Russia – Free Practice 1: Rosberg pushes Hamilton back more than 7 tenths of a second!
Nico Rosberg confirmed his current good form by clearly dominating the session at the wheel of his Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was relegated to more than 7 tenths of a second, ahead of the Ferraris and a speedy Felipe Massa in Williams.
It’s under the sun that this Grand Prix weekend kicks off in Russia. The Sochi track is hosting Formula 1 for the third consecutive year, and the stands are relatively well-filled.
On this first morning, all eyes are on the Red Bull garage. Firstly, because the local driver, Daniil Kvyat, is in particularly good form and is coming home with a hard-fought podium from the last race in China. But most importantly, the car of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo is equipped with “the Aeroscreen,” the driver cockpit protection system tested by Red Bull.
Mounted on the Australian’s RB12 for a formation lap, this new system seems to appeal to more drivers than the halo presented this winter by Ferrari. Nico Hülkenberg, Force India driver, also considers this device more attractive than the halo.
Taking in the view. Our first shots of @danielricciardo and the Aeroscreen making its debut at #RussianGP. pic.twitter.com/go0zgjVyEW— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) 29 avril /f1/actualite/20930-sergey-sirotkin-rejoint-renault-et-va-rouler-a-sotchi.html
For this first free practice session, the German will not be behind the wheel of his Force India. He has left his seat to the Mexican Alfonso Celis Jr. At Renault, Kevin Magnussen has been asked to give up his place to Sergey Sirotkin, newly hired by the team, who will therefore perform in front of his home crowd.
**The session begins** with little activity on track, but several drivers are already making mistakes on a track lacking grip. We see Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, and Sebastian Vettel spinning without consequence.
Mid-session, the two Mercedes cars lead the timing charts. Nico Rosberg clocks in at 1:39.097, two-tenths ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Following them are Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Daniil Kvyat (Red Bull), Sergio Pérez (Force India), Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso), Max Verstappen (Toro Rosso), Felipe Nasr (Sauber), and Fernando Alonso (McLaren) rounding out the top ten.
Gutierrez (Haas) finally takes to the track and sets a modest 1:43.362. For the moment, only Haryanto (Manor) and Massa (Williams) have not been credited with a time. The rapidly changing track conditions prevent teams from forming a concrete opinion on tire degradation.
Nico Rosberg nevertheless attempts a run with Super Soft tires and improves his time to 1:38.127, relegating Hamilton to more than 7 tenths behind! Ricciardo, freed from his “Aeroscreen,” takes advantage to snatch the provisional third fastest time from Bottas. The Red Bulls seem to confirm their good form from the start of the season.
A little further on, the Ferraris seem to be having some difficulty getting their tires up to temperature. Vettel finally moves up to 3rd place, but with more than one second and seven-tenths behind Rosberg, ahead of his teammate Kimi Räikkönen, who has the 6th fastest provisional time despite a series of improvements. That said, neither of them has fitted Super Softs on their car yet…
Daniil Kvyat (7th) inadvertently entertains his audience with a spin amidst the smoke from his Pirelli tires. He is then imitated by Kimi Räikkönen, but without damage for both men.
Now isn’t the time for doughnuts, @Dany_Kvyat… #FP1 #F1 #RussianGP 🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/UYIN3OwQTB
— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 avril /f1/actualite/20930-sergey-sirotkin-rejoint-renault-et-va-rouler-a-sotchi.html
A quarter of an hour before the end, Vettel and Räikkönen switch to Soft tires and consequently improve their lap times. The Finn reaches 3rd place ahead of his German teammate. The gap with the Mercedes drops below one and a half seconds. Meanwhile, Haryanto finally takes to the track. The Manor mechanics worked throughout the session to enable him to leave his garage. To thank them, the Indonesian treats himself to the luxury of beating Celis Jr’s Force India time and places his name at the 21st position, two tenths behind his teammate Pascal Wehrlein.
In the final minutes, Vettel moves up to 3rd place and the rest of the standings remain unchanged.
The final classification of FP1:
PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF #FP1) #F1 #RussianGP 🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/4f3CbqWjVI
— Formula 1 (@F1) 29 avril /f1/actualite/20930-sergey-sirotkin-rejoint-renault-et-va-rouler-a-sotchi.html
