Russian GP: Free Practice #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

RUSSIAN GP - FREE PRACTICE #1 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    The first free practice session of the Russian GP weekend, saw Vettel take the top time with a 1:34.488.

    Vettel was just ahead of Max Verstappen, who came 2nd on the time-sheets with a 1:34.538. Hamilton was 3rd quickest, ahead of Bottas and Ricciardo who completed the top 5.

    Daniel Ricciardo suffered from mechanical woes during the session and the team even opted to change the floor of his car. His quickest time of the session was a 1:35.524.

    There were 4 reserve drivers in the session and 2 of them have already signed a contract for next year to be in the 2019 Championship. 

    The first driver in the order was Antonio Giovinazzi, who just recently was announced to partner Kimi Raikkonen at Sauber in 2019. He replaces Marcus Ericsson, who will stay on at the team as reserve/3rd driver. Giovinazzi finished 10th in the session with a 1:36.712.

    Lando Norris replaced Fernando Alonso, while next year he replaces Stoffel Vandoorne full time at McLaren. The young Formula 2 driver, finished in 13th with a quickest time of 1:37.022.

    Artem Markelov filled in for Carlos Sainz at Renault for the session but it's unknown if the Russian Formula 2 driver will be in F1 next year since Renault have already confirmed their 2019 line-up, consisting of Hulkenberg and Ricciardo. There's a chance he could take a seat at Williams, but with Vandoorne and Ocon needing seats, it's not a sure thing. Markelov finished in 15th with a 1:37.183 while Hulkenberg, despite having mechanical issues toward the end of the session, finished in 9th with a 1:36.274.

    The last reserve running in the session was Nicholas Latifi, replacing Perez at Force India. Even though it's looking more and more likely that Lance Stroll will take over for Ocon in 2019, it's not yet set in stone. Latifi has already done multiple practice session with Force India this year and currently drives for DAMS in Formula 2. He finished the session in 17th with a 1:37.206.

TIMES:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:34.488 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany

2. Max Verstappen - 1:34.538 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands

3. Lewis Hamilton - 1:34.818 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain

4. Valtteri Bottas - 1:34.999 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland

5. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:35.524 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia

6. Esteban Ocon - 1:35.663 / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / France

7. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:35.696 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland

8. Kevin Magnussen - 1:36.196 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark

9. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:36.274 / Renault-Renault / Germany

10. Antonio Giovinazzi - 1:36.712 / Sauber-Ferrari / Italy*

11. Romain Grosjean - 1:36.816 / Haas-Ferrari / France

12. Pierre Gasly - 1:36.944 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France

13. Lando Norris - 1:37.022 / McLaren-Renault / Great Britain*

14. Charles Leclerc - 1:37.054 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco

15. Artem Markelov - 1:37.183 / Renault-Renault / Russia*

16. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:37.187 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium

17. Nicholas Latifi - 1:37.206 / Racing Point Force India-Mercedes / Canada*

18. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:37.225 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia

19. Brendon Hartley - 1:37.944 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand

20. Lance Stroll - 1:39.137 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada

* - Notes participating in FP1 only

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Article Written By: Amy Hawk

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