Vettel over Verstappen in opening practice for Russian GP
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| Vettel fastest when it does not count |
Sebastien Vettel almost has to win out to stop Lewis Hamilton from winning the 2018 F1 title. Although Friday morning practice is usually just a track cleaning session, it was Vettel atop the timesheets when the session was over.
Vettel's lap of 1m34.488s was just 0.050s faster than Red Bull's Max Verstappen was 2nd quick.
Hamilton, who has a 40 point lead in the championship and sandbagging for now, was third quick 0.330s behind Vettel in his unbeatable Aldo Costa designed Mercedes.
Valtteri Bottas in the 2nd Mercedes and Daniel Ricciardo in the 2nd Red Bull rounded out the top-5.
Practice 1 Results
| POS | NO | DRIVER | CAR | TIME | GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:34.488 | +0.000s | 19 |
| 2 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Renault | 1:34.538 | +0.050s | 22 |
| 3 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:34.818 | +0.330s | 23 |
| 4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1:34.999 | +0.511s | 28 |
| 5 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Renault | 1:35.524 | +1.036s | 11 |
| 6 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Force India Mercedes | 1:35.663 | +1.175s | 24 |
| 7 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:35.696 | +1.208s | 19 |
| 8 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas Ferrari | 1:36.196 | +1.708s | 21 |
| 9 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1:36.274 | +1.786s | 18 |
| 10 | 36 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Sauber Ferrari | 1:36.712 | +2.224s | 22 |
| 11 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas Ferrari | 1:36.816 | +2.328s | 23 |
| 12 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:36.944 | +2.456s | 25 |
| 13 | 47 | Lando Norris | McLaren Renault | 1:37.022 | +2.534s | 25 |
| 14 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber Ferrari | 1:37.054 | +2.566s | 24 |
| 15 | 46 | Artem Markelov | Renault | 1:37.183 | +2.695s | 22 |
| 16 | 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren Renault | 1:37.187 | +2.699s | 27 |
| 17 | 34 | Nicholas Latifi | Force India Mercedes | 1:37.206 | +2.718s | 24 |
| 18 | 35 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams Mercedes | 1:37.225 | +2.737s | 25 |
| 19 | 28 | Brendon Hartley | Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda | 1:37.944 | +3.456s | 28 |
| 20 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Williams Mercedes | 1:39.137 | +4.649s | 13 |