10/10/2014
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's opening session, the air temperature is 18 degrees C, while the track temperature is 18 degrees. It is bright and sunny, albeit unseasonably cool.
In the last few minutes Marussia has announced that Max Chilton will be its sole representative this weekend, the team opting not to run a second car out of respect for Jules Bianchi.
It is fair to say that the Frenchman's horrific accident at Suzuka last weekend has completely overshadowed the paddock in Russia... and far beyond.
The paddock still in shock, every driver and car is sporting a tribute to the young Frenchman who remains in hospital in Japan, in a critical but stable condition.
There are two DRS zones this weekend, the first detection point is just after the start/finish line with the activation point located just after T1, while the second detection point is before T9 with the activation point just after the same corner.
Tyre choices are medium (prime) and soft (option).
There are two test drivers on duty this morning, Roberto Merhi is at the wheel of Kamui Kobayashi's Caterham, whilst Sergey Sirotkin is at the wheel of Esteban Gutierrez' Sauber.
Alexander Rossi, who was provisionally entered by Marussia, is on the pit-wall.
Being a brand new circuit with new asphalt the opening session should see a few mistakes as the drivers struggle for grip.
The lights go green and Alonso is first out, followed by Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Chilton and Grosjean. With the first three o four minutes all but the Mercedes duo has appeared.
A couple of drivers, Grosjean, Magnussen and Button, stay out for a second lap.
Back in the garage, the Marussia mechanics get to work on Chilton's car, their professionalism, under the circumstances, to be admired and fully respected.
Ten minutes into the session, Rosberg heads down the pitlane, the German followed by his Mercedes teammate shortly after.
Rosberg is the first driver to lock-up (T13), while Hamilton complains of a vibration when he touches the brakes. Rosberg subsequently posts 1:49.932. Hamilton subsequently posts 54.426.
Chilton, in the sole Marussia, splits the pair with a 46.835, the Briton under a lot of pressure this weekend.
As more and more drivers take to the track, Hamilton improves to 45.120, the Briton subsequently told to return to the pits so his brake vibration issue can be investigated. "We're not too happy about it," the world championship leader is told.
Rosberg goes quickest (44.707), ahead of Hamilton, Ricciardo, Bottas, Alonso, Vettel, Vergne and Raikkonen.
Perez, Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Sutil all make mistakes at T2. As do Ricciardo and Grosjean.
Button ups the ante with a 44.012 as drivers take advantage of the free set of tyres available in this opening half-hour.
Despite the increasing number of mistakes at T2, as Mercedes tweets; "it really is incredible how the drivers can go out there and within a few laps, look like they've been driving here for years!"
Bottas posts 43.542 to go quickest with Alonso posting 43.820 moments later, the Spaniard having a poor final sector. However, Button eclipses both with a 43.053.
Local hero Sirotkin goes 19th with a 49.258, his countryman, Kvyat, currently 4th on 43.896.
As Button posts 42.507, Magnussen reports that he thinks he hit a bird.
At the end of the opening half-hour, it's: Button, Bottas, Alonso, Kvyat, Rosberg, Magnussen, Vergne, Perez, Massa and Hamilton. The Caterham duo, Ericsson and Merhi, have completed one lap each.
Lots of work being carried out on Raikkonen's car, the Finn unhappy with the handling of his F14T.
After around ten minutes of silence, Vettel's engine fires up and the German heads down the pitlane.
Renault tweets that; "power units spend 14sec at full throttle from out of the final turn, down the pit straight and through the T1 sweep until braking for T2".
Both Caterhams are on track as Vettel improves to seventh with a 44.809.
As Mercedes confirms that Hamilton's can required a few tweaks for its (brake) vibration problem, the Briton is back in his car.
In the McLaren garage, the mechanics are carrying out "planned set-up changes" on both cars.
Rosberg improves to second (42.670) and Vergne fifth (43.824), as Hamilton runs wide in T17.
Bottas, currently third, will not run again in this session, Williams reporting that this is due to a tyre blanket failure which damaged his second set of tyres.
A 42.971 sees Hamilton improve to third, 0.464s off Button's pace. Rosberg responds by going quickest in S1 on his next lap and posting a PB in S2. At the line the German posts 42.311, thereby leapfrogging Button to take the top spot.
Hamilton improves with a 42.376 to go second, while Vergne moves up to fourth with a 43.327.
Now Rosberg complains of strange vibration in medium speed corners.
As Hamilton makes a mistake and aborts his lap, Button gets it all wrong at T10 and spins off at T8, another corner which is catching drivers out.
With 25:00 remaining, both Lotus' are off the pace, as are the Saubers, whilst the Red Bull duo is at the lower end of the timesheets.
Hamilton wants to go for a another lap on his current run, saying he's happy to sacrifice a lap on one of his longer run. He is advised that, as Booker T and the MGs warned, time is tight. He subsequently pits.
Alonso improves to fourth with a 42.724, teammate Raikkonen is currently seventh (43.212).
With 17:30 remaining, Button, Vergne, Ricciardo and Grosjean are the only drivers on track.
Rosberg still unhappy with his vibrating Mercedes in medium speed corners. "I don't think it's the tyres, it could be the diff," he reports.
As ever, the drivers are now focussing on longer runs on heavy fuel.
In the Red Bull garage mechanics stare at the monitors, grinning like schoolboys, as Bernie Ecclestone pays a visit.
Vettel is unhappy with his gearchange lights, suggesting they are out of sync. "We think they're right," says his engineer Rocky, "stick with them."
"There is no power," complains Grosjean, "I'm losing three-tenths in a straight line". Don't worry Romain, only a couple more races and then you'll have Mercedes power.
A lock-up followed by a brief excursion at T2 for Magnussen.
As Mercedes admits that 'laps on the board are the order of the day', its drivers have both completed the most laps (24 apiece) as have Button and Kvyat.
Merhi spins at T15, but continues. Elsewhere, Bernie chats with Alain Prost in the paddock.
With 3:20 remaining, all but Button and Bottas are on track.
Speaking of Bottas, Williams reveals that it has limited tyres available, and though it could use some now it is much more useful to use them in FP2.
On the longer runs (heavy fuel), as ever, Mercedes sets the pace, but McLaren also looks good.
"It's so on the nose," reports Chilton, "I'm trying everything to keep it in a straight line."
Alonso gets very, very out of shape in the final corner, the Spaniard doing well to keep it all under control.
The session ends with Rosberg quickest, ahead of Hamilton, Button, Alonso, Magnussen, Perez, Kvyat, Raikkonen, Vergne and Bottas.
Massa is eleventh, ahead of Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Vettel, Sutil, Maldonado, Sirotkin, Grosjean, Merhi, Ericsson and Chilton.
Check out our Friday gallery, here.