Summary

  • Massa fastest in wet second practice

  • Few drivers set times

  • Alonso pits with problem

  • Get involved #myidealcircuit: design your own circuit

  • Hulkenberg fastest in first practice

  1. Alonso at McLaren 'until 2017'published at 08:22 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    “As for the other McLaren driver, Fernando Alonso also left Japan with uncertainty surrounding his future after, despite having a three-year contract, he said in a post-race interview with the BBC that he ‘didn’t know’ whether he would be in F1 next season. 

    "He put out some tweets in an attempt to clarify the situation later that evening, but that did not stop it being the item number one on the agenda in the official news conference on Thursday. The tweets were not completely clear, he was asked, will you be in F1 next year? ‘You didn’t read the tweets?’ Alonso said. I read them, his questioner persisted, but they weren’t totally clear. 

    "‘Of course I’m not English, my mother language is Spanish. In Spanish they were a little bit clear,’ Alonso replied. So how about now, yes or no? ‘The same. Yes. Of course.’ 100% you’ll be with McLaren, on the grid in 2016? And ’17.’”  

  2. Postpublished at 08:18 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

  3. Postpublished at 08:17 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    “One way and another, the McLaren drivers have been in the news since the last race in Japan. In Jenson Button’s case, it was announced that he would be staying at the team in 2016. Button admitted he had given some - if not much - thought to retirement, but said that the key to wanting to stay was in being convinced he would not face another season as trying as this one.

    “‘I had thoughts of what direction I would take if I wasn’t here next year,’ Button said, ‘but it wasn’t in my mind for long. But there were things I felt I needed more information on on where this team was going. I had a really good week at the factory last week very positive with key individuals within the team to heads of department and I have a real belief it will be much better next year from the car side and the engine side.’”

  4. Postpublished at 08:15

    While Mercedes breezed to another victory in Japan last-time out, it was left to McLaren to provide many of the talking points from that weekend. We left Japan with both Jenson Button's and Fernando Alonso's future at the team uncertain. There have been a few developments since then...

  5. Get involvedpublished at 08:14 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    #myidealcircuit

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post
  6. Postpublished at 08:09 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    David Coulthard
    BBC F1 co-commentator

    David Coulthard
    Quote Message

    This will definitely impact when they get out there in terms of doing meaningful testing. It will compress everything.

  7. Practice is under way...published at 08:09

    The clock is ticking but there's no running at the moment as that diesel spill is dealt with...

  8. Postpublished at 08:06

    Max Verstappen, by the way, is finally able to drive a car on normal roads, having passed his driving test on his 18th birthday a few days after the Japanese Grand Prix.

    It also means he can have a sip of the champagne, should he get on the podium.

  9. Postpublished at 08:04 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

  10. What's the latest at Red Bull?published at 08:03 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    Andrew Benson
    Chief F1 writer

    “Five races to go, and it is still unclear whether Red Bull and its junior team Toro Rosso will even be taking apart in Formula 1 next year. Discussions with Ferrari over an engine supply - following Red Bull’s own decision to split with Renault and Mercedes’ refusal to sell them their engines - have stalled and the next step is unclear. Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz both said they trusted the team to make the right decision. 

    "Meanwhile, Kvyat’s team-mate Daniel Ricciardo pointed out that even if Red Bull could only persuade Ferrari to supply them with their 2015 engine, that would still likely be only 20bhp or so down on the Mercedes and Ferrari works engines next year, which was still an awful lot better position than they have been in with Renault for the last two years.”

  11. Delay no big deal - Hornerpublished at 08:02 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    Quote Message

    In today's world the simulation tools are so strong teams are turning up pretty much sorted. It is an inconvenience but doesn't have a major impact.

    Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal

  12. Postpublished at 08:01

    There may be no cars on the track but our coverage is now live on BBC Two and online, Lee McKenzie is currently chatting with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

  13. Postpublished at 07:58 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    David Coulthard
    BBC F1 co-commentator

    Quote Message

    Apparently it is one of the sweeping trucks that has been out there that has spilled a whole load of diesel on the circuit. The word we are getting at the moment is that they will extend the session, so we will just a smaller gap between the two sessions.

    Sochi F1 circuit
  14. Practice delayed by 30 minutespublished at 07:56

    Go make a brew, no cars on the circuit for at least 30 minutes...

  15. Postpublished at 07:53 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra

    Delay or not, the show goes on on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra. Tune in now, and listen online via this page, for the Russian GP preview show.

  16. Postpublished at 07:52 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

  17. Practice delayed?published at 07:50

    Practice is scheduled to get under way in 10 minutes, although it might be delayed, as someone familiar to these pages suggests...

  18. Postpublished at 07:46 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

  19. sun

    Postpublished at 07:45

    As you can see from the Sochi Autodrom tweet earlier, there are bright blue skies above the circuit at the moment, but it is unlikely to stay that way...

  20. Get involvedpublished at 07:44 British Summer Time 9 October 2015

    #myidealcircuit

    Hong KongImage source, .
    Image caption,

    Here's a very rough sketch of my ideal circuit, which would be on the streets of Hong Kong. Massive dose of imagination required...

    Lewis Hamilton fancies a crack at designing his own circuits, which provides a nice little segway to our discussion topic for today.

    If you could design your ideal circuit, what would it look like and where would it be? We'd love to see it so why not power up paint, have a go at designing a track and send it on over to #myidealcircuit, external

    Not got access to Twitter? Then you can still let us know where your ideal circuit would be and what it would feature via text message on 81111 (UK only) or on the BBC Sport Facebook page.