Nico Hulkenberg topped a delayed first practice session for this weekend’s Russian Grand Prix. The session was shortened by half an hour after a cleaning truck dropped a large amount of diesel overnight.
Lewis Hamilton may have gone quicker on his final lap but he spun off but kept it out of the barriers. There is concern in the paddock about rain during P2 which will hamper teams further as the forecast is expected to be dry for the rest of the weekend.
Hamilton wasn’t the only man to spin off at that circuit as many drivers including the Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen went off also. The cause of the spinning was the fuel spillage and the dampness caused by the clean-up.
The track took a lot longer to rubber in because of the incident in the support race with Vettel describing the section as a “mess”. Fernando Alonso was the man who was doing most of the laps early on.
Most of the running was done in the closing fifteen minutes as ever it was the last man across the line that would be fastest. Nico Rosberg spent his session doing practice starts which has hampered him this year. He needs to close down the 48 point gap to Hamilton if he wants to be fighting for the championship.
Rain may affect the second session hampering teams further. The drizzle in P1 didn’t have much effect on running.
