2016 F1 Round 16 Malaysian GP FP1, Rosberg Leads as Magnussen Car Fire Brings Red Flag

The 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix weekend began at Sepang on Friday, with first practice temporarily interrupted by a pit-lane incident. Rosberg led with a 1:35.227, 0.494 seconds ahead of team-mate Hamilton, as Mercedes took the top two places on the resurfaced circuit.

Archive image of a Ferrari during first practice for the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix

Räikkönen and Vettel were third and fourth, around 1.1 seconds behind Rosberg. Alonso took fifth, while Red Bull’s Ricciardo and Verstappen rounded out the top seven on harder tyres.

Around five minutes into the session, Kevin Magnussen’s Renault caught fire in the pit lane. He quickly got out of the car and the flames were soon brought under control, but the session was red-flagged. Practice resumed only after the car, fuel and fire-extinguishing agent had been cleared away.

After the red flag was lifted, Mercedes returned to the timed running, with Rosberg and Hamilton occupying the top two positions. Magnussen had completed only two laps before the pit-lane fire and could not record a valid lap time.

Hamilton locked his wheels under braking and briefly went off the track. Rosberg later suffered oversteer and ran off at Turn 10, but the advantage both drivers had already established was enough to keep them at the top.

For Ferrari, Räikkönen’s 1:36.315 was slightly quicker than Vettel’s time. Vettel complained of poor tyre balance early in the session, while the two red cars remained immediately behind the leading pair.

Alonso opened the weekend in fifth as McLaren tested Honda’s upgraded power unit. Button did not use the new internal combustion engine and did not run on soft tyres, ending the session tenth.

The pit-lane fire during first practice did not develop into a larger on-track incident. Renault repaired Magnussen’s car, allowing him to take part in the afternoon’s second practice session.