Russian Grand Prix 2015: Where to watch practice live, preview and track facts

Mercedes were back in form at the Japanese Grand Prix after a one-race blip in Singapore, with Hamilton pulling off a major victory ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel.

The F1 juggernaut has now arrived at the Sochi Autodrom for the second ever Grand Prix in Russia and Mercedes are not hoping for another Singapore situation due to the slightly tight and twisty nature of the track. The Silver Arrows team are on the verge of winning the 2015 Constructors' Championship and need to score just three points more than Ferrari to do so.

The Red Bull Racing cars struggled in the power hungry Suzuka circuit, but could come into form in Russia and Daniil Kvyat will be keen to impress in front of his home crowd. Williams along with Ferrari also will be the other challengers for the championship leaders. Mercedes will be wary of the latter, who took advantage of their troubles and took victory at the Marina Bay street circuit in Singapore.

Where to watch live

The first practice session of the Russian Grand Prix starts at 8am BST (Friday), with Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports F1 HD providing live coverage in the UK.

Real-time internet updates are available on the Live Timing section of the sport's official website. Live coverage of the second practice session starts at 12pm BST.

Track Facts

• Circuit name: Sochi Autodrom
• First F1 Race: 2014
• Circuit length: 5.848km
• Number of laps: 53
• Race distance: 309.745km
• Lap record: 1.40'896 (V Bottas - 2014)
• Most wins: Lewis Hamilton (1)
• 2014 winner: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)
• 2014 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

Drivers Championship review

Hamilton (277 points) increased his championship lead over team mate Nico Rosberg (229 points) to 48 points. The German needs to start winning races soon, if he wants to have any chance of catching the Briton before the last race.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel (218 points) continued his good form with yet another podium finish to maintain his gap to Rosberg, who he has a good chance of catching before the end of the season. He is now only 11 points behind Rosberg in second.

Kimi Raikkonen (119 points) remains in fourth place in the standings but Valtteri Bottas has now overtaken his teammate into fifth place after Felipe Massa (97 points) failed to score any points at Suzuka. The Williams looked strong at the Sochi circuit last season and could mount a challenge to the Ferrari this time around.

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo (73 points) and Daniil Kvyat (66 points) are in seventh and eighth places, respectively after both of them failed to score any points in Suzuka. Sergio Perez (39 points) has driopped to tenth place after Romain Grosjean (44 points) snared a place with a good drive in Japan, which saw both the Lotus cars finish in the points for the first time this season.

Constructors Championship review

Mercedes (507 points) are running away at the top of the table and need to score just three points more than Ferrari (337 points) at the Russian Grand Prix to be crowned 2015 Constructors' champions.

Ferrari's lead over third-place Williams (208 points) has increased to 129 points after the Maranello-based team's third and fourth place finish, which puts them in a comfortable position for the remainder of the season. Red Bull (139 points) maintain fourth place, and are hoping to make inroads into catching Williams in third.

Lotus (60 points) have been usurped by Force India (77 points) after the Vijay Mallya-owned team continued their good form from previous races. McLaren-Honda (17 points) remain only ahead of the Marussia team and continue to struggle to score points.