Live Updates F1 Russian Grand Prix Free Practice 2, Lewis Hamilton leads, Vettel in second

Chequered flag! Soft tyres look like they'll be the fastest race tyre today; Ricciardo kept increasing laptimes on them today, and finished with 30 laps on the softs. Nearly everyone on the supersofts today, however.

Daniel Ricciardo has done a long stint on the softs! It’s been 25 laps and is in 5th now, still doing laps. Right behind him is Valtteri Bottas of Williams, who has been steadily increasing laptimes. With 5 minutes to go in the session, he’s set one of his best laptimes.

And we’ve got more news. Sebastian Vettel‘s Ferrari won’t be back out on track anymore. The car's in the garage being taken apart and Ferrari have said they’re ‘looking at what went wrong.’

To jog your memories, Vettel saw a complete electronics failure. Hamilton’s on the supersofts and has gone 13 laps on this set; doesn’t look like many people will be on the mediums this practice session.

Mercedes-Ferrari-Mercedes-Ferrari in the timesheets and given Vettel’s issues, it’s likely his time will stay the same. Both he and Hamilton in the pits as Hamilton looks to set another fastest lap; Rosberg is on track and could go P2 if he can set a faster time. As it stands, he’s got a 0.867s gap to teammate and leader Hamilton.

Drivers are now exiting the pitlane. What a line!

And Sebastian Vettel had a very fast first sector before his electronics cut out; now however, Lewis Hamilton takes the lead right back – with an even bigger gap than the first time. He now takes a 0.65s lea and is only getting faster. Most drivers are on the supersofts.

Oh no! Problems for Scuderia Ferrari and they’re BIG ones! Sebastian Vettel pulls over as he says “I’ve lost electronics!” He’s topping the timesheets but has now pitted. His electronics have cut out completely. Virtual Safety Car brought out, but it’s gone now.

Yellow flags again! Lewis Hamilton has a huge lockup and stops off-track temporarily. He’s back on now.

Lewis Hamilton looks like he’s back! He’s set a very fast lap – at 1:38.311 he’s 0.6 seconds ahead of the closest Ferrari – Sebastian Vettel, with Nico Rosberg getting his lead to go 0.139s behind his teammate.

Problems for Haas F1 and Romain Grosjean – he says ‘something’s not working’, ‘something not working’. Yellow flags came out shortly after a lockup and spinout from Jolyon Palmer but gone now. Daniil Kvyat is in 6th.

Sebastian Vettel has taken an early march in FP2, and Nico Rosberg is now right on his tail. He hasn’t been able to catch him up entirely, but he’s only five-thousandths of a second behind his compatriot in the Ferrari. Kimi Raikkonen is in third.

GREEN FLAGS for FP2 and drivers are now on track! Pascal Wehrlein of Manor on track, and Kevin Magnussen, who was subbed by Sergey Sirotkin in FP1 is now out on track.

End of FP1: Nico Rosberg leads timings, with a Mercedes 1-2 as Lewis Hamilton trails just behind him. Sebastian Vettel goes third fastest.

Rio Haryanto, who was the only driver to not have set a lap time. With under 10 minutes to go in the first session, they’ve sorted out the Indonesian’s issue for now. Meanwhile, Massa has improved on his own time dramatically to go P4.

It’s Vettel who has now lost out with Kimi Raikkonen improving on his time to go P3 beehind the Mercedes pair. Raikkonen’s gap to Hamilton is also lower than Vettel’s gap to him, which will be a good sign for Ferrari. They have a new front wing today, and every team has looked for quicker streamlining.

Ferrari’s moved back up again, but there are also more motor issues on track as Felipe Nasr reports a loss of power.

With the final 15 minutes of the first session, it’s yet another Mercedes 1-2, but Vettel has set faster times now to go P3 behind Rosberg and Hamilton!

Bottas gets bumped away from third spot as Daniel Ricciardo takes it! The Australian goes third fastest, and although both Ferraris have set times, they’re far down the grid. Sirotkin is now 10th fastest; there are lockups from both Romain Grosjean of Haas and McLaren’s Fernando Alonso, and both veer off track.

Rio Haryanto only drove an installation lap today; now it’s emerged he has a power steering problem. Another surprise - Alexander Rossi is back to F1, at least for today. He’s back in the Manor paddock as their test and reserve driver for today.

Russia’s Sergey Sirotkin is driving in practice for them today as Kevin Magnussen sits out.

Now most divers have been out on track; Valtteri Bottas sticks to third fastest and Red Bull have continued their strong 2016 run. They’re currently in 4th and 5th. Kimi Raikkonen’s out now and hasn’t set a representative lap time.

Felipe Massa, Rio Haryanto and Esteban Gutierrez are yet to set times; Massa hasn’t even been out on an installation lap – Williams say they are sorting out his problems.

Now home racer Daniil Kvyat is out! He’s had a stellar Chinese Grand Prix – will he be able to carry that momentum here, with a strong engine that has given both him and teammate Daniel Ricciardo success?

Mercedes 1-2 for now but Valtteri Bottas has also set a time; he’s gone third-fastest so far, and has finished on the podium in Russia in 2014.

Now Hamilton goes fastest! Tyre choices for today: supersoft, softs and mediums.

The aeroscreen comes off Daniel Ricciardo’s car. It’s around the entire monocoque, so not a small structure at all. So far, Nico Rosberg has been the fastest but it’s early days.

We’re go! Drivers are now on track as the first practice session is underway. Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo debuted the canopy earlier today and now he’s got it on again in the first lap of the practice session! It’s only for one lap though.

Championship leader Nico Rosberg is now on track. And now, it’s Hamilton on track – he’s looking for his 44th career win. The reigning world champion hasn’t won a race since the Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas last year.

It’s the fourth race of the season and drivers are now in Sochi for the Russian Grand Prix. Usually held at the end of the year, the race was this time moved up to coincide with Russia’s public holiday weekend.

After Lewis Hamilton won last year’s race – and took a thundering championship title win with it, it is the turn of teammate Nico Rosberg to dominate proceedings. The German has won each of the three races in the year so far, and as things currently stand has a 36-point lead over teammate Hamilton.

Ferrari, though expected to excel this year have disappointed; their engine showed power and promise in winter testing, but only one Ferrari finished each of the year’s first two races, and each race has seen a single Ferrari car on the podium.

Russia’s Daniil Kvyat was by far the standout star of the Chinese Grand Prix; the youngster pulled off an aggressive move on Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel early on in the race, and despite his teammate Daniel Ricciardo initially looking like one of the favourites to win, it was Kvyat who ended up on the podium behind Vettel.

There was a bit of controversy on that front, with Vettel angrily describing Kvyat's driving as 'suicidal’.

Things appeared to have cleared up since, however, with Vettel cooling off as Kvyat stood his ground. It is now the home race for the 22-year-old, although he is yet to score a podium finish here.

Lewis Hamilton had a bad experience at the Chinese Grand Prix, when an ERS failure in qualifying saw him unable to set a time. The Briton, starting at the back of the grid, nevertheless managed a points finish, ending the race in seventh as he maximized tyre and engine use.

Canopy

Earlier in the year, the Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel saw the halo tested out as a safety concept. This time around, the canopy was tested on Red Bull’s cars. Many drivers had then been critical of the concept, although it had seen support from Vettel and Raikkonen, Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa.

Reigning champion Lewis Hamilton described it as unsightly, and it was also derided by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, who seems more on board with the canopy concept.

Predictions

Despite it seeming like a more ‘open’ season this year, it still looks to be another year of Mercedes dominance, at least so far. Given Nico Rosberg’s form, he could well pull off four from four, although Hamilton has been historically strong here.

Ferrari will likely also be on the podium, but after China it looks to be Red Bull who are in podium contention; Daniel Ricciardo especially started off the season very strongly, while Kvyat took a march in China.

Haas F1 have also looked to be a very good midfield team, although an otherwise strong Romain Grosjean had a less than ideal outing in Shanghai.

Drivers will get onto the track for the first practice session at 12:30 IST.