Russian president Vladimir Putin will not attend Sunday’s Formula 1 race at Sochi. “No,” a spokesman for the Kremlin told Russian news agency Tass. Putin will therefore miss what is expected to be a wash-out on Saturday, with F1 officials reportedly discussing moving qualifying to Sunday morning. “The main thing we have done is prepare all of the drainage systems,” said Alexey Titov, boss of the race promoter Rosgonki. “The rain on Tuesday showed us the weak points and we strengthened them,” Titov added. “It will rain – 100 percent,” he told Sky Deutschland. The good news is that, if postponed, it looks likely that qualifying will be able to take place on Sunday morning, ahead of a dry Russian GP.

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