 Per the regulations for the 2016 season , two 90 @-@ minute practice sessions were held on Friday and another 60 @-@ minute session was held before qualifying on Saturday . The Ferrari drivers , Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen , set the pace in the first session , both on the soft tyre compound . The Mercedes drivers Rosberg and Hamilton followed , albeit on the medium compound , recording more timed laps than their rivals . Both Red Bull cars followed in fifth and sixth , with Daniel Ricciardo faster than new teammate Max Verstappen . <unk> Bottas was seventh for Williams , two places ahead of teammate Felipe Massa , who at one point spun out at turn five . Upon his return to Toro Rosso , Daniil Kvyat was unable to match the pace of his teammate Carlos Sainz Jr . , ending up half a second behind him . Esteban <unk> made his first free practice appearance of the season for Renault , replacing Jolyon Palmer , but was unable to set a timed lap . He suffered a tyre failure , caused by debris on the track . Force India 's Sergio Pérez managed only nine laps as he spent much of the session in the pit lane after smoke emerged from the rear of his car . 
