2016 Russian Grand Prix

Championship standings

Rosberg leads Hamilton by 36 points with three maximum scores from three races. Daniel Ricciardo follows in third, three points behind Hamilton. In the Constructors’ standings, Mercedes has 114 points, 53 ahead of Ferrari and 57 clear of Red Bull.

Previous race

Rosberg took his third consecutive win in China, finishing over 30 seconds clear of Vettel. Hamilton suffered a hybrid system failure in qualifying that sent him to the back of the grid, and first-lap contact between Kvyat and the two Ferrari cars further disrupted the field. Hamilton eventually finished seventh; the race set a record of 161 overtakes and was the first in many years to be completed without any retirements.

Milestones

This is the 100th race for Pirelli tyres since their return to the sport in 2011.

Entrants

Sergey Sirotkin drives for Renault in free practice, replacing Magnussen — his second free practice appearance in Formula One. Alfonso Celis Jr. replaces Hülkenberg at Force India for FP1.

Penalties

Sebastian Vettel carries a five-place grid penalty for an unscheduled gearbox change.

Tyres

Pirelli brings the medium, soft and super-soft compounds — the same selection used at each of the first three rounds.

Practice

FP1: Rosberg was fastest (1:38.127), more than seven-tenths ahead of Hamilton. Both set their times on the super-softs; Vettel and Räikkönen ran the harder soft compound and slotted in third and fourth. Multiple drivers — including Hamilton and Vettel — had issues with spinning or running wide at turn two and between turns fifteen and sixteen.

FP2: Hamilton topped (1:37.583) after an earlier spin at turn four that flat-spotted his tyres. Vettel was second despite electrical problems limiting his running; Rosberg third, his super-soft run compromised by yellow flags after a Grosjean spin. Räikkönen fourth. Slowest of the session was Ericsson, with the two Manor drivers just ahead of him. Wehrlein reported a loss of power after crossing the chequered flag.

FP3: Hamilton edged Rosberg by 0.068 seconds for fastest time. Vettel completed the most laps of anyone (28) on a heavier fuel load in preparation for his race starting from seventh. Ericsson and Nasr were slowest, behind both Manor cars.

Car upgrades

Red Bull used FP1 to test the “aeroscreen” cockpit protection device on Daniel Ricciardo’s car. The aeroscreen was developed as an alternative to the “halo” trialled by Ferrari in pre-season testing. Ricciardo completed a single installation lap before it was removed for the remainder of the session. He described the visibility as acceptable: “Where we have the structure in place is pretty much where the mirrors are so I wouldn’t say it hindered any more than we are now in terms of visibility.”