Starting grid for the 2014 Russian Grand Prix - MotorSportsTalk

After 100 years away, grand prix racing will return to Russia today with the inaugural F1 world championship race at the Sochi Autodrom.

Following three straight wins, Britain’s Lewis Hamilton will be gunning to extend his lead at the top of the drivers’ championship today in Russia. After securing pole position on Saturday, he is well placed to move 17 points clear of teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg at the top of the standings.

However, Rosberg will be an ever-present threat to Hamilton from second place on the grid, and he also has history on his side. The last winner of a grand prix in Russia was also German and also drove a Mercedes-Benz – Willy Scholl’s victory around the streets of St. Petersburg could be harked back to today.

Valtteri Bottas will start the race from P3 after a great effort in qualifying that very nearly saw him upstage the Mercedes drivers ahead. However, as his tires began to wear, he could not keep his car on track in the final part of his hot lap.

Jenson Button and Daniil Kvyat put in some great performances to finish fourth and fifth respectively, with Kvyat living up to the hype on his home race weekend. Both will be keen on converting their grid positions into a good result today.

Further back, Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa were less fortunate. Vettel struggled to work with his car after a setup change, and will start the race from 10th place, while Massa suffered a loss of power on his Williams, leaving him 18th in qualifying.

You can watch all of the action from Sochi live on NBCSN and Live Extra from 6:30am ET.

FROM THE STEWARDS’ OFFICE

Pastor Maldonado has been relegated five places on the grid, carried over from his 10-place penalty at the Japanese GP. As this was for an engine infringement, any of the penalty that could not be served is carried over for one further race. He served just five places at Suzuka, so he will serve the remainder this weekend. UPDATE: Maldonado has also changed his gearbox, so will now start last.
Nico Hulkenberg, Max Chilton and Kevin Magnussen have all been given five place grid penalties for changing their gearbox.

STARTING GRID FOR THE 2014 RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX

1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas Williams
4. Jenson Button McLaren
5. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso
6. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull
7. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
8. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
9. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
10. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull
11. Kevin Magnussen McLaren
12. Sergio Perez Force India
13. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber
14. Adrian Sutil Sauber
15. Romain Grosjean Lotus
16. Marcus Ericsson Caterham
17. Nico Hulkenberg Force India
18. Felipe Massa Williams
19. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham
20. Max Chilton Marussia
21. Pastor Maldonado Lotus

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With three multiple winners now vying for the championship, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to Round 11 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

Chase Sexton earned his second victory of the season in Detroit when Aaron Plessinger fell on the final lap. Though he was penalized seven points for disobeying a flag, Sexton is third in the championship race. The Honda rider trails leader Cooper Webb (two victories) by 17 points, and defending series champion Eli Tomac (five wins) is three points behind Webb in second with seven races remaining.

Tomac won last year in Seattle on the way to his second season title.

Honda riders have a Supercross-leading 20 victories in the Seattle event but none at Lumen Field since Justin Barcia in 2013. Tomac and Barcia are the only past 450 Seattke winners entered in Saturday’s event.

Here are the pertinent details for watching Round 11 of the 2023 Supercross season in Seattle:

(All times are ET)

BROADCAST/STREAMING SCHEDULE: TV coverage of Round 11 will begin Saturday at 10 p.m. ET streaming on Peacock with a re-air Monday at 1 a.m. ET on CNBC. The Race Day Live show (including qualifying) will begin on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

NBC Sports will have exclusive live coverage of races, qualifiers and heats for the record 31 events in SuperMotocross. The main events will be presented on Peacock, NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports digital platforms.

Peacock will become the home of the SuperMotocross World Championship series in 2023 with live coverage of all races, qualifying, and heats from January to October. There will be 23 races livestreamed exclusively on Peacock, including a SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff event. The platform also will provide on-demand replays of every race. Click here for the full schedule.

POINTS STANDINGS: 450 division l 250 division

ENTRY LISTS: 450 division l 250 division

EVENT SCHEDULE (all times ET):

Here are the start times for Saturday’s Supercross Round 11 in Seattle, according to the Monster Energy Supercross schedule from the AMA:

4:50 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 1
5:05 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:20 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:35 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 1
6:25 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 2
6:40 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 2
7:55 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 2
8:10 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 2
10:06 p.m.: 250SX Heat 1
10:20 p.m.: 250SX Heat 2
10:34 p.m.: 450SX Heat 1
10:48 p.m.: 450SX Heat 2
11:22 p.m.: 250SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:34 p.m.: 450SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:54 p.m.: 250SX Main Event
12:28 a.m.: 450SX Main Event