Qualifying
I thought I'd just put on the hardest tire, and run laps to continue to learn the circuit, as the TT laps I'd done weren't enough to get me completely comfortable. I haven't really figured out the tire selection screen, and when I got to the garage, the hardest tire wasn't available, so I fit the Ultra and headed out with 10 laps of fuel on board.
I managed 4 laps, and improved my time on 3 of them (corner cut on the other). Despite still looking at the circuit map to know which corner was coming up next, I felt like I was in a good groove, so thought about pitting to fit a faster tire. I also thought that was a good idea because it was about time to learn where the pit entrance was! Thinking about this might have been why I lost focus and crashed into the wall. Qualifying over, and I'd ultimately drop to last.
Race
From being outside the top 10, I got free tire choice, an advantage I'd probably rather take at this point in time vs being mid pack while not knowing the circuit very well. In the strategy screen, I thought I'd do something radical, and try and run the Ultra then the Hyper, and avoid the Soft all together. Little did I know that everyone else was also going to avoid the Soft, so not that radical after all, other than I would invert the strategy compared to most other drivers.
I had a really good start and passed two drivers on the run down the straight Briefly got into 9th, but then at turn 1, my front left made contact with the right rear of a Red Bull, and I lost my momentum. I think I dropped back to last, and I just wasn't comfortable enough with the circuit to be pushing hard in a pack, so I just chilled at the back for a few corners.
Jonathan ran wide and I took 11th before the opening lap was over. Soon after, I caught Fruitsalsa and was looking for a way past. It took quite a few attempts, but I got him down the home straight with DRS. A lap or so later, I caught and passed Norm when he ran wide for a corner. Then it was Falco. I caught him, and was thinking I was in position for another pass down the home straight, but when going around the last corner, he vanished from the track, and then appeared behind me. Okay...
The next car ahead was Pat, and he had some good pace here. It took me until lap 9 to catch him, but just as I did, he pitted. At this point, most of the drivers who started on the Hypersoft tires did the same, and it was good info for me and my inverted strategy. As I raced down the home straight to start lap 10, Dark was coming out of the pits, and I actually led the race for about 2 whole seconds before he took the inside for turn 1 to retake the lead. This obviously wasn't my fight, and when Nick & Tron caught me soon after, I made it reasonably easy for them to both pass me as well.
During the rest of that stint, Sucuri & Mega both passed me, also not my race, but I had been losing focus, and getting sloppy anyway. I was ready for some fresh tires to make me happy again!
I pitted from 6th on lap 17, thinking I could do the last 10 laps on fresh Hyper's. I was a little disappointed to see I'd fallen to 10th after pitting, but was confident I could make up some places with my fresh Hyper's while most of the others were on worn Ultras. Sure enough, I was a lot faster than the drivers in front, and caught Falco within a couple of laps, and had a fun battle with him before making the pass on the back straight. A lap later, and I caught Pat, but when the back end got away from him at turn 13, and he almost lost it, I couldn't avoid hitting the back of him, and I damaged my front wing. I did make the pass on the next lap with DRS at least.
Then it was Fruitsalsa. I checked with my engineer, and was told he had 6 seconds of penalties. I was at 3 seconds at the time. I wasn't sure if I could catch and pass him with my front wing damage, but I wanted to at least get within those 3 seconds to finish ahead of him. He was 7 seconds ahead, and I was closing the gap, but not quite at the rate I'd have liked. I checked with my engineer again, and now he was up to 9 seconds of penalties. I thought I had it if I just avoided any more myself, but as soon as I thought that, I had picked up another penalty!. Now it was 6 vs 9. I had to get it under 3 again, and I was pushing so hard. It was about 4 seconds as we started the last lap, and I think I checked with my engineer one more time, and was told Fruit now had 12 seconds of penalties, but yet again, I picked up another one! It was the 3 second battle once more! As I crossed the line, I would see that I missed it by just 0.324 seconds! Ugh! My bad for picking up those extra corner cutting penalties.
Summary
I loved this race. I was leading it at one point (haha), and I had some super fun battles on track. It always feels great to be on the fastest tire at the end of the race. Really think I like this circuit too, but glad I don't have to learn the next two; Suzuka & CotA. What do you guys think of Sochi after having raced here for a few seasons?