October 9, 2015 – The first free practice session for the 2015 Russian Grand Prix got underway half an hour later than scheduled due to a diesel spill on the circuit. After the circuit was cleaned up, Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg set the quickest, finishing the session just 0.052 seconds ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.
| Pos | Driver | Car | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m44.355s | 11 |
| 2 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 0.052s | 15 |
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 0.631s | 15 |
| 4 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 0.791s | 11 |
| 5 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 0.878s | 10 |
| 6 | Carlos Sainz | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1.133s | 13 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1.336s | 10 |
| 8 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1.391s | 13 |
| 9 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1.848s | 13 |
| 10 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1.860s | 16 |
| 11 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1.876s | 12 |
| 12 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1.978s | 12 |
| 13 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 2.392s | 13 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren/Honda | 3.088s | 16 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 3.651s | 9 |
| 16 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 3.741s | 9 |
| 17 | Jolyon Palmer | Lotus/Mercedes | 4.739s | 9 |
| 18 | Roberto Merhi | Marussia/Ferrari | 8.639s | 12 |
| 19 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 9.917s | 12 |
| 20 | Will Stevens | Marussia/Ferrari | 13.899s | 6 |