There are a lot of unknowns heading into this weekend’s inaugural Russian F1 Grand Prix. Nobody has a clue as to where they will stand on the brand new Sochi Street Circuit (although everybody expects Mercedes to be way ahead as usual) so it will be very unclear as to where McLaren will stand really. Whilst the thoughts of many will still be with Jules Bianchi and with Marussia after his frightening accident at the Japanese Grand Prix, this could well be a crucial race in the battle for fifth in the constructors’ championship.
On paper this doesn’t necessarily scream a track that suits McLaren, but they have done well on street circuits as well as cool conditions, which should help them nicely. The almost imminent news that Fernando Alonso is returning to the team after seven years is not a helpful distraction, but we have seen promising speed from both drivers in recent races, and they will be looking to put together a solid result here and beat Force India in the process.
McLaren Russian GP Preview
No. 20 Kevin Magnussen (DEN) – 12th
Form: 12/12/10/10/14
Magnussen’s form is worse than every driver bar the Lotus, Sauber, Marussia and Caterham drivers, which is pretty shocking. Despite this, he continues to impress with his impressive speed and daring driving style. However, that is not going to assist McLaren very much in beating Force India should he not pick up the points that he is clearly very capable of achieving. He continues to outqualify Button frequently, but he has very rarely outraced the British driver, having not done so since Austria.
No. 22 Jenson Button (GBR) – 7th
Form: 10/6/8/R/5
Button was probably the star of the show at Suzuka, with his very early pitstop putting him in a position to achieve his best result for a long time. Button doesn’t seem to perform so well on the standard ‘Tilkedrome’ so it will be interesting to see how he performs this weekend. His results leave him at the top in the battle between the McLaren and Force India drivers, but it is very tight between himself and Nico Hülkenberg.
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