Formula 1 - How was Sochi?

So how was Sochi? Well at least for Mercedes it probably could not have gone better, at least if you don't count one weird stop on lap one.

Again a one-two finish and secured their constructors championship. It would have been a perfect sweep if not for Valtteri Bottas stealing the fastest lap right at the end on the final lap.
That being said Hamilton lead every single lap and the race wasn't very exciting to say the least, but that's how the whole season has been so far so nothing new to report. Only Rosberg can challenge Hamilton for the championship with 16 points separating the two teammates...yay...hoping next season won't be as boring.

Now back to the Sochi course. We saw it in action and can I be the first one to say it was pretty good. I enjoyed the Olympic sights and the overall layout of the track. Enough corners and straights, I think they hit a pretty good balance. It also felt very fast and I believe the average speeds were quite high during the race. Also it doesn't seem to be like any other track, so any complaints about it feeling like track X should not be in the discussion.

Overall I think Sochi was a decent addition to the F1 calender and I hope to see it more, though in a more competitive field.

It's motor sport time!

I know this blog doesn't really do motor sports, since I don't personally know much about it. But still, it's a huge motor sport weekend so it will be noted even here at TheSeatHeater. Today it is the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indy 500 in Indianapolis. Both giant events in the motor sports calendar.

Monaco GP will start in a moment so and I thought let us hype ourselves up for that race. Qualifying yesterday went on in tricky conditions with water on the track from a previous rain shower. It was lucky for some teams like Williams who finally managed to get both drivers in to Q2 and for the young Dutchman Giedo van der Garde who also pulled his Caterham to Q2 for the first time. But the water quickly evaporated from the track and the top guys were on the top again and Q3 looked predictable with both Mercedes and Red Bull going strong. And it was predictable. Qualifying ended with the Mercedes drivers taking the one (Rosberg) two (Hamilton) again and the Red Bulls taking places three (Vettel) and four (Webber), leaving Lotus driver Kimi Räikkönen in fifth position. And as we know the Monaco circuit is one of the, if not the, toughest circuits to pass someone. So the start will be critical. 

Now for the Indy 500, which I know much less about. The 500 mile race will start later today, in about 5 hours time. In qualifying Ed Carpenter took pole position. The defending champion Dario Franchitti was weak and only took the 17th position at the starting grid. Will Power - who made the fastest lap at 229.808 mph - took 6th place and will be in great contention for the victory at this years Indianapolis 500. Since I have never watched Indy 500 live I don't know how important the qualifying is. But I guess that it is as important as in Formula 1. 

It will be an incredibly exciting and fuel pumped Sunday for motor sport fans.