Sebastian Vettel was third fastest for Ferrari, ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Force India and the leading Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.
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With the circuit being prepared for action, a tanker suffered a failure that resulted in the spill through turns eight and nine. On his exploratory lap Vettel summarised the situation perfectly over the radio: “What a mess!”
The 30-year-old Mercedes F1 driver from Hertfordshire finished today’s morning session in P7 and then didn’t set a time in the afternoon.
Button finished 11th and Alonso 14th, the duo sandwiching Felipe Massa and Felipe Nasr. Ericsson, however, joined him after tip-toeing round in 1m 58.926s, 1m 57.142s and 1m 54.272s shortly afterwards. And then there were a few spots of rain… As a result, with just four races to go after the Russian round and a maximum of 172 points up for grabs, the reigning champions need to outscore their Italian rivals by only three points to seal the title on Sunday at the same venue where they clinched the crown a year ago.
“It has not been the most adventurous day in the auto”. Alonso replied with 1m 51.036s for second again, before Verstappen went fastest with 1m 50.870s.
Next season the Le Mans 24 Hours race, which this year Hulkenberg won with Porsche, will take place on the same weekend as the European Grand Prix in Baku.
Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg risked their Mercedes in flying laps the hard conditions, choosing instead to dive into the pit line for practice starts.
Fernando Alonso was the first to post a timed lap 20 minutes into the shortened hour-long session, stopping the clock at a fraction just over two minutes on what was a very tentative outing on soft tyres.
When it was all said and done Nico Hulkenberg had set the fastest time his Force India with a lap of 1:44.355.
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Hamilton ended up seventh fastest, behind Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz, following his spin on his final lap.
