Why Verstappen should be confident of Russian GP recovery

For the second race in a row, Mercedes has ended the first day of track action on top. It’s in a commanding position at the Russian Grand Prix once again – this time largely thanks to Max Verstappen’s upcoming engine-change grid penalty. But there’s plenty to suggest all hope is not lost for the championship leader at Sochi...

Alex Kalinauckas Sep 24, 2021, 7:25 PM

Upd: Sep 25, 2021, 1:51 AM

Thanks to the vagaries of the sprint race weekend format, Italian Grand Prix qualifying had already taken place by this time at Monza. But on Friday evening at the Russian GP, the sessions that really matter are still to come.

But that doesn’t make Mercedes’ position any less dominant – although of course it should be noted that the team’s excellent potential at Monza was wasted by Lewis Hamilton’s poor start to the sprint race there.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.