Russian GP | Bottas leads Hamilton as Mercedes dominate practice

Bottas, gunning for his first victory of the year, had also said he would be prepared to “take one for the team” and let Hamilton win if needed

Valtteri Bottas spearheaded a dominant first day of practice for Mercedes at the Russian Grand Prix ahead of Lewis Hamilton, whose bid for a 100th F1 win was boosted with Max Verstappen set to start the September 26 race last after a power unit change.

The Finn, a specialist around the Sochi track, ended the day 0.044 seconds clear of his British team mate with a benchmark time of one minute 33.593 seconds, having already gone fastest ahead of Hamilton in the first hour of racing.

"From the first run I had a good confidence with the car and the balance was actually very good," said the 32-year-old, who claimed his maiden Formula One win in Sochi in 2017. "So all we had to do [were] minor adjustments during the day."