Russian Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton blitzes rivals as Ferrari suffer more reliability problems

Hamilton was nearly one second faster than Mercedes team-mate and championship leader Nico Rosberg

Lewis Hamilton finished Friday practice fastest (Getty)

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in practice for Sunday's Russian Grand Prix as Ferrari endured yet another difficult day in their troubled start to the new Formula One season.

Hamilton, 36 points adrift of Nico Rosberg after the opening three rounds of the championship, spun at turn four before regaining his composure to post the quickest lap of the day.

His best time of one minute and 37.583 seconds at the Sochi Autodrome was nearly three quarters-of-a-second faster than Vettel with Rosberg, quickest in the opening session, almost one second adrift of his Mercedes team-mate.

Ferrari appear to have closed the gap to Formula One's all-conquering Mercedes team, in terms of raw pace over the winter, but they have been plagued by a host of issues so far this season.

Kimi Raikkonen retired from the Australian Grand Prix with an engine problem, while Vettel failed to start at the next race in Bahrain following a similar issue. The Ferrari duo then tripped over each other at the opening corner in China a fortnight ago.

Here, Vettel, the four-time world champion, was forced to stop on the start-finish straight just 30 minutes into the one-and-a-half hour session reporting an electronic glitch. The German's car was wheeled away to the Ferrari garage and that is where it stayed for the remainder of the session, with Vettel completing only 10 laps.

For Mercedes, and Hamilton in particular, it was rather more straightforward. Despite a spin, the world champion was comfortably faster than the rest of the field, with Rosberg well off the Briton's pace.

Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari is wheeled away after stopping on the start/finish straight (Getty)

Earlier, Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull had been the talk of the town after the former world champions gave their canopy - a driver head protection device - its first public airing.

Unlike the halo - a concept first devised by Mercedes and subsequently tested by Ferrari in pre-season - the canopy, also dubbed the aeroscreen, has no central pillar but two pillars on the side, with a windscreen acting as a shield.

Rosberg was nearly a second slower than Hamilton (Getty)

Following a number of high-profile incidents in recent seasons, including the fatalities of Henry Surtees - the son of former world champion John Surtees - in a Formula Two race at Brands Hatch in 2009 and fellow Briton Justin Wilson at an IndyCar event last year, which were both caused by flying debris, motor racing's governing body the FIA is determined to introduce improved cockpit protection for 2017.

Ricciardo completed just one scheduled lap with the canopy attached to his Red Bull in the opening moments of the 90-minute opening session before returning to his garage.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner said afterwards: "There is probably the purist in everybody that would say that F1 should be open cockpit racing.

Daniel Ricciardo ran a single lap with Red Bull's new Aeroscreen canopy (Getty)

"I think it is inevitable that the FIA is going to introduce something, and I think rather than the solutions we have seen so far, the aeroscreen offers a more aesthetically pleasing solution."

Back on track, Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari in the second session ahead of Ricciardo, the Williams driver of Valtteri Bottas and home favourite Daniil Kvyat. Jenson Button was eighth for McLaren.

Final Positions after Second Practice:

1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1min 37.583secs

2 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:38.235

3 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes GP 1:38.450

4 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:38.793

5 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:39.084

6 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams 1:39.185

7 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Red Bull 1:39.193

8 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:39.196

9 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:39.289

10 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:39.400

11 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.465

12 Max Verstappen (Ned) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:39.501

13 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Force India 1:39.795

14 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:39.867

15 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Renault 1:40.193

16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:40.260

17 Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Haas F1 1:40.508

18 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:40.688

19 Felipe Nasr (Bra) Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.740

20 Rio Haryanto (Ina) Manor Racing 1:41.080

21 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Manor Racing 1:41.148

22 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:41.652

PA