Verstappen quickest in Malaysia FP1 after rain delay

Max Verstappen led Red Bull to the head of the field in opening Formula 1 practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix on Friday, making the most of wet conditions at Sepang to lead home teammate Daniel Ricciardo.

A storm around 20 minutes before the planned start of the session prompted FIA race director Charlie Whiting to put running on hold until conditions improved, with the cars eventually getting out after 30 minutes sat in the pits.

Conditions gradually improved throughout the session, allowing the drivers to finish on intermediate tyres and tot up a decent number of laps, with Verstappen leading the way.

A fastest time of 1:48.962 saw Verstappen finish seven-tenths of a second clear of Ricciardo in the sister Red Bull RB13, with the pair eager to try and repeat the one-two finish scored in last year's race.

Fernando Alonso capitalised on the damp conditions to take an excellent third place for McLaren 1.6 seconds down on Verstappen, with the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel following in fourth and fifth place respectively.

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas took P6 and P7 ahead of Williams' Lance Stroll, while Pierre Gasly enjoyed a solid first grand prix weekend session to finish ninth-fastest.

Standing in for Nico Hulkenberg in FP1, Renault reserve driver Sergey Sirotkin completed the top 10, albeit not without a spin at Turn 2 in the wet conditions.

Formula 2 racers Sean Gelael and Charles Leclerc both enjoyed run-outs with Toro Rosso and Sauber respectively, finishing 14th and 16th, while Antonio Giovinazzi was 19th-fastest for Haas, having featured as part of his practice programme with the American team.