Final practice for the Russian Grand Prix was headed by Nico Rosberg after it was stopped early due to a major crash involving Carlos Sainz Jnr.
Sainz made heavy contact with the barriers at turn 13 with 25 minutes remaining in the session. Proceedings were immediately halted but with substantial damage to the barrier race control swiftly announced the session would not resume.
Rosberg had set the quickest time until that point using the super-soft tyres. Lewis Hamilton began his stint on the softer compound shortly before Sainz’s crash and had just set the third-fastest time.
The Williams pair headed the session until that point, Valtteri Bottas ending up between the two Mercedes drivers. Team mate Felipe Massa reported an engine problem early in proceedings but soon rejoined the track and was able to lap competitively.
Sainz had set his two personal best sectors times prior to his crash. Team mate Max Verstappen ended the session 17th after spinning at the final corner.
Third practice visual gaps
Nico Rosberg – 1’38.561
+0.726 Valtteri Bottas – 1’39.287
+0.802 Lewis Hamilton – 1’39.363
+1.055 Sergio Perez – 1’39.616
+1.314 Felipe Massa – 1’39.875
+1.356 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’39.917
+2.206 Pastor Maldonado – 1’40.767
+2.639 Fernando Alonso – 1’41.200
+2.668 Felipe Nasr – 1’41.229
+2.797 Daniil Kvyat – 1’41.358
+3.736 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’42.297
+3.810 Romain Grosjean – 1’42.371
+3.889 Marcus Ericsson – 1’42.450
+4.122 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’42.683
+4.125 Sebastian Vettel – 1’42.686
+4.528 Max Verstappen – 1’43.089
+4.786 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’43.347
+8.206 Roberto Merhi – 1’46.767
+8.688 Will Stevens – 1’47.249
Combined practice times
| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’44.407 | 1’38.561 | -5.846 | 36 | |
| 2 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’45.746 | 2’00.688 | 1’39.287 | -6.459 | 38 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’45.691 | 1’39.363 | -6.328 | 26 | |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’45.146 | 1’39.616 | -5.53 | 28 | |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’46.333 | 2’00.458 | 1’39.875 | -6.458 | 32 |
| 6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’44.355 | 1’39.917 | -4.438 | 28 | |
| 7 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’46.231 | 2’02.845 | 1’40.581 | -5.65 | 32 |
| 8 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’48.006 | 1’40.767 | -7.239 | 22 | |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren-Honda | 1’47.443 | 2’01.077 | 1’41.200 | -6.243 | 39 |
| 10 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’46.747 | 1’41.229 | -5.518 | 27 | |
| 11 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’48.096 | 2’01.418 | 1’41.358 | -6.738 | 30 |
| 12 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’46.215 | 1’42.297 | -3.918 | 27 | |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’42.371 | 14 | |||
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’54.272 | 1’42.450 | -11.822 | 29 | |
| 15 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’45.488 | 2’02.805 | 1’42.683 | -2.805 | 39 |
| 16 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’44.986 | 2’00.659 | 1’42.686 | -2.3 | 34 |
| 17 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’46.203 | 2’00.806 | 1’43.089 | -3.114 | 36 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’45.233 | 1’43.347 | -1.886 | 25 | |
| 19 | Roberto Merhi | Manor-Ferrari | 1’52.994 | 1’46.767 | -6.227 | 31 | |
| 20 | Will Stevens | Manor-Ferrari | 1’58.254 | 1’47.249 | -11.005 | 24 | |
| 21 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’49.094 | 9 |
2015 Russian Grand Prix
- Sponsor Watch: Mexico, USA and Russia
- Unrepentant Raikkonen says he would repeat Bottas move
- Perez earns first Driver of the Weekend win for three years
- Russia’s second grand prix gets higher rating
- 2015 Russian Grand Prix team radio transcript
2015 F1 practice sessions
- Errors leave Hamilton behind Rosberg in final practice
- Rosberg edges Hamilton in second practice
- Mercedes comfortably ahead in first practice
- Two stoppages can’t keep Hamilton from top spot
- Mercedes wrap up Friday practice with almost a second in hand
Patrick (@paeschli)
10th October 2015, 11:11
Another tough round for the predictions.
I didn’t watch the sessions, how far off are Ferrari?
BasCB (@bascb)
10th October 2015, 11:17
from the sessions its pretty hard to say. It looked like only Williams had started to do some quick laps, Rosberg managed to get one in, Hamilton made some mistakes on his, but Ferrari had done only race preparation laps.
However I would say that the teams are reasonably close to eachother, but the Mercedes seemed to have an easier job getting the ss tyres up to temperature on their first laps
George (@george)
10th October 2015, 12:09
I just went for a generic Mercedes > Ferrari/Williams/Red Bull top 5, don’t think you can go far wrong tbh :P
Nase (@)
10th October 2015, 12:34
With Red Bull on this track – yes, you can. I may be wrong, but judging from last year’s experience, this is not a track where they will find any kind of happiness.
Nase (@)
10th October 2015, 11:55
Formula One, Hülkenberg-style. Let’s see how it works.