Practice one and two gave us a good insight to what the weekend might entail.
However, the lead up to Friday practice the assumption was to be Mercedes would be the pacesetters after Mercedes power has dominated in Sochi over the last few years.
Ferrari started the weekend strong with Kimi Raikkonen topping the time sheets in P1. Followed by his German teammate in P2. Mercedes will have to up the game on Saturday for qualifying but I see great value in a Sebastian Vettel pole position at 6/4 for qualifying or either Ferrari driver to qualify fastest at 5/4.
As fast as Ferrari look, Kimi Raikkonen always seems to be a little bit adrift of his team mate and the two Mercedes cars come Sunday's race. Along with the Red Bulls looking further back then they was in Bahrain, the Mercedes double podium looks a strong possibility at 8/11 with the ever reliable W08 in the capable hands of Hamilton and Bottas.
After three double points finished on the spin, Force India will be looking to add another to their already solid start to the 2017 season. Esteban Ocon has finished 10th in all three Grand Prix this season. And on a track that has been very kind to Mercedes power in the past will look to improve on that this Sunday. Ocon to finish in the points is 4/5 and the double points finish is at 6/4.
Nico Hulkenberg has been very impressive in his Renault this year and is always very strong in qualifying. Another strong performance on Saturday for the German would give him a great platform to find another top 10 finish come Sunday. The German is 5/6 to score points in Sochi on Sunday.
The Haas cars have struggled in practice with brake issues having changed from Brembo to Carbone Industrie. Romain Grosjean looks to be more sensitive with the feel of his brakes on his car and with the problems he faced on Friday could well be in trouble in Sunday's race. A Grosjean retirement is high price at 9/4 considering his Friday's woes.
Again, the same as the last few weeks, McLarens woes are no better off. Especially for the Belgian, Stoffel Vandoorne. Who is set to take a 15 place grid penalty on Sunday. The Belgian is yet to see the chequered flag, and nor has his Spanish colleague, Fernando Alonso. The banker for me this Sunday is Vandoorne to DNF at 8/13. And it's equally as likely Alonso won't see the finish as well at 4/5.
Being a street circuit, Russia has had its fair share of safety cars with little areas of run off and the need to clear debris off the track if and when there's an accident. At a short price but a very strong chance of happening you can find a safety car to be needed at 4/9
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Words By: Luke Mitchell