Funny thing is Sochi is one of the more aesthetically pleasing tracks. It's a very professional F1 looking circuit. Unfortunately, like you say, it sucks for racing. Doesn't seem to have very good racing when they head there.
Some of my favorite F1 tracks are probably Baku(Azerbaijan GP), Sochi(Russian GP), Abu Dhabi(UAE GP) of course Spa(Belgium GP). Also good tracks that F1 race that MotoGP share are, Catalunya, Austria and Silverstone.
Worst F1 track: Monaco... Why even race there? Just give the guy on Pole the 1st place trophy.