Scuderia Ferrari Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc kept up his fine recent form by topping the timesheets in the first practice session for the Russian Grand Prix. Charles requested front wing alterations after setting his quickest lap time of one minute 34.462 seconds but was unable to lower his lap time.
Max Verstappen was less than a tenth adrift of the Ferrari man, while third-placed Sebastian Vettel was more than half a second away from his team-mate, with Valtteri Bottas ahead of Mercedes colleague Lewis Hamilton in fifth.
The Finn suffered a rear-wing failure towards the end of the session, while Daniel Ricciardo significantly damaged his own rear wing with a spin at TUrn 10 after the chequered flag. The Silver Arrows have won every race in Sochi since its introduction to the F1 calendar, but Hamilton says the champions will not be favourites at any of the remaining races this year.
There were concerns for Toro Rosso and Honda as Daniil Kvyat pulled over with engine failure early in the session. The Russian has been fitted with an entirely new power unit for this race weekend as Honda look to maximise performance for the Japanese GP in a fortnight’s time.
Russian GP FP1 results
- Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:34.462
- Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:34.544
- Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) 1:35.005
- Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) 1:35.198
- Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1:35.411
- Alexander Albon (Red Bull) 1:35.484
- Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) 1:35.740
- Daniel Ricciardo (Renault) 1:36.287
- Sergio Perez (Racing Point) 1:36.321
- Romain Grosjean (Haas) 1:36.516
- Carlos Sainz (McLaren) 1:36.523
- Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso) 1:36.538
- Kevin Magnussen (Haas) 1:36.596
- Lance Stroll (Racing Point) 1:36.714
- Kimi Raikkonen (Alfa Romeo) 1:36.770
- Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:36.844
- Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) 1:37.328
- George Russell (Williams) 1:38.520
- Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso) 1:38.550
- Robert Kubica (Williams) 1:38.670
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