2016 F1 Round 4 Russian Grand Prix FP1 – Rosberg leads, Sirotkin returns to practice

First practice for the 2016 Russian Grand Prix took place at the Sochi Autodrom on April 29. Rosberg led with a 1:38.127, Hamilton was 0.722 seconds behind and Vettel was third, 1.048 seconds off the pace. The two Ferraris followed the Mercedes pair.

Archive photo – Nico Rosberg drives his Mercedes in Q3 at the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos, São Paulo, November 2016).

Hamilton first set a 1:39.377 on soft tyres before Rosberg moved into first with a 1:39.097. Hamilton improved to a 1:39.307 but later locked his wheels and spun at Turn 2.

After an hour of running, Mercedes switched to supersoft tyres and Rosberg set successive laps of 1:38.642 and 1:38.127. Ferrari stayed on softs for its best times, with Vettel’s 1:39.175 and Räikkönen’s 1:39.332 putting them third and fourth respectively. Räikkönen had also encountered a DRS problem early in the session.

Massa suffered a clutch problem at the start but completed 14 laps after it was resolved and finished fifth. Williams team-mate Bottas ran 34 laps and was seventh, with Ricciardo between them in sixth after completing 24 laps.

Ricciardo tested Red Bull’s new cockpit protection concept at the start of practice before continuing with timed laps. Kvyat finished his home FP1 in eighth, Force India’s Pérez was ninth and Toro Rosso’s Sainz tenth.

Sergey Sirotkin replaced Magnussen at Renault and finished thirteenth with a 1:40.898. It was his second F1 practice appearance and his first since 2014. Team-mate Palmer went off the circuit several times and spun on his final lap, finishing eighteenth.

Alfonso Celis replaced Hülkenberg in FP1 and finished the session in 22nd. The two McLarens were just outside the top ten, with Button eleventh and Alonso twelfth. Celis completed 23 laps.

The Sochi surface was still slippery. Vettel spun at Turns 15 and 17, Button also spun at Turn 15 and Kvyat at Turn 17. Several drivers also had minor excursions off the circuit at Turn 2.