F1 Russian Grand Prix

Charter a Private Jet to the F1 Russian Grand Prix

No sooner than the last of the 98 events in the 2014 Winter Olympics were over, construction of the Sochi Formula One Circuit began.

The track was laid along the same path Olympic skiers, lugers and ice skaters took while participating in the games in the resort city located in the south of Russia on the Black Sea near the border with Georgia.

Despite the tight timing and a controversy about letting Russia into the Formula 1 family at all after allegations of its involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine, the show did go on.

The Russia Formula 1 Grand Prix debuted in October 2014.

Don’t let the picturesque setting fool you though. The track is a tough one.

World champion Sebastian Vettel (who came in 8th in the inaugural Russian Grand Prix) said the track, with its mix of high-speed corners and technical sections, is a challenge for racers.

If you want to see what it looks like, watch the video below and take a lap around the 3.6-mile Sochi Circuit. You’ll speed up and slow down as you wind around venues built for the Olympic Games.

Sochi, located 1,000 miles from Moscow, is called the Summer Capital of Russia. Located on the same latitude as Cannes, France, the resort town has some 200 days of sunshine a year and a mild climate with fall temperatures – when the Grand Prix is held – in the low 70s.

We Can Get You There

If you want to see a Formula One race on a historic venue and soak up the local color in Russia’s largest and most popular resort city, Paramount Business Jets can arrange a flight for you into the following nearby airports:

• Sochi Airport, URSS, AER, Sochi, Russia (3 miles)
• Gudauta Airport, UG23, Gudauta, Georgia (37 miles)
• Sukhumi Dranda Airport, UG29, Sukhumi Dranda, Georgia (70 miles)

Roberto Merhi at the 2015 Russian Grand Prix. Picture Source.

And, while in Russia, do what the Russians do.

Bring both your swimsuit and skis along with you because it’s possible to take a dip in the Black Sea (it will be a little chilly, but you can do it) and then head on up to the Caucasus Mountains for some skiing and hot buttered rum, er, vodka. If you are a little sore after those ski runs, there are plenty of spas with healing mineral springs in the area.

Other not-to-miss sites include:

• Winter Theatre: The place to go if your trip isn’t complete without taking in a classical Russian opera, ballet or play.
• The Singing Fountains: The dancing waters with accompanying lights and music that were built in the 1970s are as impressive as those at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
• Museums and galleries: You can visit places like Joseph Stalin’s summer house and the Museum of Sochi, which holds an archeological collection and a history of how 100 nationalities united in the city.
• The Tree of Friendship Garden: It houses a tree created by a Soviet botanist who crossed a cutting from a wild lemon tree with one from a mandarin orange. A museum was built around it.
• Discovery World Aquarium: Filled with both freshwater and sea creatures.
• Waterfalls: Take a five-hour walking tour along a marked trail that leads to 33 of them in the Golovinskiy Forest Range in the Sochi National Park.
• Stalinist architecture: See many different styles of buildings, designed and built mainly between 1933 and 1955 under the rigid control of Joseph Stalin in accordance with his taste and style.
• Finally, you can’t visit a city like Sochi without tasting some local cuisine – and, of course, washing it down with vodka.

Look for things such as olives stuffed with gherkins, sausage salad, beets and borscht, smoked trout and Russian gingerbread.

Street vendors will sell you cheese balls on a stick, knishes and piping hot pita.

If it’s made of dough or bread and has sour cream, potatoes or cheese in it, you’re likely to find it in Sochi.

Picture Source: "Nico Rosberg 46776" by Kremlin.ru. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Commons