The 2014 runner-up set the pace with a lap of 1:29.557 on the medium tyre, in a session dominated by the two Mercedes team-mates.
Lewis Hamilton was second in the sister W06 Hybrid, just +0.029 shy of Rosberg, to ensure the reigning champions ended the first session of 2015 with a 1-2.
Williams’ Valtteri Bottas was their closest rival, though he remained over a second off the pace with his 1:30.748 – the only driver bar Mercedes to dip below the 1:31 mark.
Meanwhile, the senior Red Bull team appeared to struggle, with Daniel Ricciardo complaining about the driveability of the Renault power unit and suffering a spin at the penultimate corner with 30 minutes remaining. While Renault has worked on boosting power ahead of the season, the delivery of the power was still offering the drivers some surprises on Friday. Ricciardo’s fastest time was quick enough for 10th behind the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado, the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen and the Williams of Felipe Massa.
McLaren continued its stop-start search for reliability, but despite hitting the track early in the session only managed 13 laps between both drivers. Of the cars that set a time they were only quicker than Romain Grosjean, whose Lotus had an issue until the final moments of the session when he completed five laps.
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m29.557s | – | 19 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m29.586s | 0.029s | 19 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m30.748s | 1.191s | 20 |
4 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m31.014s | 1.457s | 32 |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m31.029s | 1.472s | 13 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m31.067s | 1.510s | 31 |
7 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m31.188s | 1.631s | 19 |
8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m31.310s | 1.753s | 14 |
9 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m31.451s | 1.894s | 22 |
10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m31.570s | 2.013s | 9 |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 1m32.073s | 2.516s | 18 |
12 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m32.247s | 2.690s | 22 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m32.261s | 2.704s | 19 |
14 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m34.542s | 4.985s | 6 |
15 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren/Honda | 1m34.785s | 5.228s | 7 |
16 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 2m17.782s | 48.225s | 5 |