Rosberg ahead as Sochi weekend kicks off
Nico Rosberg set the fastest time as running got underway at the Sochi Autodrom in preparation for the Russian Grand Prix. Team mate Lewis Hamilton was second fastest.
Hamilton though wasn't happy with his run but was denied a chance for another attempt in favour of doing a longer run. He wasn't far off of Rosberg, suggesting he could have well gone fastest.
McLaren's Jenson Button went second fastest, underlining the team's progress. Fernando Alonso led Ferrari into third, ahead of the second McLaren of Magnussen.
In general it turned out to be a fairly uneventful session with hardly any driver making a notable mistake, even though they were still learning the new track.
Meanwhile at Marussia, Max Chilton was the only man out on track as the team finally decided to only field a single car this weekend, out of respect for Jules Bianchi. The Frenchman crashed at the end of the Japanese GP 5 days ago and remains in a critical condition in Mie hospital, Japan.
Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:42.311 | - | 29 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:42.376 | 0.065 | 25 |
| 3 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:42.507 | 0.196 | 28 |
| 4 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:42.720 | 0.409 | 27 |
| 5 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:43.026 | 0.715 | 28 |
| 6 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1:43.129 | 0.818 | 26 |
| 7 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Str-Renault | 1:43.164 | 0.853 | 29 |
| 8 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:43.212 | 0.901 | 23 |
| 9 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Str-Renault | 1:43.327 | 1.016 | 24 |
| 10 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1:43.542 | 1.231 | 9 |
| 11 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1:43.741 | 1.430 | 22 |
| 12 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:43.821 | 1.510 | 25 |
| 13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1:43.976 | 1.665 | 21 |
| 14 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:44.506 | 2.195 | 30 |
| 15 | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:44.625 | 2.314 | 26 |
| 16 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1:44.876 | 2.565 | 26 |
| 17 | 37 | Sergey Sirotkin | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:45.032 | 2.721 | 22 |
| 18 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:45.190 | 2.879 | 25 |
| 19 | 45 | Roberto Merhi | Caterham-Renault | 1:46.782 | 4.471 | 18 |
| 20 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1:46.922 | 4.611 | 18 |
| 21 | 4 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1:47.284 | 4.973 | 26 |
