Trouble at the first corner!

Last year’s inaugural Russian Grand Prix saw Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg try a gung-ho manoeuvre to demote pole sitter and title rival Lewis Hamilton at the start. Having badly flat-spotted his soft tyres, the German had to pit at the end of the opening lap but was then able to complete a mammoth 52-lap stint on mediums and recover to P2.

With Pirelli going one step softer in its Sochi compound nominations this year, Rosberg probably won’t be able to pull off the same one-stop strategy if he runs into the same kind of troubles when the lights go out. But with a 48-point deficit to Hamilton, can he afford to play it safe?