F1 Raceweek: Key stats ahead of Russian GP

Sochi hosts the fifth Russian Grand Prix this weekend with Mercedes looking to continue their complete dominance at the race.

Mercedes celebrate Valtteri Bottas' Sochi win in 2017

Mercedes head to a happy hunting ground this weekend as the Formula One season moves on to the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.

The Silver Arrows have begun to pull away from rivals Ferrari in the standings in recent months after winning four of the past five races.

Lewis Hamilton has taken the chequered flag on each occasion to move 40 points clear of Sebastian Vettel, and the Briton will be confident of extending his advantage given Mercedes' impressive record in Russia.

All four races since its return to the calendar in 2014 have been won by a Mercedes driver, leaving Ferrari with a huge challenge to stop their rivals' march towards more titles.

Here, with the help of Opta, we look at some of the key statistics around the Russian Grand Prix.

3 - If Hamilton wins in Russia it would be his third win in a row for the first time in 2018; since 2014, he has secured three consecutive victories in each season at least once. Hamilton has finished no worse than second in the last six races.

4 - Mercedes have won all four previous editions of the Russian GP - Hamilton (2), Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas the triumphant drivers.

3 - Three of the four pole positions at the Russian GP have been won by a Mercedes driver; Vettel, for Ferrari last year, being the exception.

10 - Ferrari have reached the podium in each of the last 10 races, their best run since 11 consecutive races in 2007 (Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa).

9 - Daniel Ricciardo has not reached the podium in nine races, his worst run since 11 consecutive races between 2015 and 2016.

21 - Sunday is Max Verstappen’s 21st birthday, he is the youngest driver to win a race in F1 ever (18 years and seven months in Spain 2016).

307 - Fernando Alonso is in line to equal Michael Schumacher for second place in the list of drivers to compete in the most races in F1 (307). Only Rubens Barrichello (323) has raced in more.

100+ - Alonso and Raikkonen are both enduring their longest winless streaks in F1. The Spaniard has failed to be victorious in any of his last 104 races, while the Finn is winless in 109.

4 - This will be the fourth different month that the Russian GP has been hosted in over its five editions (April, May, September and October).