Leclerc edges Verstappen to lead opening Russia practice

Charles Leclerc pipped Max Verstappen to the fastest time in opening practice for the Russian Grand Prix on Friday as home favourite Daniil Kvyat suffered an early setback.

Through a typically uneventful 90 minutes of running at the Sochi Autodrom, Leclerc managed to give Ferrari top spot with a best lap time of 1m34.462s, continuing the team’s recent good form.

Leclerc had sat half a second clear of the field at one stage in FP1, only for Verstappen to cut the gap to just 0.082 seconds, giving Red Bull second place overall.

Sebastian Vettel took third in the second Ferrari as he finished 0.543s down on his teammate’s time, while the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton could only muster fourth and fifth place respectively on the Medium compound tyre.

Hamilton struggled with brake problems early in the session, while Bottas suffered a rear wing failure in the final moments of the session, forcing him to return to the pits at slow speed.

Alexander Albon finished sixth for Red Bull ahead of Renault drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, the latter spinning his car late in the session and damaging the rear wing on his car after hitting the barrier. Sergio Perez took ninth for Racing Point as Romain Grosjean closed out the top 10 for Haas.

Carlos Sainz ended FP1 in 11th place for McLaren ahead of Pierre Gasly and Kevin Magnussen, with Lance Stroll taking P14. Kimi Raikkonen, Lando Norris, Antonio Giovinazzi and George Russell followed from 15th through 18th.

The only driver to lose track time in FP1 was Toro Rosso driver Kvyat, who was sidelined by a fuel pressure issue, forcing him to park up at the side of the track 30 minutes into the session with just five laps under his belt. Kvyat was classified 19th ahead of Robert Kubica, who spun his car late in the session in the final sector.

Second practice for the Russian Grand Prix gets underway at 1500 local time in Sochi (1300 BST).