Arguably, the only person more delighted with the Sochi Autodrom than Vladimir Putin - who will take full advantage of the global publicity generated today to send a message to the watching world - is Lewis Hamilton, who appears to have had the track designed with him in mind.
The world championship leader has been quickest in all but one session, and has never really looked threatened here. Despite his last corner mistake in Q3, Valtteri Bottas has said that he doesn't really think pole was possible.
Of course, mathematically, Nico Rosberg can allow his teammate to take this one, knowing that second place would keep him within 17 points, there is the psychological factor.
Having taken the championship lead for only the second time this season, in Singapore, Hamilton maintained that lead courtesy of his win in Japan. Indeed, a win today would equal his four-race streak at the start of the season and this could really give the Briton a psychological advantage over his teammate.
On the other hand, Mercedes can, and probably will, wrap up the Constructors' Championship today, which would, so we are told, leave the Brackley pair free to race at Austin and beyond.
Bottas will be out to spoil the party, as Williams continues to improve and impress. How sad therefore that a fuel pressure issue prevented teammate Felipe Massa from being in the mix. Thankfully there are a couple of decent straights here and two DRS zones so hopefully the Brazilian will be able to work his way through the back, though starting from eighteenth he certainly has his work cut out.
After a disappointing FP3, McLaren rediscovered its Friday form, though Kevin Magnussen has been penalised for a gearbox change. Jenson Button has looked good all weekend and a good result here would surely improve his job prospects for 2015.
Were we of the conspiracy mind-set of a certain Mr Crompton, we might be wondering about Daniil Kvyat's starting position. Mr Putin is making a statement with this race - having already ordered that the entire grid and paddock falls silent - is it possible that Daniil Kvyat is already being lined-up for his first podium finish? Then again, maybe like 'Our Nige' at Silverstone, Daniil benefitted from the 'Sochi Effect'.
Despite Fernando Alonso's best efforts, the Spaniard could only manage eighth, one place ahead of teammate Kimi Raikkonen. One the other hand, one has learned never to write off Mr Alonso.
Force India is enduring another difficult weekend, as it so often does in the second half of seasons, its cause not helped by Nico Hulkenberg's grid penalty following his gearbox change. Based on the evidence thus far this weekend, the Silverstone outfit looks likely to lose ground to McLaren.
Sauber is looking a little stronger this weekend, the Swiss outfit desperate to score its first point(s) of the season, while Lotus looks set for another difficult afternoon. Indeed, Maldonado starts from the very back after incurring more penalties than you could shake a stick at.
At Caterham, Marcus Ericsson continues to improve and impress whilst surely nobody, if he does have any influence here, would mind if Putin decreed that Marussia, represented by Max Chilton, take something away from here.
As is ever the case, everyone is falling over themselves to tell us how impressed they are with the circuit however, the proof will be seen in the years ahead. The circuit is likened to both the Valencia street circuit and Yeongam in Korea, both of which soon disappeared from the calendar.
Despite the presence of the facilities left over from the Winter Olympics it appears featureless and bland, whilst the promise of making it a night race in 2015 hardly lift one's spirits.
There are two DRS zones, the first detection point is just after the start/finish line with the activation point located just after T1, while the second detection point is before T9 with the activation point just after the same corner.
Tyre choices are medium (prime) and soft (option) and as the performance gap between the two compounds has come down over the course of the weekend we will probably see the drivers keeping their tyres for as long as possible, with a one-stop strategy now looking a distinct possibility.
A one-stop strategy is theoretically fastest, now that the pit lane speed limit has been reduced to 60kph. However, this will depend also on the inherent speed in each car, as well as track position.
The ideal one-stop strategy would see drivers start on the soft tyre, change to the medium on lap 34 and then run to the end. The opposite strategy is just as quick; start on the medium and then change to the soft on lap 18, although this will not be used by the top 10 on the grid.
The fastest two-stop strategy is to start on the soft, change to the soft again on lap 20, then to the medium on lap 50.
sign in