Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFormula 1

FP1 in Russia delayed by diesel spillage

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The first practice session for the Russian Grand Prix has been delayed by a diesel spillage.

A track vehicle spilled diesel on the run to Turn 8, with FIA race director Charlie Whiting inspecting the spillage before calling for a 30 minute delay to the start of the opening session. A number of track workers are cleaning the track, with fire hoses being used to help wash away the fuel.

The delay will cause a headache for the teams, with the chance of rain increasing throughout the day. The session started on time at 10am local time, with teams set to lose half an hour of track time in FP1.

The FIA clarified the session will not be extended, and teams are no longer allowed to use the set of tyres allocated for the opening 30 minutes.

Follow live coverage of the opening practice session here.

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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.