Max Verstappen led Daniel Ricciardo in Friday morning’s delayed, wet first practice session for the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang circuit. Heavy rain in the build up to FP1 led to an “indefinite” delay to proceedings. Amid a break in the weather, the session went green at 11:30 local time, half an hour later than planned. Race control waited for the pools of water to clear from the track.
Spraying goodbye to Sepang ?? Max finishes #FP1 in P1 with a 1.48.962 while Daniel is P2 with a 1.49.719 #MalaysiaGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/oqlb6fE2vl
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) September 29, 2017
Verstappen and Ricciardo quickly got into a rhythm in the tricky conditions and on the switch from Wets to Intermediates.
Verstappen topped the timesheets at Sepang, clocking a 1:48.962, some eight-tenths faster than Ricciardo, who finished a similar margin clear of Alonso.
? END OF FP1 ?
TOP 10
VER
RIC
ALO ?
RAI
VET
HAM
BOT
STR
GAS
SIR#MalaysiaGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/9UiPl9nZNo— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2017
Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel made late improvements to take fourth and fifth. The latter escaping from a trip through the grass and gravel at Turn 9. Mercedes made a low-key start to the weekend. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas were sixth and seventh, ahead of Williams rookie Lance Stroll.
It’s still slippy out there
VET goes for a slide and ends up on the grass ?#MalaysiaGP ?? #FP1 pic.twitter.com/fGISsIjwzJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2017
Pierre Gasly, appearing as a Formula 1 race driver for the first time, made a confident start in ninth, his engineer praising his progress over the radio.
Welcome to #F1, @PierreGASLY ?#MalaysiaGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/OKkG4iGYmL
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2017
Renault test driver Sergey Sirotkin slotted ahead of regular Jolyon Palmer on the fringes of the top 10. He was followed by the other McLaren of Stoffel Vandoorne.
Force India’s Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez were 13th and 15th, sandwiching Toro Rosso tester Sean Gelael. Charles Leclerc made his first FP1 run with Sauber, after several outings with Haas last season. He finished almost four-tenths ahead of Pascal Wehrlein.
Haas brought up the rear, with Romain Grosjean and Friday runner Antonio Giovinazzi closely matched. Felipe Massa failed to post a time amid a hydraulics issue.
.@redbullracing looking strong ?
VER goes fastest with a 1:48.962 ?#MalaysiaGP ?? #FP1 pic.twitter.com/jm2LcGiGqb
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2017
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP1): A successful opening session for @redbullracing #MalaysiaGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/yhurJ118DJ
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 29, 2017
