Sochi race helps boil down the Formula One title race truths

First impressions can be deceiving. Arriving at the Sochi Autodrome on Thursday, it quickly became clear that Russia's motorsport fans are both knowledgable and vast in number. And while double points is likely to ensure interest until the final race, Sochi showed that, sometimes, what we think are key ingredients to success are not always that explicit.

The Formula One fraternity found enthusiastic crowds greeting them at Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix. The circuit itself proved to be a bit more tricky than first imagined. Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

The town of Sochi, a half-finished holiday resort on the edge of the Black Sea, did not immediately suggest it could host a successful Formula One weekend.

The key ingredients appeared missing: Russian interest in motorsports was questioned, the city was eerily quiet and the circuit looked as tame as negotiating a car park.

Russia’s race hinted at being less like Monaco and more like Mokpo, the famously isolated town that hosted the Korean Grand Prix between 2010 and 2013 before quietly falling off the calendar.

Yet first impressions can be deceiving.

Arriving at the Sochi Autodrome on Thursday, it quickly became clear that while Russia may not have held a grand prix for 100 years, the country’s motorsport fans are both knowledgable and vast in number.

Alexey Popov, the face of F1 in Russia and a commentator on RTR, was swamped by fans as he entered the circuit, while thousands of his compatriots flew in from Moscow and Saint Petersburg for the ­weekend.

The visiting Russians were essential if this race was to succeed.

Sochi is a seaside town with a population of just 340,000, which, in F1 terms, is only 40,000 more people than Silverstone welcomed over three days for the British Grand Prix last year.

Also, the circuit is in the district of Adler, about 20 kilometres from Sochi centre and yet to be furnished with the shops, bars and restaurants that the people staying at its three sprawling hotels might enjoy.

At 9pm, two days before the cars took to the track, the town was so quiet it was impossible to eat outside of a hotel.

Again, that quickly changed as F1 brought its mixture of glamour and glitz to town.

By Friday, restaurants along the seafront were open for business and so populated staff were forced to refuse customers, while a nearby nightclub was evidently popular despite charging a 6000 rouble (Dh600) entrance fee.

On track, things proved equally as misleading. Pre-race, the circuit – flat and unattractive – was likened by several drivers to Valencia Street Circuit, the heavily criticised Spanish venue that hosted some of the sport’s most boring contests in recent years.

Once the cars took to the track though, it proved a misjudgement.

Ferrari’s Marco Mattiacci noted “it is more complicated than we thought”.

That is not to say it produced a ripsnorting race. Sunday’s 53-lap contest was a snooze-athon, but that was as much to do with the dominance of Mercedes than anything else.

The German marque’s superiority has never been so obvious: Lewis Hamilton had generated a 21-second gap at the front inside 27 laps, while Nico Rosberg, who dropped to the back of the grid after a first-lap mistake, had climbed back up to second in a little more than an hour.

The team is deserving of the praise being showered on it. Red Bull Racing displayed similar dominance last year, but their popularity was weakened after repeatedly showing favouritism to Sebastian Vettel, who won nine consecutive races between August and ­November.

Red Bull, having failed to successfully accommodate two drivers capable of winning the world championship, made the sport predictable and processional.

In Rosberg and Hamilton, Mercedes is producing the most memorable one-team title fight since Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve battled it out at Williams-Renault in 1996. No preferential treatment, no team orders, just flat-out teammate-on-teammate racing.

On recent form it looks likely to produce the same outcome: a British winner.

In 1996, Hill dominated for much of the season winning eight of the 16 races, but four retirements allowed Villeneuve to remain in striking distance as the title went to the wire.

Hill eventually won and Hamilton, whose victory in Sochi was his ninth of the year, is in the ascendancy this season having won four races in a row.

Rosberg though, like Villeneuve, is minimising the damage through his consistency. The German has only four wins this year, but he has finished second nine times and, with Hamilton collecting three DNFS, sits 17 points behind his teammate in the standings.

Such a title fight is great for the sport and great for Abu Dhabi, the host venue of the final race.

Yet, as is becoming increasingly common, F1 has created a problem for itself.

Bernie Ecclestone’s ridiculous decision to offer double points at Yas Marina Circuit means Hamilton could win every race between now and November 22, but lose the title the following day because of a new rule implemented this season.

Ecclestone has already hinted double points are likely to be scrapped next year and should the title be won because of the extra points in the UAE, the championship will be tainted and the winner undeserved.

Double points is likely to ensure interest in the sport is maintained until the final race, but, as Sochi showed this weekend, sometimes what we think are key ingredients to success are not always that explicit.

This season is proof that the best thing for a close title fight is parity not extra points.

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