page_title: 2015 Russian Grand Prix
section_title: Free practice
hierarchical_section_title: 2015 Russian Grand Prix / Report / Free practice
caption_attribution_description: English: Carlos Sainz Jr. at the 2015 Russian Grand Prix
context_page_description: The 2015 Russian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race that took place on 11 October 2015. The fifty-three lap race was held at the Sochi Autodrom. This was the fifteenth round of the 2015 season and marked the second time that the Russian Grand Prix was run as a round of the Formula One World Championship since its inception in 1950.
  Lewis Hamilton won the race for the second season in a row, extending his Drivers' Championship lead to 66 points. With Nico Rosberg retiring early in the race, Sebastian Vettel reclaimed second place in the standings for the first time since his round two victory in Malaysia with a second-place finish. Sergio Pérez completed the podium in third for Force India.
  Mercedes secured their second consecutive Constructors' Championship, having done so at the same event the previous season.
context_section_description: Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice sessions were held, two 90-minute sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. However, all three sessions were disrupted and little running took place. During the first session on Friday morning, a spillage of diesel on track prevented the cars from going out on until very late in the session. Eventually, Nico Hülkenberg topped the session for Force India, ahead of his compatriots Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. Since water was used to clear the surface, the first laps were run on intermediate tyres by most drivers, with both Williams cars being equipped with full wet tyres, but Valtteri Bottas spun on them entering the pit lane. Later, the track dried enough to use slick tyres, Fernando Alonso being the first to do so. Due to the limited running, the last minutes were busy with most cars out on track. Marcus Ericsson however was confined to the sidelines as he stopped with an engine problem. As Lewis Hamilton spun on his last timed lap, he needed to settle for seventh fastest.
  With a lot of rain falling, the second practice session saw only eight drivers set timed laps, with just 14 taking to the track. Felipe Massa set the fastest time with a lap of 2:00.458. Both Lotus and Marussia did not run at all, while Fernando Alonso ran the most number of laps with twelve, following an engine change.
  The third practice session on Saturday saw limited running as well, as training was halted due to a massive 46g crash by Carlos Sainz Jr.. The Spaniard lost control of his car going into turn 13, hit a wall and went on to crash into the safety barriers, burying the nose of his car in the process. The session was stopped while Sainz was taken out of the car and transported to hospital, albeit uninjured. Practice was not resumed afterwards and the time of 1:38.561 set by Nico Rosberg before the accident remained the fastest lap of the session. He was more than seven-tenths of a second faster than Valtteri Bottas in second, with Lewis Hamilton another tenth behind. Sainz's teammate Max Verstappen finished the session 17th fastest after spinning in the final corner.
caption: Carlos Sainz Jr. had a bad accident in the third practice session.
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