Lewis Hamilton goes to the Russia Grand Prix hoping to match Michael Schumacher’s all-time record of 91 wins.
Schumacher won his last of 91 victories in China in 2006. In 2007, Hamilton won his first GP in his debut season and now goes into Russia with 259 races behind him already.
Mercedes are undefeated at the circuit in Sochi, and Hamilton has four wins there since its introduction in 2014.
That dominance in Russia has meant another win for the team through Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas would give them the most consecutive wins at a grand prix by any team.
Speaking ahead of the race, Hamilton said he could not believe that he had come this far.
His closest rival this season is again teammate Bottas, but he is 55 points behind the current champion and there are only eight races remaining.
Ferrari are likely to challenge for another race, but Red Bull racer Max Verstappen has seemed the strongest of the pack apart from the Mercedes.
The usually confident 22-year-old Dutch rider talked down his chances.
“It’s not going to be easy in Sochi and it has not been a favourite for us with a lot of long straights,” he explained..
“It’s also not the easiest place to overtake, but let’s hope this weekend I won’t need to do too much overtaking and that we can get a good result.”
The Russian Grand Prix is sold out, with race organisers aiming for at least 30,000 spectators in attendance at Sochi.
