Sergio Perez says "it's not easy to follow other cars" at Sochi
F1 News
Sergio Perez says that overtaking isn't as easy as it should be at the Sochi Autodrom, claiming that drivers suffer when following other cars at the circuit.
The Russian Grand Prix has rarely produced moments of good racing since it joined the calendar back in 2014, and last year's race was marred by the 'Valtteri, it's James' saga, where Valtteri Bottas was ordered to give up the win for championship chasing teammate Lewis Hamilton, despite the title being pretty much already guaranteed.
Perez has scored points on every visit to Russia so has good feelings about the upcoming race. He said: "Sochi is a track where I have good memories. My podium there [in 2015] was a really special result, where we chose a different strategy compared to the others and it really worked out well.
"The Sochi track feels like a mix of a street track and permanent circuit. It's quite a challenge and it doesn't allow for any mistakes, especially the final sector where the walls are quite close. It can be very tricky and feels narrow. For the drivers, it's an interesting layout with some unusual corners.
"For whatever reason, overtaking has never been as easy as you would think. It's surprising, given that we have such a long straight. It's not easy to follow other cars closely around there.
"When you are following a car, you struggle quite a lot for traction out of the low-speed corners [at the end of the lap] and that can be a problem because you fall back by the time you get to the straight."