Paddy Lowe says the Russian Grand Prix weekend will be an exciting one for the Williams Martini Racing squad as they celebrate Sergey Sirotkin’s first home Grand Prix in Formula 1.
The race at the Sochi Autodrom is the first race of the latest double header this weekend, with the race being quickly followed by the Japanese Grand Prix next weekend, and Lowe, the chief technical officer is expecting a lot of support for his driver Sirotkin.
“This weekend we head to the Sochi Autodrom on the Black Sea for the fifth time, and for the first of a back-to-back flyaway ending in Japan,” said Lowe.
“The weekend will be very special for us as a team, as it will be Sergey’s first home Formula One race, so we expect to see huge support for him from the local fans.”
Lowe says the Sochi Autodrom needs a good all-round performance from the car to be competitive, something that has been lacking throughout the year with the FW41, however he is hopeful that the spirit that the team has shown in the past two races in Italy and Singapore continues into Russia and both Sirotkin and Lance Stroll can show some good pace.
“We head to Russia later in the season than usual, but we expect to see similar weather conditions,” said Lowe. “The circuit itself is part permanent road, part street circuit and can be quite technically challenging.
“It requires good all-round performance to manage both low and high-speed corners, and there is also a very long run down to turn two, the first limiting corner, and one of the longest standing starts of the season.
“The circuit is wide though with low kerbs which allows the drivers to attack the corners. We look forward to continuing the fighting spirit we saw in Singapore, in these final few events.”
