The Russian Grand Prix has moved from its spot at the end of the calendar to take a more prominent position at the front of the 2016 season - this time it is the fourth round and so we're headed their next. A couple of drivers are looking forward to making their home visits count, but most watching from the outside are wary about what the Russian race can deliver after a rocky start to Sochi's F1 history.

Event schedule

At last, F1's politics has been somewhat quietened with the governing bodies focusing on 2017 instead of messing around with the current regulations. That means everyone can concentrate on the task in hand - getting some more points on the board. Nico Rosberg has got this season off to a flying start and comfortably leads the championship, but Lewis Hamilton's run of bad luck has to end some time.

Daniil Kvyat made a name for himself in China for not giving an inch, and will no doubt want to do the same this weekend as he heads into his home race. The Renault squad are giving Sergey Sirotkin a free practice outing, making the most of a Russian driver to appease the watching crowds, but they'll soon hand the car back to the more experienced drivers.

Support racing for this event includes F4 NEZ Championship and Mitjet Series 2L Arctic Cup.

Expected conditions

The sun appears to be taking something of a holiday this weekend, with cloudy skies forecast throughout the entire three days of racing action. Temperatures are relatively steady, with humidity also remaining stable but hovering around the 70% mark, meaning we could see some rain.

Circuit history

The Sochi track is still relatively new to the calendar, with 2016 hosting the third running of the Russian Grand Prix there. Lewis Hamilton has won both the previous races, and scooped one of the pole positions with Nico Rosberg snatching the other pole last year. It's clear Mercedes have a special affinity with the Russian race.

Three rookies are taking part in this weekend's race, but two of them have driven the Sochi circuit before. Rio Haryanto has participated in GP2 action there, as has Joylon Palmer who won the GP2 race in 2014, and drove free practice for his current F1 team in 2015.

Tyre degradation is considered to be very low in Russia, with most drivers favouring a one-stop strategy. Of the two races, all but one of the points positions have been secured by a one-stop run.

Tyre compounds

Given the low degradation of rubber around the Sochi track, it's no surprise to find all but two of the drivers have gone for the same number of medium compounds - just one set. Manor have both their drivers with two sets each, but they are the lone outsiders in terms of the white striped tyres.

Meanwhile, at the softer end of the spectrum, Red Bull have gone aggressive with ten sets each of the supersofts, as have the Haas team. Manor and Ferrari have the fewest supersoft sets with six for each of their drivers.

Selected tyre sets per driver

Lewis Hamilton	1	4	8
Nico Rosberg	1	4	8
Sebastian Vettel	1	6	6
Kimi Räikkönen	1	6	6
Valtteri Bottas	1	3	9
Felipe Massa	1	3	9
Daniel Ricciardo	1	2	10
Daniil Kvyat	1	2	10
Nico Hülkenberg	1	4	8
Sergio Pérez	1	4	8
Kevin Magnussen	1	5	7
Jolyon Palmer	1	5	7
Max Verstappen	1	4	8
Carlos Sainz	1	4	8
Marcus Ericsson	1	5	7
Felipe Nasr	1	5	7
Fernando Alonso	1	5	7
Jenson Button	1	5	7
Pascal Wehrlein	2	5	6
Rio Haryanto	2	5	6
Romain Grosjean	1	2	10
Esteban Gutiérrez	1	2	10

Press conference schedule

Official press conferences are organised by the FIA and happen four times during the weekend. The qualifying and post race press conferences will take place after the television unilateral interviews.

Race stewards

The FIA stewarding process includes a former F1 driver to offer added insight. These stewards are overseeing the weekend's action.