Russia – Free Practice 1: Sebastian Vettel Surprises the Mercedes
On a track where Mercedes are the favorites, Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in the first practice session of the Russian Grand Prix. He beat Max Verstappen, who will nevertheless be penalized for an engine change, just like his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, the two Toro Rosso drivers, and Fernando Alonso.
The first free practice session of this Russian Grand Prix begins under the sun with an air temperature of 22 degrees and 25 degrees on the track. Ideal conditions for the 20 drivers who will head out for an hour and a half of practice.
Among the drivers, there are many changes for this first session: Lando Norris took Fernando Alonso’s place at McLaren, Russian Artem Markelov, in front of his home crowd for his debut, took Carlos Sainz’s place at Renault, Antonio Giovinazzi, freshly announced as a 2019 Sauber driver, took Marcus Ericsson’s place at Sauber, and Nicholas Latifi took Sergio Pérez’s place at Force India.
The penalties might be issued this weekend for the four Red Bull and Toro Rosso drivers who have apparently changed their power unit even before the weekend began. Fernando Alonso is in the same situation at the wheel of his McLaren.
While he announced that he would not be in Formula 1 next year, Stoffel Vandoorne is the first driver to set a time of 1.39.057. He is currently the only one, after 20 minutes of the session, to have marked his name on the timing sheet.
Vandoorne gets proceedings underway in FP1
He clocks a 1:39.057s for @McLarenF1 ⏱️#RussianGP 🇷🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/3UBWu1lwiL
— Formula 1 (@F1) 28 septembre /f1/actualite/22944-officiel-antonio-giovinazzi-sera-au-cote-de-raikkonen-en-2019-chez-sauber.html
As the half-hour mark of the session approaches, the track becomes livelier with the best times from the two Red Bulls, Daniel Ricciardo ahead of Max Verstappen, leading the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. As usual on Fridays, the Ferraris remain relatively discreet even though Kimi Räikkönen briefly tops the timesheet, especially on a track presumably favorable to the Silver Arrows.
A trend that Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas quickly confirm by placing themselves at the top of the standings. The Brit improves his time to 1:35.326, two-tenths ahead of his teammate.
P1, P2 👊 Lewis goes fastest with a 1:35.326. Valtteri +0.247s back! #RussianGP 🇷🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/LyhiVPDidK
— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) 28 septembre /f1/actualite/22944-officiel-antonio-giovinazzi-sera-au-cote-de-raikkonen-en-2019-chez-sauber.html
But even if they will be penalized on the grid, the Red Bulls still want to demonstrate their strength: Verstappen sets an impressive 1.34.960 on Hyper soft tires and Ricciardo places ahead of Bottas, half a second behind the Dutchman. But as the Australian returns to the garage, it’s in a cloud of smoke. His RB14 seems to be encountering some problems, and his mechanics are already busily working on the rear of his car.
After an hour of the session, a Ferrari finally takes the lead with the best time of Sebastian Vettel at 1:34.488 on Hyper soft tires.
If the track offers a lot of clearance, some drivers still seek the limits and sometimes exceed them, like Lance Stroll who spins his Williams. The Canadian is in the last place in the standings, more than 4 seconds behind the Ferrari. His teammate Sergey Sirotkin, who is making his debut in front of his home crowd, is 18th but two seconds and seven-tenths off the lead.
A momentary spin for Lance Stroll 🔄#RussianGP 🇷🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/5e22CiBHgn
— Formula 1 (@F1) 28 septembre /f1/actualite/22944-officiel-antonio-giovinazzi-sera-au-cote-de-raikkonen-en-2019-chez-sauber.html
In the pack, Esteban Ocon and Kevin Magnussen are the two drivers doing the best in 6th and 7th positions, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen, who is trailing in 8th place. Nico Hülkenberg in the Renault and a surprising Giovinazzi with his Sauber complete the Top 10 with 15 minutes remaining in the session.
In the final minutes of the session, Nico Hülkenberg encounters a problem with his car and must immediately return to his pit on the orders of his team, who hope to identify the issue before the start of FP2.
The full ranking of FP1:
FP1 CLASSIFICATION: P10 for Giovinazzi 👏 #RussianGP 🇷🇺 #F1 pic.twitter.com/vzdYujBA50
— Formula 1 (@F1) 28 septembre /f1/actualite/22944-officiel-antonio-giovinazzi-sera-au-cote-de-raikkonen-en-2019-chez-sauber.html
