Alexander Saurin is deputy governor of the Krasnodar region in Russia, home of the Sochi Autodrom, where the Russian Grand Prix is running this weekend. He directs Sochi’s post-2014 Olympics plans and runs the legal department, property developments and wineries of the Krasnodar region. Saurin recently spoke with a group of journalists, including Brad Spurgeon of The International New York Times, through an interpreter, Sergey Vorobyev, chief executive of the Sochi Autodrom, about the developments of Russia’s Formula One race since its inaugural run last year.
Q. Did the first Russian Grand Prix live up to your expectations?