Ferrari’s Kimi Räikkönen opened the Russian Grand Prix weekend on top by setting the quickest time in Friday morning’s first practice session.
Following initial runs on the yellow-ringed Soft tyres, the field emerged on the red-banded Super Softs, with Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas emerging fastest with a 1:36.119 at the Sochi Autodrom.
Bottas’ time left him over half a second clear of team-mate Lewis Hamilton, before Ferrari drivers Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel completed their Super Soft runs later in the session.
Räikkönen went fractionally quicker than his compatriot, posting a 1:36.074 to move 0.045s clear, but championship leader Vettel placed only fifth, having also spun through the right-hander at Turn 16, amid low grip conditions at the former home of the Winter Olympics.
Hamilton wound up third, while Max Verstappen placed fourth for Red Bull, albeit 1.1s behind Räikkönen, with Vettel fifth.
Daniel Ricciardo claimed sixth for Red Bull, with Force India and Williams rounding out the top 10, Sergio Pérez leading the pack, in front of Felipe Massa, Lance Stroll and Esteban Ocon.
Ocon briefly caused a red flag when bodywork detached from his Force India on the approach to Turn 2, though the errant part was quickly retrieved by marshals, and the session resumed.
Daniil Kvyat began his home event in 11th spot for Toro Rosso, in front of McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and the other Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr., who voiced his frustration at traffic on the radio.
Jolyon Palmer took 15th for Renault, in front of Haas’ Romain Grosjean, Stoffel Vandoorne, the Belgian complaining of a lack of power during the closing stages, and Sauber pair Pascal Wehrlein and Marcus Ericsson.
Renault test driver Sergey Sirotkin returned to the cockpit of the R.S.17 following his test outing in Bahrain but was unable to set a lap time on home soil.
Sirotkin, following an initial installation lap, re-emerged for his first proper run but stopped off-line exiting Turn 2 amid engine complaints, and did not take any further part in the session.
