Formula One fans endured more spills than thrills at the Russian Grand Prix yesterday after a cleaning truck leaked diesel across the circuit before first practice and rain washed out the afternoon session.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg eventually topped the morning timesheets while Felipe Massa was fastest for Williams after lunch.

Neither session offered much for the crowd sheltering in the stands, let alone those viewing from afar, with only eight drivers setting a lap time in the afternoon.

The Mercedes drivers failed to set a time after lunch.

They did at least achieve that in the first session, however, with world champion Lewis Hamilton leaving it until the last five minutes to complete a lap and ending up seventh on the timesheets.

Hulkenberg led a practice session for the first time this season after banging in a quick lap right at the finish, 0.052 quicker than Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg, for a best time of one minute 44.355 seconds.

The opening 90-minute session was reduced to an hour as workers hosed and cleansed the track following the ‘significant’ spillage from a truck that had been supposed to sweep the asphalt.

“What a mess,” exclaimed Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was third fastest in the morning and second in the afternoon, over the team radio.

No time was set for the first 20 minutes before McLaren’s Fernando Alonso got things rolling.

The rain then set in for the afternoon, with Massa splashing around in a best time of 2:00.458.