Nico Hulkenberg emerged fastest during a shortened first practice session for the Russian Grand Prix on Friday.
The start of the session was delayed by 30 minutes as track cleaning was carried out following a “significant diesel spillage”.
Sebastian Vettel, who finished third, described the track a “mess” during his first lap.
Nico Rosberg was second quickest, just five-hundredths behind Force India’s Hulkenberg, whilst the second Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton was just seventh following a spin.
Force India enjoyed their best practice yet with Sergio Perez popping up in fourth ahead of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and the Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz.
When running did get underway, light rain began to fall, further complicating matters for the drivers, though it quickly disappeared.
2015 Russian Grand Prix Practice Times (FP1):
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 01 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:44.355 | – | 11 |
| 02 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:44.407 | 0.052 | 15 |
| 03 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:44.986 | 0.631 | 15 |
| 04 | Sergio Perez | Force India | 1:45.146 | 0.791 | 11 |
| 05 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:45.233 | 0.878 | 10 |
| 06 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso | 1:45.488 | 1.133 | 13 |
| 07 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:45.691 | 1.336 | 10 |
| 08 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:45.746 | 1.391 | 13 |
| 09 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:46.203 | 1.848 | 13 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:46.215 | 1.860 | 16 |
| 11 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:46.231 | 1.876 | 12 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:46.333 | 1.978 | 12 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:46.747 | 2.392 | 13 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | 1:47.443 | 3.088 | 16 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:48.006 | 3.651 | 9 |
| 16 | Danill Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:48.096 | 3.741 | 9 |
| 17 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus | 1:49.094 | 4.739 | 9 |
| 18 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia | 1:52.994 | 8.639 | 12 |
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:54.272 | 9.917 | 12 |
| 20 | Will Stevens | Marussia | 1:58.254 | 13.899 | 6 |
Discussion about this post