FP1 & FP2 - Russian GP report: Renault Sport F1

Key practice points:

— FP1 and FP2 sees F1 make first appearance at all-new Sochi Autodrom ahead of inaugural Russian Grand Prix
— Quiet day for Infiniti Red Bull Racing, with Sebastian Vettel ninth in FP2 after Daniel Ricciardo stopped on track to avoid a Power Unit issue
— Scuderia Toro Rosso best of the Renault-powered teams, with Daniil Kvyat and Jean-Eric Vergne ending both sessions inside the top-10
— Roberto Merhi makes third FP1 outing of the year for Caterham F1 Team, while Lotus F1 Team gain valuable mileage

Rémi Taffin, head of track operations:

There were a lot of encouraging signs today, especially as most of our Power Units were running old parts or coming to the end of their cycles. That was certainly the case with Daniel Ricciardo’s PU, which was safely stopped on track. There’s no fundamental problem to worry about there, but we’ll still check to find out if there’s any potential issues.

Toro Rosso’s form looks especially good. I know they’ve enjoyed a lot of trouble-free running today and also seem to have found a good set-up. If they can build on that tomorrow then I think both drivers have a fantastic chance of breaking into Q3.

Red Bull are probably a bit behind where they’d like to be, and you can be sure we’ll be assisting them this evening in helping to extract the car’s true pace. The Sochi circuit is unusual in having so many 90-degree corners, which can throw up some specific demands. But ultimately I fully expect them to be in podium contention on Sunday, especially as both of our factories are working flat-out to build on today’s track data and find the right car set-up.

Both Lotus and Caterham also had positive days, especially in FP2 after they’d verified their pre-event simulations.