Lowe has high hopes for successful Sochi

Williams F1's chief technical officer Paddy Lowe believes this weekend's Russian Grand Prix could prove a happy hunting ground for the team.

Lowe said the team's success last time out hinted at a similar or even better result in Sochi. Felipe Massa finished in the top six two weeks ago.

"We are reasonably encouraged by the performance of the car in Bahrain, so we are optimistic for a strong race," he said this week.

"It is a circuit that requires good all round performance," he explained. "It has a wide range of different speed corners and a long straight, requiring power and efficiency.

"The long straight also provides one of the longest drags from the race start to the first turn," he added. "[That] gives some interesting opportunities for slipstreaming after the start itself."

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"This is just the fourth time we have headed to the Sochi Autodrom since the inaugural race here in 2014," Lowe continued. "It is still a relatively new circuit with new tarmac.

"The surface is very smooth indeed. Probably the smoothest we see all season, which does present some challenges.

"It can be difficult to warm up the tyres during qualifying and degradation is extremely low." Lowe recalled how Nico Rosberg pitted on the first lap in 2014 and was able to finish the race on the same set of tyres.

Lowe added that he was happy to see Formula 1 taking root in Russia.

"The Formula 1 fan base in Russia is growing in this relatively new territory for the sport," he said. "We look forward to putting on an exciting show for everybody this weekend.

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