Russian GP | Bottas leads Hamilton while Mercedes dominates training

Bottas, who was aiming for his first win of the year, had also said he was ready to “take one for the team” and let Hamilton win if necessary

Valtteri Bottas led a dominant first day of training for Mercedes at the Russian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whose bid for a 100.

The Finn, a specialist in everything to do with the Sochi circuit, finished the day 0.044 seconds ahead of his British teammate with a benchmark time of one minute 33.593 seconds after having the fastest lead over Hamilton in the first hour of the race.

“From the first run I had good faith in the car and the balance was actually very good,” said the 32-year-old, who celebrated his first Formula 1 victory in Sochi in 2017. “So all we had to do [were] minor adjustments during the day. “

Hamilton is five points behind Verstappen in the overall standings. His chances of a fifth win this year and the championship lead were already looking good when the Dutchman was penalized with three places on the grid after a crash that left both of them in the last race at Monza.

Bottas, who was aiming for his first win of the year, had also said he was ready to “take one for the team” and let Hamilton win if necessary.

Mercedes, 18 points ahead of Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, has won every race in Sochi since hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics on the calendar this year.

After the start of Verstappen’s decline, Hamilton’s prospects look even better.

“It’s definitely a shame for him, but we have to try to capitalize on it,” said the seven-time champion, who last won his home British Grand Prix in July and took four of Verstappen’s seven wins this year.

“A one-two would be spectacular for us as a team.”

Verstappen, who fought his way up to fifth place in the 2018 race in Sochi after falling back to 19th place due to engine and transmission fines, will try to limit the damage to his overall lead.

“Of course we are only trying to build the best possible race car for this weekend after choosing this engine,” said the 23-year-old. “So I hope it works.”

Pierre Gasly finished third fastest for AlphaTauri, despite the Frenchman losing his front wing after rattling over the curbs in the final seconds of the session.

Lando Norris, who finished a one-two for McLaren behind race winner Daniel Ricciardo in the last race in Italy, was fourth fastest.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who, like Verstappen, will start from behind after an engine change, completed the top 10.

Antonio Giovinazzi crashed his Alfa Romeo at the Turn 9 complex, forcing the session to be suspended for nine minutes.

Hamilton also met one of his pit crews after crossing his markings while stopping.

Kimi Raikkonen returned to Alfa Romeo after missing the last two races after testing positive for COVID-19. He finished the training in 12th place.

The teams rushed to pack as much racing as possible into the two-hour sessions.

The first race of the Formula 3 feeder series was postponed from the morning of September 25 to September 24 due to the weather forecast.