Postpublished at 09:05 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Here's Andrew Benson's report. I'm parking the live text for now but tune back in at 10:30 BST for live coverage of second practice. See you in a bit.
Summary
Hamilton fastest in second practice, Magnussen 2nd
Alonso 3rd, Rosberg 4th, Bottas 5th
Marussia to run one car in Sochi out of respect for Jules Bianchi
Ricciardo stops on track, causing red flag
Rosberg fastest in first practice, Hamilton 2nd
Watch both sessions again via Live Coverage tab
Postpublished at 09:05 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Get involvedpublished at 08:54 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Formula1chick: So much respect to all there, it's incredibly tough to watch and must be a complete challenge to be there. #ForzaJules
Postpublished at 08:54 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Image source, APIf you're just tuning in, Marussia will run just one car at this weekend's Russian Grand Prix out of respect for Jules Bianchi.
The Frenchman is in a critical but stable condition with severe head injuries after crashing in Japan.
Postpublished at 08:51 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Image source, McLaren on TwitterMcLaren on Twitter:, external A live pit stop practice to finish off this morning's session.
Postpublished at 08:46 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Image source, Getty ImagesSo as expected, it's Mercedes who continue their domination of this championship with a comfortable one-two as Nico Rosberg edges team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
First practice resultspublished at 08:36 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
1) Nico Rosberg 2) Lewis Hamilton 3) Jenson Button 4) Fernando Alonso 5) Kevin Magnussen 6) Sergio Perez 7) Daniil Kvyat 8) Kimi Raikkonen 9) Jean-Eric Vergne 10) Valtteri Bottas 11) Felipe Massa
12) Daniel Ricciardo 13) Nico Hulkenberg 14) Sebastian Vettel 15) Adrian Sutil 16) Pastor Maldonado 17) Sergey Sirotkin 18) Romain Grosjean 19) Roberto Merhi 20) Marcus Ericsson 21) Max Chilton
Chequered flagpublished at 08:31 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Nico Rosberg finishes fastest in first practice for the Russian Grand Prix.
Chequered flagpublished at 08:31 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Out comes the chequered flag, but anyone on a timed lap may complete it.
Postpublished at 08:29 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Roberto Merhi has a moment at Turn 15, spinning his Caterham into the run-off before rejoining.
Postpublished at 08:28 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Image source, Getty ImagesIt's looking like Mercedes will end this session on top of the pile again with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton (pictured) holding the top two positions. Six minutes to go.
Postpublished at 08:22 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Good showing from McLaren in Russia, Jenson Button currently third two tenths off the pace with Kevin Magnussen fifth, half a second further back.
Postpublished at 08:21 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
"There is no power," says Romain Grosjean. "Come on!". That's not the first time we've heard the Frenchman say that this season. Lotus will certainly be looking forward to swapping Renault power for the class-leading Mercedes unit next year.
Get involved - #bbcf1published at 08:20 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Craig: Not impressed with Sochi at all. Bring in the 'finest' parts of Valencia, Abu Dhabi & Korea because that's a great idea.
Tone720: With all this Tarmac run-off and cars going wide, surely they'll have to look at enforcing track limits from qualifying onwards?
Postpublished at 08:18 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Wishing commentary legend Murray Walker a very happy 91st birthday today.
Postpublished at 08:13 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Fernando Alonso pops into fourth with a 1:42.724, half a second off the pace set by Nico Rosberg.
Postpublished at 08:12 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Looks like Mercedes got their way, as Lewis Hamilton peels into the pits.
Postpublished at 08:09 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
"I need one full lap, please," says Lewis Hamilton over team radio. "Negative Lewis, the programme getting tight," comes the reply. But Hamilton says: "I'd like to sacrifice one of my long run laps, please." Emphatic and polite.
Postpublished at 08:03 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
Jenson Button overcooks it at Turn Eight, the Briton losing the rear end of his McLaren and spinning round. Luckily, there's plenty of run-off so there's no harm done.
Postpublished at 08:00 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
It's Nico Rosberg's turn to report vibrations on his Mercedes but the German continues to clock up the laps, his total now 16 for the session.
With 30 minutes to go, here's the top 10: 1) Ros 2) Ham 3) But 4) Ver 5) Bot 6) Alo 7) Kvy 8) Mag 9) Hul 10) Vet
Postpublished at 07:59 British Summer Time 10 October 2014
We have a change at the top with Nico Rosberg going quickest with a 1:42.311. Lewis Hamilton follows him over the line, just 0.065 seconds adrift. These two have been so closely matched in practice at the last few races.