F1 Roars at Sochi Olympic Park

(ATR) For the third time since the 2014 Winter Olympics, Formula 1 racing comes to the seaside park built for the Games.

The 2016 edition of the Russian Gran Prix was held this weekend, the race won by Nico Rosberg of Germany. It was his seventh consecutive victory going back to the 2015 season.

The Sochi track was constructed after the close of the Sochi Olympics and was ready for the first race in October 2015. The 5.8 km course cuts through the park, passing by the venues used for the Winter Games. Safety fencing and other barriers around the course now make it difficult to traverse the park on foot as directly as was possible during the Games.

Russian president Vladimir Putin sat next to F1 chairman Bernie Ecclestone in the grandstand. On Putin’s left was Jean Claude Killy, the ski legend who led the IOC Coordination Commission for the Sochi Olympics through 2014 when he retired from the IOC.

Sitting in front of Putin was Dmitry Chernyshenko, Sochi 2014 CEO, now head of Gazprom Media.

Also handing out trophies was Deputy Prime MinisterDmitry Kozak who oversaw the Sochi Olympics for Putin.

Putin offered his thanks to Ecclestone for bringing F1 to Sochi, contributing to year round activities in the region known as the "Russian Riviera", which draws millions for summer holidays.

"I would like to thank you for your support to the development of motor racing andF1 as its major component," Tass quotes Putin, who promises to keep promoting motor sport in Sochi.

"It makes Sochi ever more attractive," Putin said.

Ecclestone lathered praise on Putin, saying the Russian leader had few equals.

"At the moment there is no one. I mean, if we talk about our days he is like another, in England for instance, Winston Churchill. He will go down in history as a great statesman," Ecclestone is quoted by Tass.

View a video of the Sochi Olympic Park course below:

Written by Ed Hula.

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