17/09/2019
NEWS STORY
While Renault, Haas, Racing Point and Alfa Romeo all take the full complement of the C4 softs to Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix, and almost all the rest take nine sets, the Mercedes duo, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will take just 8 sets apiece.
The Briton, a three-time winner at the Russian venue, takes four sets of the yellow-banded C3 rubber, while his teammate, along with the Ferrari and Red Bull drivers, as well as Daniil Kvyat and George Russell, take 3.
Once again, the majority of drivers take just one set of the hard-wearing C2 hard, which don't usually appear until race day, the exceptions being Bottas, Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Gasly, Kubica and the McLaren pair.
Unsurprisingly, according to the likes of bookmakers suggested by Win Comparator, Hamilton goes into the Russian GP weekend as favourite, though Max Verstappen is also strongly fancied.
Last year's race was won by Hamilton, who, like 16 of the 18 classified finishers, was on a one-stop strategy.
The Briton, who led a Mercedes 1-2, started on the ultrasofts before switching to the softs, as did all of the first four finishers.