Hulkenberg unworried by Sirotkin's FP1 breakdown

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Nico Hulkenberg was confident that Renault has taken care of the problem on his R.S.17, and doesn't expect any problems over the remainder of the weekend.

The car was in the hands of the team's test and development driver Sergei Sirotkin for the morning practice session in Sochi. However the car broke down on its out-lap, robbing Sirotkin of his chance to appear before his home fans.

"It was a short run for me in FP1, but that’s motor sport," said the 21-year-old Muscovite. "It’s better to have an issue with the car in practice than in qualifying or the race.

"There’s not much I can say about today other than I was happy with the car at the Bahrain test. I was fully prepared to deliver everything required today.

"I’m next out in Spain so that’s where my focus now lies."

The team explained that the issue with the car had been a hydraulic issue which affected the gearbox, requiring its replacement.

"A tricky morning for Sergey," said technical director Nick Chester. "His session was cut short after a hydraulic problem which then damaged the gearbox. It’s disappointing as we know he would have done a good job."

Ferrari stays in charge in Sochi second practice

The problem was fixed in time for Hulkenberg to take back his race seat for the afternoon session.

“It was a pretty straightforward FP2 for me after a short FP1 with the headset on whilst Sergey was in the car," he said.

"We were up to speed pretty quickly and I don’t think there’s anything to fear from the weekend ahead.

"We completed a decent amount of laps so there is enough info to digest in the quest to making us faster tomorrow and on race day."

Hulkenberg's regular team mate Jolyon Palmer had a straightforward day on Friday.

"The car felt pretty good straight out of the box and I was able to push it without any particular issues," reported the Briton.

"The front end felt good and there was good traction too. I think we’ve made some nice progress with understanding the car.

"I’m feeling positive for the rest of the weekend."

GALLERY: All the pictures from Friday in Sochi

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.