Mercedes fastest on Russian F1 debut

Sochi, Russia - Nico Rosberg wrote himself into the history books on Friday as the first Formula One driver to set a timed lap at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix and first to top the practice timesheets.

The Mercedes driver lapped the Sochi circuit, which snakes past some of the landmark venues used at this year's Winter Olympics, in a best time of 1m42.311s on a bright morning in the Black Sea resort.

Rosberg's championship leading team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who has built up a 10 point advantage after winning the previous three races, was second fastest in 1:42.376 as Mercedes continued to dominate.

The team is expected to wrap up the Constructors' championship with three races to spare on Sunday, having won 12 of the 15 so far with eight one-two finishes.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was the first driver out of the pit lane when the green light came on, leading Force India's Nico Hulkenberg.

McLaren's Jenson Button was the early pacesetter as drivers got to grips with a layout compared to the former Valencia street circuit and Singapore, with the 2009 champion ending the morning as the third fastest.

Alonso was fourth and Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen, Button's team mate, was fifth.

The only Russian regular, Toro Rosso's 20-year-old rookie Daniil Kvyat, was a respectable seventh.

He was joined for the first session by 19-year-old compatriot Sergey Sirotkin, making his debut at a race weekend in the Sauber usually driven by Mexican Esteban Gutierrez.

Williams had a disrupted session when a problem with a tyre blanket damaged a set of Valtteri Bottas's tyres, limiting his running.

All the drivers carried stickers declaring 'Tous Avec Jules #17' on their helmets in a gesture of support for Marussia's Jules Bianchi, who was severely injured in a crash in Japan last Sunday and remains in critical condition.

Marussia announced before the session that it would have only one car running this weekend, with Bianchi's car assembled and left in the garage as a mark of respect.

The team said: "The team has written to the stewards of the meeting to inform them that they have withdrawn their second car."

Along with Britain's Max Chilton, Marussia had entered American Alexander Rossi, their official reserve, for the inaugural race in Russia but made clear on Thursday that was only a provisional move.

"The team feels strongly that fielding a single car is the appropriate course of action under the difficult circumstances of the weekend," Marussia said.

"Jules' car crew have built a second car, which has been scrutineered and is ready to race, and this will remain on his side of the garage throughout the weekend," the team added.

"In support of Jules and his family, the team and their cars will carry the familiar #JB17 graphic, to ensure that although Jules is not with them in Sochi this weekend, he is, nonetheless, racing with the Marussia F1 Team."

Chilton said in the statement: "I don't know how to put into words how truly devastated I am by what has happened to Jules.

"The support from the Formula One family has been incredible and all we can do is be there to support Jules' family at this difficult time. It is going to be a very emotional weekend for the whole team, but we will try to get through it and keep praying for Jules"

The 25-year-old Frenchman's name also remained over the garage along with Chilton's. - Reuters

RESULTS

1 Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes - 1m42.311s

2 Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes - 1:42.376

3 Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren - 1:42.507

4 Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari - 1:42.720

5 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren - 1:43.026

6 Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - 1:43.129

7 Daniil Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - 1:43.164

8 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari - 1:43.212

9 Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - 1:43.327

10 Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams - 1:43.542