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Mercedes pilots dominant at 1st Free Practice at 2016 F1 Russia Grand Prix

German racer Nico Rosberg, who already won this season’s first three races, showed the best result of 1 minute 38.127 seconds

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg

© EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL

SOCHI, April 29. /TASS/. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg from team Mercedes dominated the racing track in Russia’s sunny resort city of Sochi during the first practice on Friday morning before the 2016 FIA F1 Russia Grand Prix this weekend.

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German racer Rosberg, who already won this season’s first three races, showed the best result of 1 minute 38.127 seconds, while his teammate, three-time F1 World Champion Hamilton clocked the lap at 1 minute 38.849 seconds.

Russia’s Daniil Kvyat, who finished the previous Chinese Grand Prix in the third place two weeks ago, raced his home track in 1 minute 40.218 seconds showing the 8th result.

Another Russian racer Sergey Sirotkin, who signed a contract this week with F1 team Renault as a test pilot, showed the 13th best result of 22 pilots racing in Free Practice 1 on Friday. The 20-year-old Russian racer completed the track in 1 minute 40.898 seconds.

This year Russia is holding its FIA Formula One racing Grand Prix for the first time in spring, namely on April 29-May 1, as compared with the two previous races held in autumn of 2014 and 2015 in Sochi.

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F1 Russian Grand Prix in pictures

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