F1 – Hulkenberg Tops A Bitty Russian Federation FP1
He was also aware that he needs to beat his team-mate this weekend to have any chance of closing him down in the championship, where Hamilton leads Rosberg by 48 points.
Nico Rosberg for Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari made it an all German top three, with Sergio Perez in the other Force India in fourth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull.
Le Mans victor and Force India Formula One driver Nico Hulkenberg has ruled out missing next year’s European Grand Prix in Baku to defend his 24 Hours sportscar title. It had affected much of the circuit, but particularly Turn 8, and resulted in a 30-minute delay as marshals went into action with water, soap and brooms. On his exploratory lap Vettel summarised the situation perfectly over the radio: “What a mess!” None of the drivers completed more than 16 laps and with rain looming ahead of the afternoon session, teams may have to muddle through to final practice with limited data on the slick tyres.
The track conditions were declared officially as “wet” and this meant drivers ran on intermediate and full-wet tyres to cope with the slippery surface left by the diesel and its aftermath.
“It is really slippy”, agreed Sauber’s Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson.
Rain is forecast for the second session. Felipe Massa ended the session fastest.
But it didn’t hinder Hulkenberg (1:44.355) from clocking 0.052s faster time than Rosberg.
Once the teams started to run with about 15 minutes to go, times began to tumble, and inevitably it was the last vehicle across the line that set the fastest time.
Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz Jr was sixth quickest, 1.133s back, followed by Lewis Hamilton in his Mercedes a further two tenths of a second down, and with the reigning champion incurring a late spin at the penultimate corner on what would have been a faster lap.