuine tension over the battle for the win at the end.

    1. @willwood, I got the same score, 4, but from the other direction, I had decided that despite the potential for SV to catch VB and make a last second pass for the win the race was no better than average, but on reflection SV had too little and applied it too late barely getting within a second of a slowing VB, that combined with absolutely no other real battles made me deduct 1 point.

  33. These kind of races filter the casual fan from the hardcore fan. This was a race that surely deserves a vote above 7. It wasn’t perfect but it had flat out racing from beginning to the end, the only moment drivers had to hold back was due to a backmarker. Grand Prix racing is back!

    1. If you think this is a 7, then how would you rate a race like the 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix for example?

      1. Upward of 14 I’m sure.

    2. This is highly offensive statement, not just for the motorsport enthusiast, but for any sportsfan in general. It’s not that difficult to define what makes a good sports match: a duel for victory on the razor’s edge and a certain unpredictability in the result. This Russian affair had neither. To call it anything else than utter crap (sorry for Bottas to take his first win like this) is an overvaluation.

    3. You being the casual fan unable to appreciate what flat out racing is, isn’t it?

    4. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
      30th April 2017, 15:13

      This has to be sarcasm, that wasn’t racing. Racing involves direct competition between the entrants, for 90% of this event it was just hotlapping with large gaps between cars. I don’t see why it would “deserve” above a 7.

    5. “These kind of races filter the casual fan from the hardcore fan.”

      Ah yes, the “no true race fan” argument. I’m sure only a real fan of motorsport is sharp enough to see that that was an incredibly exciting race, right?

      3/10 from me.

      1. @utbowler0407 Perhaps the word ‘casual’ wasn’t what I meant to say, but surely a hardcore racefan who watches anything that “has to go from A to B as fast as possible against something else” would be able to appreciate the battle we saw today. Both Bottas and Vettel had to go to the absolute limit to make sure they finished ahead of the other, that in itself is as beautiful and great to watch as a million DRS overtakes.

  34. 5/10 only because it was exciting to see whether Vettel would overtake Bottas. I was curious to see how the strategy would unfold. Too bad Massa managed to cause a big anticlimax by robbing us to see how it’d turn out.

    With no overtaking at all, even a 5/10 is probably too generous.

    1. Massa was not at fault – Vettel was as he became unsure what Massa intentions were when Massa allowed him space to overtake on a corner. Vettel chose not overtake twice when he could have and then had the gaul to give Massa the finger when Massa visibly slowed down at start of a straight. Vettel was waiting for an invitation to pass instead of taking a slightly more dangerous space offered -listen to both their explanations of that incident. I think Vettel thought Massa may try some baulking movement to help his ex team mate on the corner – it was Vettel’s uncertainty that was the problem not Massa’s.

  35. 2/10. The most memorable parts of the race were when one of my mates watching it with me farted. A lot.

    Honestly this is a race which shows the new regs need fixing. Way less aero (single element wings????), bring back a tyre war, and simple engines. Is it really that hard?

    1. Hey come on, there’s nothing like a race enhanced by surround sound.

  36. 5 for me….marginally better than watching paint dry…..
    Well done to Valtteri…..a great start and win….but really no leading positions changed during the whole race…
    After all the car spec changes, we have cars now 3 to 5 seconds behind to avoid dirty air…and whatever you may think…Sebastian was never going to find a way past…without mistakes being made.
    A poor circuit for a GP as well

  37. Just remember there is nothing wrong with the new 2017 rules, just shams like racing in corrupt countries on atrocious circuits which produce poor motor races. It’s Valencia 2.0. Who cares about turn four, because the other 18 corners are as exciting as a carpet manual.

  38. 10/10. Would’ve been less if I didn’t have whiskey but I luckily I do!

  39. 6/10.
    Because although we didnt see cars battling it out, it was still what F1 is supposed to be.
    Tactics, adjustments, finding pace, trying to get close, a real outright pace race at the end.
    Bonus: a new winner with a trully great performance today.
    Good performances by quite a few drivers, including Kimi & the Hulk.
    Just all around a pretty good F1 race, because it did not make me go to sleep (some others in the past have).

    1. I guess I am just greatful we have two teams really battling it out this year.

  40. 7.
    Zero overtakes.
    Very happy for Bottas.
    Bad weekend for Lewis.
    Kimi still can’t keep up with Vettel.
    Nice fight between Mercedes and Ferrari.

  41. Alex McFarlane
    30th April 2017, 14:51

    2/10, only for the tight Finnish :-D

    That wasn’t a race it was cars driving a fast funeral procession. Easily the worst track on the calendar.

  42. 3/10 – despite Vettel chasing Bottas, there was nothing else worthwhile in the race. I’d think that the Bottas/Vettel chase at the end might have been far better at many other tracks, but not this one.

    Great start by Bottas, and the way the Mercedes pulled away was phenomenal. I hope Hamilton’s dropping back means he can crank this engine up at another track.

  43. A bit boring apart from the early and the final laps of the race, but at least better than 2014 and 2016 editions.

  44. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
    30th April 2017, 14:53

    Concrete tyres, poor track, poor race. 2/10, just for the mildly entertaining finish but even that never really threatened to do anything.

  45. If you rate this race below 5 or 6 it’s because you don’t enjoy strategy and the fine details of sector times. And that’s OK. I gave it a 7 because I do and I did. And I enjoyed 2 teams being so closely matched overall but with different strengths showing on this track. Needed more close racing of course to give it higher marks.

    1. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
      30th April 2017, 15:16

      Where was the strategy? All cars did one stop and with the exception of two drivers, all at about the same time. I’m not really sure how watching sector times can be exciting when most gaps are 5seconds+ with no sign of closing but to each their own.

    2. If 5 is average and 10 is outstanding then thereis no way I could go as high as 7. 7 for me would be an amazing race which this definitely wasnt. Most of us here like strategies and sector times but apart from last 5 laps this was a pretty boring race.

    3. Strategy !?, that’s for Chess not F1.

  46. It’s not the lack of passing, it’s the lack of TRYING.

    1. You cannot follow on this track. That is why they didn’t even try.

    2. @mtlracer, Nail on head, @naylamp, it’s not only the track, it’s more the car design regulations and tyres that are still too easy to wear out.

  47. I usually rate races above the average, but apart from the fact that we have a new winner and the closeness at the end, there was nothing interesting in this race, so that’s a kind 2/10 for me. Not a single overtake, and nobody was even close to one. This track is horrible, I can’t believe they have a contract for 8 more races.

  48. Sviatoslav (@)
    30th April 2017, 14:55

    So, I give it 10. That was the best race I have ever seen. So much not happening on the track, no one trying to overtake anyone.
    What’s great is that Ferrari didn’t win. I’d give the race 100 points for being so incredible if I could.

  49. 6, start was awesome, then nothing, then, Vettel did not pit, and fun began.

    Fight lasted to the end, but we all knew overtake wont happen without Bottas error.

    Podium was dull considering Bottas just won his first GP.

    Putin was entertaining, same as last year, good weather, more and more fans, everything was good…

    Not much more happend honestly. I think teams need 3-4 cars per team.

  50. The track’s just lame. I don’t think anyone even tried to overtake except for the first 2 corners in the first lap. Except for the first few laps, the leaders’ pit stops, and the last few laps, it was just a yawn fest. Kudos, to Bottas and Vettel for making it at least interesting.

  51. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    30th April 2017, 15:01

    I thought that aside from the first corner, and the last 10 laps, that was colossally boring. Literally nothing happened. And no, it was aboslutely nothing to do with the current regulations, but rather entirely the fault of the horrendous design of this abomination of a race track.

    We’ve seen in the past in both F1 and support series (GP2 and GP3) that this track is just not good for racing. Lots of 90 degree, 3rd and 4th gear, medium speed corners is literally the worst possible thing for close racing. Those last 10 laps or so were about as exciting as you could possible get from a layout such as this.

    Great to see Bottas get his first win of the season however, so for me, that’s the only saving grace of this and for that, I give the Russian GP a 4/10.

  52. I’d like to ask everyone this question: Was there any point in the race you felt Vettel had a realistic chance of overtaking Bottas?

    1. Nope. Still, who know what might have happened if it wasn’t for MAS…

    2. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      30th April 2017, 15:10

      I felt he had a legitimate shot once Bottas caught those last few backmarkers, because that helped Vettel reduce the gap to 0.7 seconds. But, obviously the sword cuts both ways and Vettel then got help up when trying to lap Felipe, so I suppose if there was no traffic he’d have been stuck in that 1.9-1.2 second gap.

    3. @keithcollantine
      Yes, after Bottas locked up I thought he might make another mistake, plus the traffic could have worked for or against him. I didn’t think Vettel had the outright pace to overtake though.

    4. As I posted above, no. The end of the lap makes it hard to get tucked up behind another driver and the Merc had plenty of poke to defend unless he was tucked right up behind. The only place on the track where Ferrari had a real advantage was through the twisties and he would need colossal pace to to a pass there and trying, as we’ve seen before, usually ends in the wall here.

      It was a poor race on a poor track.

    5. Consireding Vettel’s tyres were 7 laps younger than Bottas’ and backmarkers in play, do believe Vettel had a chance. Maybe pitting him bit earlier could have given him more time. Not an easy task, but with a good exit in last corner and with help of DRS that was surely possible.

    6. Only if Bottas would make a major mistake. The only realistic overtaking spots were after the 2 long straights, and even then it would have been nearly impossible, as the Mercedes was mighty on the straights.

    7. @keithcollantine Yes, I do believe that if we’d run the last 15 laps again and again there’s be results with Vettel on top.

    8. Yes. I think when the Vettel was lapping around 0.6 to 0.7s a lap faster with 12 laps to go and only a 2 second gap to Bottas.

      I thought if he’d get in the DRS zone while they were lapping backmarkers there would be a good chance for Vettel to sneak a pass in. It actually reminded me of the 2012 Austin GP where Hamilton caught Vettel during the last few laps and got a DRS pass while Sebastian was trying to lap a backmarker.

    9. @keithcollantine Only if VB made a mistake. Otherwise, nope. Not on this horrible track

    10. GtisBetter (@)
      30th April 2017, 17:03

      Nope. I haven’t seen anything this year to indicate that either Ferrari or Mercedes can overtake each other in dry conditions. The speed difference needed to overtake isn’t there. They are too close in laptimes.

    11. For two moments, first when Stroll let Bottas through late but Vettel immediately with around 10 laps to go and the gap fell to 1.2s, but Sainz afterwards was the opposite to that so it equalled out. Then on the penultimate lap again when I thought Massa could have let Bottas through earlier, but then he didn’t help Vettel out either. So there wasn’t danger for any long period for Bottas.

    12. When Bottas came up on Massa. I have a hunch that he got out of Bottas’ way faster than he normally would have. While I don’t think it gifted Bottas the win by any stretch of the imagination, I do think that it prevented Vettel from being able to mount a proper challenge. The top speed difference was astounding though. When Vettel had DRS, he was still losing like 2/10ths on the front straight to Bottas.

    13. @keithcollantine Yes, during the final laps but agree with @montreal95.

    14. Also yes, near the end when he was reeling VB in on fresher tires and VB had that lockup. The feeling didn’t last long though.

    15. If SV could have gotten to within 0.1 seconds of VB with 2 or 3 laps to go and stayed there, he may well have pressured VB into an error and won, but we all know that with these cars and tyres that is not a realistic scenario anymore.

    16. For a short while, yes. When Vettel cut the distance from about 3 to about 1.5 seconds, I thought that he might, but after that it was clear that he couldn’t get any closer.

    17. @keithcollantine – No. Only a hint of possibility when Bottas flat-spotted. But, the hot dirty air had already made me comatose at that point. What a horrid excuse of a track. Makes me miss Valencia – in a sick, nauseating way.

    18. Fikri Harish (@)
      1st May 2017, 7:53

      @keithcollantine

      Yes, due to Bottas’s costly mistake near the end. I was genuinely thinking that the pressure might get to him.
      Under normal circumstances though? Absolutely no chance in hell. Heck, I doubted Vettel could’ve gotten anywhere near DRS range had Bottas not made that mistake anyway.

    19. Ju88sy (@)
      1st May 2017, 8:32

      No, Bottas was much faster through the final sector on especially coming out of the final few turns. Although Vettel had the gap very close, he didn’t have the pace when he needed it most to get close enough to Bottas to make a move through Turns 1 & 2.

    20. Without the Massa factor, Vettel would have closed the gap right up and ramped up the pressure which could have led to a mistake by either driver. I say he would have had a go at passing and an epic last lap. Well done to both of them under the circumstances. Great race. Everyone moaning watched it right to the end not knowing what would happen and therein lies my fascination.

  53. The only interesting bit was when I realized that Putin was only slightly taller than Bernie.

  54. 5/10.

    First time I say this about a race, but it was indeed… BORING! Was there any passing at all, apart from the start??!

    Congrats to BOT, really deserved win… although he made a difference only at the start. He was the fastest in the 1st stint, but VET/RAI were faster in the 2nd stint. BOT and VET were so close performance-wise that if it wasn’t for that start, more than sure VET would have won. So, another very tight race where the victory could have gone to the other team very well.

    Thumbs down to MAS for impending VET, he simply killed the battle at its climax. Maybe he should have been told from the pits to let both drivers past.

    Hope I’m wrong, but I have the feeling RAI will be the only driver with a winning car in his garage that won’t win a race this season. If so, this will be quite telling… again… that he should have been fired at the end of 2014. He also seems very bored every time, it’s kinda weird some teams still want to hire him in a sport where the image is very important and given that he’s past his prime too.

    1. Actually, Kimi is great for image. He is a hugely popular character, albeit for showing signs of having Asperger’s.

  55. 10/10. If I were a doctor that has a patient who’s having problems falling asleep.
    3/10. And that’s only because Bottas won and Vettel chasing.

  56. It’s great we have a new race winner, but this was a godawful GP. I don’t think we have seen any attempt on overtaking after the first lap. Bottas flatspotting a tyre and backmarkers camouflaged the tracks poor design in combination with the current cars and tyres. Even if Vettel got closer, there would never be a chance for overtaking.

    I think there were only 2 drivers who got within DRS margin from a non-backmarker, Stroll in a way faster car behind Kvyat (?) for a brief moment, and Vettel on Bottas.

    Also, if you are looking for entertainment for your party, don’t invite Kimi, Valteri and Seb, my god, I’ve been to funerals that were more fun than that podium room.

  57. 5/10 was really boring. Best parts for me were Max’s start and the last stint from Vettel vs Bottas

  58. I was going to give it a 4, but the last ten laps were pretty good so bumped it up to a 6. Perhaps a bit generous.

  59. Bring back refueling of the early 2000’s, the kind of tire characteristics, aero levels and take away tracks with only one stop required.

  60. This is only the 3rd time since 2008 that I’d rated a race 1 out of 10. There were literally zero overtakes after lap 1. And the fake excitement Brundle and Crofty tried to sell at the end was pathetic. Even if Vettel got closer than he was he wouldn’t have been able to overtake. This track has officially taken the mantle of the worst on the calendar from Abu Dhabi. Happy for Bottas but passionately hate Sochi autodrome. I want it gone gone gone!

  61. After the first 2 bad races for Bottas Mercedece seems obese with getting him on par with Lewis,at maybe the sacrifice of Lewis.Shade of Mclaren,they wasted 3yrs trying to make sure Lewis didnt ,embarrass the golden boy..remember Totto is Bottas manager and being destroyed relative to Lewis could be departmental to his Carrier.Im sounding the arlarm early but lets hope Im wrong.
    Lets not forget this is the exact situation that destroyed Mclaren,Its started very inocent trying to give Button a boast against Lewis,That snow balled into the entire Mclaren team rally against Lewis.Lewis left for Mercedecse,then Ron Dennis retaliated by Dumping Merc engine hoping to hurt them fanacially for offering Lewis a contract and the rest is history.

    1. Oh yea that’s why they asked Bottas to let Lewis past THRICE in the last race, and he had to comply TWICE. LMAO !!

      1. That was of there own making,if they had pitted Bottas to cover Vettel and release Lewis who was immensely faster there would have been no need for team orders,but Totto was cuddling Bottas and trying to make it look that the two guys were on parity and tussling for win,in the mean time Vetell and Ferrari took the lead and won the race…..I dont trust Totto especially after his out Burst last year at the last race….and he being or was Bottas manager is of great concern.Lewis Drs MYTERIOUSLY NOT working to ensure Bottas took pole and Lewis uncharacteristically not being able to put a single session together seems like an attempt to give bOTTAS A boast of confidence. lets hope Im wrong

    2. I bet Ron Dennis even stopped liking Hamilton’s instagram posts.

  62. The circuit is indeed miserable and should not be on the F1 calendar. The politicization of the event makes it look even sadder. And while I do not want to watch lame DRS “overtaking”, I have to admit that overtaking-free racing does not make me happy either.

    However, the race was not a total write-off. The start was exciting, some cars retired and the pit stop strategies were at least slightly diverse. The last laps were obviously intense and a new winner is always something to be happy about.

    Long story short, F1 fans deserve better but it could have been worse. 6/10. Looking forward to the Spanish Grand Prix.

  63. i give it on 2, Bottas and Max great overtaking at the start after that i didn’t saw any overtakes of something what looked like racing. I thought Vettel pitted to late and i was right he never could try 1 overtake attempt .
    Bad camera work i think i saw 6 cars and that was it.

    And Alonso didn’t finish so during the summer holiday i am on an private island with pleasant company! I won the bet…

  64. ILuvSoundtracks (@)
    30th April 2017, 15:27

    4.
    Russian Grand Prix probably won’t be a success. The Sochi circuit will be the new Valencia.

  65. Boring race, boring track. Nice last few laps but processional throughout.

    1. There’s even a word for it: motorcade. 3/10.

  66. Matt (@hamiltonfan1705)
    30th April 2017, 15:33

    A race of two halves.

    First half was utterly dull. People shouldn’t blame the track, everyone separated quite a lot on the SC restart.

    Second half was intense and despite being overtakeless, was action packed. So not a good race but not a fail. 5/10

    The struggle to follow on this track though has raised concerns for Catalunya though, the king of dirty air.

  67. I used to respect Massa but, he displayed a complete lack of class today. It was bad enough that he ruined for everyone what was setting up to be a great finish . While I must assume that Bottas would have been able to hold off Vettel’s charge we will never know and worse we did not get to see it played out because of Massa’s selfish driving.
    Further, and what really displayed Massa’a true lack of character was his post race comments where he said in substance that we should all disregard the incident because the complaint came from Vettel and we all know how he complains excessively.
    Terrible ! The fact of the matter was that Massa should have gotten out of the way . He was not actively racing anyone at the time Vettel approached him and to make a adhominem attack just raises the question whether the blocking was a poor job by Vette of reading Massa’s intentions ( as Massa claimed ) or whether the block was intentional and a case of an ex-teammate lending a helping hand.
    If the later was the truth ,as it appears to be,it also show a lack of thought because it robbed Bottas of the chance to win without a hint of taint and thus did Bottas a disservice . As I said Felipe, terrible !

  68. Jozef Griffiths
    30th April 2017, 15:35

    What a waist of everyone’s time and money. That’s it not watching it again until it’s changed. Not buying tickets for any races this year. Formula flop . Was better 20 years ago. Too many rules very sad. message to sponsors their making fools of your brand’s. Lol

  69. Great Start by Bottas. Then Nothing…………………….For a long Time……………………..Too Little to late for Vettel…..The leader at the end of turn 1 wins the race…. A predictable end to what was supposed to be an unpredictable Race. (Jugging from qualifying)

  70. Awesome for Bottas but that was one of the most boring races I have ever seen. May as well have been 5 laps long.

  71. Best race ever in Sochi. 4/10! Previous years it was no more than 3/10. Please delete this circuit where overtaking is not possible.

  72. I do not use overtakes as an ‘as is’ metric in my enjoyment of a race. I can really enjoy races where the strategic element plays a bigger part than the on track action if they make for exciting viewing.

    Today’s race had nothing. Cars didn’t follow each other, F1 is still messing about with tyres resulting in hivemind strategies and to top it off, backmarkers and pensioners got in the way of a very late possible battle for the lead. I guess it had cars going really fast with 5 to 10 second breaks in between them.

    What a deception this is after the first 3 races. Some may moan about the moaning about tyres, but at least during the Good Year days you’d have to stick to a compound the entire weekend and you’d end up having different cars doing different strategies. Pirelli shakes things up, gives us 2 interesting races then we’re back to ‘one strategy fits all’.

    1. You can choose not to moan about the tyres (they are the way they are because drivers and audience moaned about the former spec), but they will assure quite a few races like the Russian GP in 2017.

      The very mild amount of excitement in China and Bahrain was caused by external factors (weather, ill-timed safety car startegy-wise that induced an extra round of pitstops). Without it these races would have been much like Australia/Russia.

      You say “what a deception after the first 3 races”, but look a little deeper and you’ll see all 4 races so far have been a deception, despite 4 drivers having a shot a the title. It’s going to be a long, monotone, mostly mathemathical championship.

  73. 2. One of the worst races I’ve ever seen. Awful track where no one can overtake, massive gaps between the drivers, when the most excitement is Lewis Hamilton’s overheating radiator something’s gone wrong.

    1 point for it taking place and 1 point for the Vettel chase at the end. Abysmal viewing overall.

  74. No I don’t think he ever could have overtaken Bottas. Even with the fresher tyres to get past you need a sizeable pace advantage. 7 lap fresher tyres didn’t give Vettel the additional pace advantage. If Vettel had got close enough to “have a look” some simple defensive positioning from Bottas would be enough to keep Vettel behind. Bottas was imperious today.

  75. The race had a great start, then too much of nothing until the final laps, after Bottas locked up and presumably damaged his front tyres I thought there was a chance for a battle at the end. No way. Even without Massa meddling in the last lap it never seemed close enough. In could be a 4.

    But I will give it a 5 for Bottas’ maiden victory, while his teammate was nowhere to be found (44 wasn’t quite the worst out there, did slightly better than Palmer)

  76. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    30th April 2017, 16:21

    Really pleased for Bottas but that race was as a howler.

  77. The first 45 seconds were great, the last few laps were kinda tense and the part in between was horrible.
    Kudos to Bottas for a great race.

  78. 3, atleast i got a good midday nap.

  79. I’m very happy for Bottas, and I think he drove beautifully, but… that was a contender for the worst race I’ve ever seen, and I’ve been watching since the mid-1990s. Might actually have been the worst, because I can’t remember one that bad.

    I don’t mind races with little overtaking if there’s some suspense and excitement… but there wasn’t any of that, at all, anywhere in the entire field once the Safety Car pootled back into the pits. The commentators tried their best but even the Bottas-Vettel ‘fight’ near the end was no more than a close-up procession and the only possibility of a position change rested on whether or not Bottas would make a stupid mistake.

    And I don’t mind races without much storyline or suspense, as long as there’s a bit of overtaking… but the first lap aside, I didn’t see a single move.

    Dismal, boring excuse for a race on a dismal, boring excuse for a circuit. The only saving grace was Alonso dumping his McHonda where he did before the start, so it was a lap shorter than it would have been.

    Feel totally justified in giving that thing a 1.

  80. How did some people give this an 8 or a 9 even!!?? Have they never watched F1?

    4/10. Might have been a 3 apart from the bit of excitement towards the end when Vettel was catching Bottas.

    I am not aware that there was a single overtaking move other than back markers being lapped. Maybe they were not shown on TV.

    Congratulations to Bottas on his first win though. He was quick all weekend. Honorable mentions to Vettel, Raikkonen and Ocon.

  81. It’s a 1. This must improve otherwise nobody will be watching anymore. Even slotcar racing is more exciting than this. Watching cars in driving in a queue for hours.

  82. 2. Terrible race on an awful track. Zero racing overtakes on track as far as I’m aware.

    3 out of 4 of the Russia GPs have been absolutely dire. Probably the worse track since a Las Vegas car park! Drop it now FOM!

    1. This is an awful track, really booooring.

      zzzzzzzzzzz

  83. 1/10. Great win by Bottas. Very good driver.

  84. Ferrari, Seb fan
    30th April 2017, 17:36

    Very boring apart from end. Really hoped that Vettel would win but congratulations to Bottas, hope he continues to win races. Happy vettel has nice point advantage

  85. Nice fight at the end between Vettel and Bottas. I’m not going to be too harsh, and give 1/10.
    I initially wanted to give 0/10, but it was not possible.

    One of the most boring F1 race I have ever seen (and since 1991, I have not missed a single Grand Prix).

  86. 8/10 – It didn’t have many fireworks, but was a tense slow-burner where I didn’t know who was going to win until the last couple of laps. That strategy call to leave Vettel out as long as they could was superb, and it’s nice to see Ferrari making bold strategy calls like that and it working. Yeah, it didn’t get them the win, but it gave them a chance to challenge on a track where Merc (or perhaps just Bottas, who is always great in Sochi) was faster on race day.

    1. 8/10 for a race with no track overtakes after the start??

      1. Yep. If overtakes made for great racing, we’d be talking about how amazing 2014, 2015, and 2016 were. Watching the lap times while Vettel was doing that super-long stint on the ultras was tense and his charge at the end made it so that I didn’t know who was going to actually come out on top until the last couple of laps. That doesn’t happen often. I called most of the top 5 results by the first pit-stop so far this year.

  87. I think this was typical Bridgestone era race. Only start and pit stop could have changed anything. But, it was tense. Whole field fighting with time and pushing hard.

    It is good that Ferrari can challenge Merc even on such tracks and if not for brilliant start of Bottas, reds would be comfortably 1-2.

    What spoiled me some entertainment:
    – constant radios from Hamilton who were nowhere in terms of pace and not in battle, we barely heard anything from Bot/Vet/Rai.
    – Putin again, I did really hoped for new era… Seeing cuts from race to Putin with Bernie reminds me that some things never change.

    Overall 6/10 due to good time battles, -2 points for politics on the race track and drivers room

  88. 6 for me. Classic early 2000 race with only the start putting in some action. The battle in the end was a +2 for me. Not that I actually expected Vettel could overtake Bottas, but you never know what happens with the leader when the pressure is on!

    BTW: McLaren seems to be at Red Bull reliability levels now. One car at the finish, well done Stoffel!

    1. 2000 had the fewest overtakes throughout the season but is often regarded as one of the most memorable seasons thanks to the season long battle between Schumacher and Coulthard, and then Schumacher and Hakkinen. I feel like I need to make that point because some people believe that overtaking automatically makes for good racing… not necessarily.

      1. I agree with you. For me one of the best races of 2016 was the one in Barcelona with battles for all podium places but hardly any overtaking. I referred to the early 2000s because a lot of the races had very few overtakes back than. But still a lot more viewers than in the past few years with loads of (DRS…) overtaking.

        1. You see, 2000 still had some excitement, for a start I remember in the old days the heart thumping every lap of the race even if it was a dull race because the cars could explode or stops could go wrong, or the strategy around during meant that you had to study the splits before and after stops to judge what was happening and who was where etc.

          The reliability it’s now so high that it’s literally possible to decide the race on the first lap and have practically no chance of anything happening.

      2. Yeah, everything so far this season feels like 99 and 2000 to me in the best way.

  89. 5/10 – For the most part, it wasn’t too exciting. The circuit just doesn’t promote good racing and the director seemed to be more bothered about making sure Putin gets his airtime. The sooner Russia disappears from the calendar, the better.

    However, all of that didn’t stop Ferrari and Vettel trying something different to try and catch Bottas at the end. It’s not the overtaking that excites me, it’s the battling and the feeling that something could happen, and that was more than enough to keep me interested at the end.

  90. 6/10 just for the welcome change of faces in both qualy and race. And for some intrigue with charging Vettel.
    As much as I want to be patriotic and say that I can finally watch a race in my home country, which has some tradition in motorsport…
    The circuit is beautiful – looks at that turn 3 and the scenery around the whole thing!
    However, it is also generic, sterilised and has disgusting politicians visiting it.
    So the conclusion now after several years is… This probs wont ever be the race that I`m going to go and see on track.
    Also, the coverage seemed really underwhelming – we saw 2 leading cars 90% of the time. It might have been also me phasing out though :)

    1. Regarding the coverage of just the leaders: I guess there was very little to see elsewhere. There were just no battles. And that is not just because of the sterile circuit. Yay for the bulletproof tires…

      1. @mosquito, but the tyres are not bulletproof are they? Don’t believe what you are told, told believe what you see, tyres getting blisters, tyres losing grip and having to be changed around mid-race despite the cars driving mostly in clean air.

  91. The race was mostly boring except for at the start and the finish (Finnish).

    However, the prize for the most uncomfortable moments of the race weekend actually had nothing to do with the race at all. It’s a tossup (literally) between watching the creepy entourage of Putin, Ecclestone and Carey maneuvering through the trapped podium finishers right after the race where even a fly would not want to be on a wall… And, then EJ Cringeworthy’s podium interviews that were nearly enough to make one wish for temporary vision and hearing impairment. The only one not suffering the least bit of embarrassment for this spectacle was Mr. Cringeworthy himself. Please, F1 powers that be, do not let this ever, ever happen again…

  92. Was all set to score this 3/10 but Vettel’s final charge perked it up. Trust Russia to crash the 2018 party 5/10

  93. 4/10 from me as it was worse than average and Massa ruined what could actually have been an exciting finish. Terrible race. The only ‘excitement’ that the cameras could find was a couple of cars locking up. Snore snore snore.

  94. I’d give it a 3 out of 10, and it would only get those 3 because of Vettel charging towards Bottas in the last ten or so laps. This track obviously exacerbates the difficulty following in dirty air, as literally nobody could follow the car ahead closely enough to even attempt an overtake. Vettel was closing bottas by close to a second per lap until he got to 2 seconds behind, at which point he was struggling to get more than a couple of tenths per lap. Once he was 1 second behind, it was clear that he wasn’t going to be able to get close enough to attempt a pass.

    The huge dirty air effect at this circuit was apparent from the fact that Vettel was doing practically identical lap times to Bottas once he was within 1.5 seconds, despite the fact that Raikkonen, on older tyres, was lapping close to a second a lap faster than them both. Vettel would have been more than a second a lap faster than Bottas in the end if he had clear air. It’s crazy to think that with such a pace advantage, he couldn’t even get close enough to attempt a pass, let alone get past.

  95. Thought it was a great race, 8/10. After reading most of the comments, I can’t help but feel overwhelmed to think that because Lewis was essentially a non-factor, (leaving his fans bored) many are feeling that this wasn’t a great race. Yes, I said it. R.I.P to my mentions. They won’t admit it but it’s true.

    Realistically this is Formula 1 racing. If you could not enjoy a great see-saw battle and enjoy the ‘hunt’ from Vettel (which in many ways is much more exciting, because it packs anticipation for the unknown) because there wasn’t enough midfield passing, go watch another sport please. To say this race is a 4/10 because Lance Stroll or Daniil Kvyat didn’t overtake enough cars for 11th place is a sad excuse.

    Keeping everyone happy is getting harder and harder:

    Too many overtakes “Get rid of DRS it’s a gimmick, not exciting”
    Not many overtakes “Lengthen DRS, change the cars, not exciting”

    The cars are too slow “The cars should be the pinnacle of motorsport, not saving tires”
    The cars are too fast “Too much dirty air, they can’t follow each other”

    Radio rules “They need to play more radio, it adds to the race watching experience”
    FOM play lots of radio “These drivers are too whiny, always complaining, and are told what to do too much”

    Degrading tires “The tires fall apart after a few laps and the drivers can’t push, we need tires the drivers can push on”
    Low-deg tires “These tires are awful, no deg means dull 1 stop races”

    Refuelling “All the drivers do is pass through the pits, there is no on track passing, get rid of refuelling”
    No refuelling “Bring back refuelling, it gets rid of 1 stop races and allows the drivers to push throughout each stint”

    I could go on the list never ends….

    This is what deflates me the most. I feel the sport is on an upward trend, I thought I watched a great race only to come here and all I see is negative this, negative that.

    1. Strongly disagree. The key ingredient to great racing is a great track. F1 only has a handful of great tracks left. The lesser tracks need reactionary gimmicks, media hype and megalomaniac politicos to keep the interest.

      Keeping everybody (fans) happy is easy. Remove the tinpot dictatorship tracks from the calendar and replace them with real racing tracks. Except FOM will lose money and they will be unhappy. So there’s that.

  96. 5.049 average of 526 votes says all that needs to be said I think

  97. Probably the worst race of the 2017 Season so far and them most boring Russian GP due to a complete lack of overtaking. But a great job by Bottas.

  98. I think its a 4.25/10 its not classic and not a Average one either just a very normal f1 race we see back in the days.
    Although the layout doesn’t help overtaking at all, the slow corner then Big Straight which ends with another slow corner might have worked pre 2009 but surely this kind of design wont work any more now barring some tracks.
    I think its time that When any new track is built Hermann should ditch his Hairpin/ Slow corner then fast straight and bring the old high speed corner then the Very fast straight like he built in back of the day ala Turkey/Shanghai.

  99. jack (@jackobite)
    1st May 2017, 7:27

    Im not the smartest guy on the planet but in a sport where cars cant follow in dirty air and have problems overtaking, why make them wider? Why race on street circuits that lay unused for the rest of the year? Why the bigger and bigger wings?
    Russian GP 2/10
    Grats Bo77as!
    Seb was never getting past without a huge error from Bottas
    Who was that gay looking dude in the drivers cooldown room? Wearing a black suit and getting too much air time?

  100. A perfect example of the concept of ‘processional’. Vettel’s (ultimately futile) chase at the end was the only redeeming feature.

  101. Darren Jones
    1st May 2017, 12:19

    Been losing interest in F1 for a while now and this was the final nail in the coffin after an incredible start with Hamilton sandwiched between Riccardo and Vettel it was so amazing to see them get so close without contact great driving and then….well that was it these cars cant follow each other on track and it makes for very dull viewing im not a purist but I love sport and the drama it brings there is no drama in f1 anymore so disappointing

  102. 6. Was cruising towards a 2 or 3 until the thrilling final third, but otherwise forgettable. The continued blatant politicization (cuts away from racing action to check in with Putin & Co.) of the Russian GP, along with its consistent dullness, makes it one of the races I least look forward to.

  103. The people who scored it a 10 should be made to provide a clean urine sample before being allowed to enter this site. Anyone who scored the race a 7 or better must be so easily amused. No wonder “reality” tv is so popular.

    The only thing that made the race remotely interesting was that Bottas was going for his 1st win. If it was Vettel chasing Lewis it would have been a zero. The track is terrible. It produced terrible racing in the degradable tyre era, it produces terrible races in the aero era, no matter what changes they make to the formula it will always be a terrible track.

    This is the prime reason why Bernie was a cancer on the sport: give anyone a race with absolutely no regard for how the track may damage the quality of racing and the brand of F1. As long as they line your pockets all is well.

  104. Boring, processional race. I can’t give it more than 5.

  105. It was fixing to be the worst race since Valencia 2009 until the final few laps. Was easily a 1/10 (and I literally never dream of giving a race that kind of low score) until the final 5-10 laps.

    The track just doesn’t promote good racing, sadly.

    But hey, we got a battle for the lead, which bought it up to a 4/10 from me, and that’s generous.

    And this is not because it wasn’t an overtaking fest. There just weren’t any good battles to watch. No one was really chasing anyone down. On top of the that, the track is so uninspiring.

  106. It seems that I have missed the deadline to vote but as I have already typed up my comment I may as well post it.

    I thought the race was rather dull so I only gave it a 4 and I think that may be a bit generous.

    After the usual sort of action on the opening lap there didn’t seem to be much happening, it was like the first race of the season in Australia in that I couldn’t recall many, if any, on track overtakes.

    The gaps between the lead drivers in the first part of the race meant that there wasn’t even the prospect of a change of running order coming about through the pit stops and drivers using the undercut, as there was plenty of time for rivals to react to such a strategy if it looked like they would lose a position.

    With Vettel waiting longer than the others to make his sole pit stop he had fresher tyres at the end of the race than Bottas and he duly closed up to the leader, but at no point did I think Vettel would be able to find a way past unless Bottas made a mistake, and apart from a lock up earlier in race the race he didn’t make any errors.

    The two main components I usually need to make a race entertaining were not present, either on track action or the expectation that something may happen even if nothing does in the end. So that is why I gave it a lower rating.

    I am pleased that Bottas managed to get his first Grand Prix victory, his detractors can’t claim he lucked into it as he outperformed Hamilton all weekend and Mercedes didn’t the performance advantage they have had in recent years.

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