Once again the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have dominated Free Practice 1 and 2 at the Sochi circuit ahead of the Russian Grand Prix on Sunday.
Rosberg, lead home a Mercedes 1-2 in FP1, with a time of 1:38.127. The German driver has had a remarkable start to the season, winning the first three races and taking a maximum 75 points in the drivers’ championship. Opening up a 36-point lead over his nearest rival and team mate Hamilton. Hamilton was just over seven tenths of a second shy of beating Rosberg on a 1:38.849. Both drivers set their times on the supersoft tyres, while nearest rivals Ferrari set their times on the soft compound tyre. Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finished 3rd and 4th respectively in FP1, with Raikkonen’s running curtailed early on by a DRS fault on his car.
But all attention at the beginning of the session was on the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, who was completing an instillation lap with the team’s new ‘aeroscreen’ concept attached to his RB12. The ‘aeroscreen’ is Red Bull’s suggested answer to the debate on improved cockpit protection for the driver. The screen which acts sort of like a windscreen, protecting the driver’s head from oncoming debris, is the latest in devices trailed by teams looking for a solution for 2017 onwards. The test comes after Ferrari trailed their idea, the ‘halo’ in winter testing.
“In terms of visibility it was actually pretty good.” Riccardo confirmed to reporters after the trial run. “It’s just a bit weird having a structure round you. So that’s something you’ll have to get used to.”
However, Riccardo’s team mate Daniil Kvyat was a little more sceptical about the idea,
“We have to see what the fans think. If it takes too much away of the old fashioned look then we shouldn’t do it. But if they can accept it…”
There were plenty of drivers utilising the run off areas round the track during FP1 as the Sochi circuit was yet to rubber in. Hamilton, Vettel, Kvyat, Fernando Alonso, and Romain Grosjean were just some of the drivers who had high profile spins in the session. Despite this all the drivers managed to keep their cars out of the barriers. In the past, when the event has been run in the second chunk of fly away races towards the end of the season, the GP2 and GP3 series have also used the track. Causing it to rubber in quicker. However, both feeder series are not racing here this weekend, meaning the track is greener than it normally is.
Meanwhile the Williams drivers of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas managed a positive FP1. Massa was initially side-lined at the beginning of the session with a clutch problem, but eventually got running and managed to set the 5th fastest time, a 1:39.365. His teammate Bottas was 7th, with the Red Bull of Riccardo splitting the two of them. Behind Bottas was the other Red Bull of Kvyat in 8th. While Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz rounded out the top ten.
In FP2 it was Hamilton’s turn to show off how fast his car was, setting a 1:37.583 on the supersoft tyres ahead of Vettel and Rosberg. The British driver is looking for his first win of the new season, and is aiming to get his title defence properly up and running after suffering a string of problematic races since the start of 2016.
Vettel was 0.652 seconds slower than Hamilton on a, 1:38.235. That’s not to say the Ferrari driver had smooth running in FP2. His car suffered an electrical malfunction that caused him to pull up on the pit straight. Vettel was taken back to the garage, but that wasn’t the end of his issues. The red ERS light flashed on the car meaning it was not safe for the mechanics to touch. Eventually once it was declared safe the mechanics had to work on the SF16-H with insulation gloves on for the rest of the session. Vettel now also has to serve a five place grid penalty for changing his gearbox.
“The balance was not quite where I wanted it to be, but the circuit should come our way. It was quite slippery. Lacking a bit of information from my side but other people did their homework and hopefully we can copy that a bit.” A rather positive sounding Vettel told reporters this afternoon.
Hamilton’s team mate Rosberg was 0.215 seconds adrift of Vettel. Though it was believed Rosberg was held up by traffic on his hot laps, so the feeling is this is not a representative time. While the fight for 4th was between Raikkonen and Riccardo. With Raikkonen taking honours this time round.
There was another promising Friday performance for the McLaren team as Jenson Button finished just 0.003 seconds behind Daniil Kvyat in 8th. While team mate Fernando Alonso was 0.2 seconds slower than his team mate. Rounding out the top 10.
It was not a return to the fairy tale start for Haas once again this weekend. Romain Grosjean was complaining over the radio that “something isn’t working on the car since China.” He was one of many drivers to suffer a spin on the green track this weekend. While the Haas has looked at times to be a handful to manage. He and his team mate Esteban Gutierrez finished 16th and 17th respectively.
It was also reported that both Ferrari and Mercedes have spent their first in-season engine tokens this weekend, with Mercedes focusing on fuel-system improvements. While Vettel and Raikkonen will race with new internal combustion engines aimed at improving power, and efficiency.
Free Practice 1 Results
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:38.127
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:38.849
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:39.175
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:39.332
5. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:39.365
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:39.650
7. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:39.802
8. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:40.218
9. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:40.287
10. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:40.654
11. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:40.663
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:40.771
13. Sergey Sirotkin, Renault, 1:40.898
14. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:41.085
15. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:41.134
16. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:41.238
17. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:41.385
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:41.671
19. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:41.962
20. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:42.483
21. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:42.687
22. Alfonso Celis, Force India, 1:43.432
Free Practice Two Results
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:37.583
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:38.235
3. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:38.450
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:38.793
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:38.793
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:39.185
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:39.193
8. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:39.196
9. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:39.289
10. Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:39.400
11. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:39.465
12. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:39.501
13. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:39.795
14. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:39.867
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:40.193
16. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:40.260
17. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:40.508
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:40.688
19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:40.740
20. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:41.080
21. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:41.148
22. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:41.652
Feature Image Credit: Scuderia Ferrari Press Release
