Diesel debacle disrupts first practice, but Nico Hulkenberg leads the way

09 October 2015 09:01

The opening practice session for the Russian Grand Prix was disrupted by a bizarre diesel spillage on Friday.

Organisers of the race, which runs through Sochi's Olympic Park, will be left deeply embarrassed by the incident which resulted in the session being delayed by 30 minutes.

Track marshals and officials attempted to clean up the spillage - caused by a truck designated to sweep the track - by hosing down the affected areas with water, but it appeared to do little to aid the situation.

Indeed Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel appeared to sum up the farcical mood. "What a mess", he said as he passed through the scene of the spillage in sectors two and three on intermediate tyres when the session eventually got under way.

McLaren's Fernando Alonso was the first driver to take to the circuit on slick tyres with 30 minutes of the session remaining.

And with a little over 10 minutes left, Alonso was one of just four drivers who had posted a competitive lap - indeed it was his McLaren team-mate Jenson Button who headed the timesheets in the slippery conditions.

But as the affected areas of the track began to dry out, the rest of the pack emerged from their respective garages.

When the chequered flag fell it was Nico Hulkenberg who led the way in his Force India - but his best time of one minute and 44.355 seconds was the best part of six seconds slower than Lewis Hamilton's pole lap here last year.

Hamilton, who heads into Sunday's race with a 48-point lead over Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in the championship, set his first timed lap with just five minutes remaining.

The Briton spun at turn 17 on his final run but avoided any contact with the barriers. He ended the session 1.4 seconds adrift of Hulkenberg in seventh place.

Hulkenberg was 0.052 sec faster than Rosberg while Vettel, who also spun in the testing track conditions, was third fastest.

Sergio Perez was next up in his Force India with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in fifth and Carlos Sainz sixth for Toro Rosso.

Button ended the session in 11th with Alonso, competing in his 250th grand prix weekend, 14th.

Meanwhile, rain is forecast for the second session later on Friday, which could again result in limited track running.

Source: PA