Free Practice 1: Spectacular Accident for Buemi, Button Takes First

Jenson Button on McLaren set the tone during these first tests in the framework of the Chinese Grand Prix, but this session was marked by Sébastien Buemi’s accident. Indeed, the Swiss driver was involved in one of the most bizarre accidents in modern Formula 1 history.

With 75 minutes of the session, the Toro Rosso driver crashed at the end of the straight just after his front suspension simply came apart. The entire front area of his car, including both front wheels, shattered into a thousand pieces. Buemi and his car came to a stop in the gravel trap, naturally causing a red flag period. He is 17th in the final standings of this event.

His teammate was duly informed of this incident. Jaime Alguersuari was ordered to return to the garage for the remainder of these initial tests so the team could start their investigation into the accident. He still ranks eleventh.

Button set a time of 1:36.677 halfway through the 90-minute session. The winner of the last Australian Grand Prix took full advantage of the extra speed provided by the new suspension on his McLaren.

For a while, the two McLarens occupied the top two spots. Lewis Hamilton was then two-tenths behind, but Nico Rosberg overtook the 2008 world champion. The Mercedes driver was only 0.071 seconds slower before Buemi’s crash. Hamilton finally finishes third, having improved his time (1:36.775).

Michael Schumacher is fourth after setting his best time when the track reopened, finishing ahead of Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull. Vitaly Petrov narrowly missed out on sixth position as the checkered flag was waved when his teammate Robert Kubica’s Renault recorded a time of 1:37.601.

Mark Webber for Red Bull achieved the eighth fastest time ahead of Adrian Sutil in the Force India and the Ferrari of Felipe Massa.

Next, we find the two Sauber drivers with a small advantage for the young Kobayashi over the less young De la Rosa. The two Williams drivers follow, with the young Hülkenberg ahead of the less young Barrichello. They are separated by di Resta for Force India. The Scot always has the opportunity to drive the Force India during the first practice sessions of each race weekend. In the finishing order, the standings end with the Lotus, then the Virgin, and finally the Hispania cars.

The only other significant incident of this session is credited to the former championship leader, Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard came to a stop at the exit of turn No. 6 with what appeared to be another engine failure. Flames were visible coming from the exhaust. He did not set any time and is consequently last in the session.

Free Practice 1 Results – Chinese GP – Friday, April 16, 2010: