Valtteri Bottas emerged from Friday’s Russian Grand Prix opening practice 0.211 seconds quicker than Lewis Hamilton for a Mercedes 1-2 at the Sochi circuit in the former Olympic Park.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who leads Hamilton by five points in the world championship, came in third, just 0.16 sec behind his title rival.
With a penalty after being deemed “predominately” to blame for his Monza crash with Hamilton, the best Verstappen can hope for on Sunday’s grid is fourth.
Sochi has proved a fertile hunting ground for Hamilton, who is targeting a fifth win in Russia to seal an unprecedented century of wins.