Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel on song in Sochi

Vettel, the 29-year-old German, arrived here at the Sochi Autodrom in charge of his heavyweight title battle with Hamilton by virtue of winning two of the three races staged so far this season.

And the four-time champion, and his resurgent Ferrari, team stamped their authority on proceedings by completing a practice double on Friday.

First Kimi Raikkonen went fastest in the morning session before Vettel led the way in the day's second running at a sun-bathed Sochi.

The Ferrari driver, who heads Hamilton by seven points, posted a fastest lap of one minute and 34.120 at this 3.1-mile circuit to finish ahead of Raikkonen, while Hamilton was only fourth.

Hamilton, a winner here in two of the three races staged, will be desperate to make amends following his defeat to Vettel at the last round in Bahrain.

But the triple world champion was slower, not only to both the Ferrari drivers, but his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas, too.

Hamilton ended the 90-minute session a distant 0.709 seconds adrift of Vettel's best time. Certainly work to do then for the Briton then should he wish to return to winning ways here on Sunday, but yet another promising day for a Ferrari team starved of championship glory for more than a decade.

Dutch teenager Max Verstappen was fifth in the order, but he missed the final 20 minutes of the session after he stopped on track with a mechanical failure. 

"I lost power," he said. His Red Bull team-mate Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth, but was 1.8 seconds slower than Vettel.

Fernando Alonso arrived in Russia directly from America after a recent seat fitting ahead of his upcoming soiree to the Indianapolis 500. And the Spaniard, who is yet to finish a race this season following McLaren and their engine supplier Honda's troubles, was 12th in the order with his team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne four places further back.

British driver Jolyon Palmer is in need of an improved weekend following a difficult start to his second campaign in the sport. The 26-year-old from Horsham was 13th, four tenths of a second and five spots behind his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in the timesheets.

Elsewhere, Felipe Massa - the Brazilian veteran called out of retirement by Williams following Bottas's switch to Mercedes - appears to be revelling in his renaissance.

He was seventh in the order here ahead of Hulkenberg, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and the Force India of Sergio Perez, who rounded out the top 10. 

The 26-year-old from Horsham was 13th, four tenths of a second and five spots behind his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg in the timesheets. 

Second Practice Times

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1min 34.120secs
2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:34.383
3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:34.790
4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:34.829
5 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:35.540
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:35.910
7 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:36.261
8 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:36.329
9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:36.506
10 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:36.600
11 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:36.654
12 Fernando Alonso (Spa) McLaren 1:36.765
13 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:36.771
14 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:37.039
15 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.083
16 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:37.125
17 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:37.300
18 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.441
19 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:37.747
20 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:37.819 

First Practice Times

1 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1min 36.074secs
2 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes GP 1:36.119
3 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes GP 1:36.681
4 Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:37.174
5 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:37.230
6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:37.290
7 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:37.457
8 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:37.900
9 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:37.944
10 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:38.065
11 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.496
12 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas F1 1:38.747
13 Fernando Alonso (Swe) McLaren 1:38.813
14 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:38.976
15 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:39.158
16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas F1 1:39.533
17 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:39.541
18 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari 1:39.731
19 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber-Ferrari 1:40.465
20 Sergey Sirotkin (Rus) Renault No Time