Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

As ever, the headline lap times were not the full story in Friday practice. Ferrari were in a league of their own on single lap pace, but Mercedes were struggling with their tyres, failing to get them into the right working temperature window. 

This is a reverse of the normal form between Ferrari and Mercedes and one wonders whether it has anything to do with work done in testing after the race in Bahrain, where Mercedes focused on their over-usage of the softest compounds so far this year, which cost them victories in both Australia and Bahrain. 

On race pace, Valtteri Bottas was clearly quicker than Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari on their long runs on the ultra-soft tyre that will be used for qualifying and the first stint of the race. It’s an intriguing conundrum. As Bottas said: “The main problem was getting tyres to work on the first lap which is something we need to focus on without hurting the race.”

James Langley: I wonder if Mercedes are hiding their real race pace. We shall see today.  

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Getty Images

Sebastian Vettel, who was fastest in second practice yesterday, is not getting carried away with Ferrari's strong Friday showing.

"I think Mercedes will be fine; it's a circuit that suits them, so they will be strong," he said.

"I don't want to make this personal but I think last year people expected Williams to be the fastest after Friday if I remember right, and obviously it turned out Mercedes were.

"That's how sometimes you can be misled. I think there are a lot of things we can play with in the car, loads, engines modes… this track especially there are a lot of things you can show or not show."

Mercedes have been on pole in 59 of the last 62 races and for the last 18 in a row. Williams hold the record of 24 successive pole positions, set in 1992/93.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Hello! Welcome to qualifying day for the Russian Grand Prix.

In a touch under 20 minutes the Sochi air will be filled with the sound of engines as the cars roll out for one hour of final practice.

Then it is on to qualifying, where Mercedes' dominant record could be under serious threat...

Andrew Benson
Chief F1 writer

Mercedes are getting used to the challenge from Ferrari this year but Friday in Sochi brought something unfamiliar - the silver cars were simply off the pace. 

There was more than half a second between Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes, and the fastest driver for the world champions was Valtteri Bottas, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton in both sessions. 

Can Mercedes turn it around before qualifying later on Saturday? They are about to find out.

Image source, .

Do you know what the fastest land animal in the world is? Yep, you've got it - the cheetah. 

The Cheetah has reached speeds of 61 miles per hour but right behind it is the Pronghorn Antelope, which has managed to sprint at 60mph. 

Just a difference of one mile per hour means that if the antelope manages to climb just one notch up the evolutionary ladder, they could dethrone the cheetah as the king of speed.

Mercedes are the F1 equivalent of the cheetah while Ferrari are the antelope that has possibly made that evolutionary leap...

Image source, Getty Images