China – Free Practice 1: Rosberg at Home in Shanghai

Ferrari has just finished its family photo, Sebastian Vettel jokes with Helmut Marko… The pits are already buzzing in Shanghai just minutes before the start of the first free practice sessions of the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix, under rather pleasant weather (19°C in the air, 26°C on the track).

The track is open, and, as often, it’s a Toro Rosso that sets off first with Daniel Ricciardo. It should be noted that, at Caterham, it’s the local driver, Qing Hua Ma, who is at the wheel instead of Charles Pic. Jean-Eric Vergne notes, after his installation lap, that the track is very dirty. Ferrari, meanwhile, is already testing new developments and particularly wants to validate the front wing with the liquid to understand the aerodynamic flows.

After 10 minutes, all the drivers have completed their installation lap, but none have set a time yet. All? No. One driver still resists the trend: it’s Lewis Hamilton who is currently at the end of the pit lane. The Briton performs a start procedure and then takes to the track before returning to the pits. The activity on track is not expected to increase until the end of the first half-hour.

**After half an hour**, Esteban Gutierrez is the first driver to post a timed lap at 1:43.097 on medium (white) tires on a track that indeed looks very dusty. Jenson Button improves this time, also on mediums, with a 1.3-second margin. The two men exchange the lead with each of their laps, before Paul di Resta joins the battle. Button, in his first lap with DRS, clocks 1:38.262 and logically—and relatively durably—takes back the top spot on the timesheet, ahead of the two Williams cars, which are out on track under the eyes of Claire Williams. The Force India cars regain the advantage over the Grove cars.

After forty minutes, Button leads ahead of Di Resta, Sutil, Bottas, and Maldonado. Kimi Räikkönen is the first leading driver to set off: he records the best times in the first and second sectors, but fails to surpass Button due to a slower final section. Sutil, however, manages to do better than the McLaren driver: he records a 1:38.125. Felipe Massa falls short by a few hundredths of a second behind the German, while Räikkönen makes a mistake and spins out. He can turn around and resume driving.

After fifty minutes, Sutil is ahead of Massa, Webber, Button, and Alonso. The Brazilian takes the opportunity to improve and, by three hundredths, gets ahead of the Force India. Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, is in provisional third position, less than a tenth behind the Ferrari. Nico Rosberg, the defending champion in Shanghai, clocks 1:37.872 and thus takes the lead in this session, before Webber improves by two tenths. Hamilton makes a mistake at the end of the long straight, going off track before calmly rejoining it. Moments later, the two Mercedes take the lead, with Rosberg in front, at 1:36.904.

After an hour, the top 5 are Rosberg, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, and Alonso. The Mercedes cars are still on track to improve their times—which they do, thus solidifying their positions—just like Romain Grosjean who is stuck in ninth place. A quick trip through the gravel for Gutierrez’s Sauber; he gets back on track without too much trouble. The drivers are now in the long run phase, which should not allow for an improvement in times.

Twenty minutes from the end, Rosberg is leading ahead of Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, and Alonso. At Lotus, Ferrari, and Force India, work is being done on the car’s floor. On track, stints with fuel are being completed, all on medium tires. The track still seems a bit green for the soft (yellow) tires to be used.

Ten minutes from the checkered flag, Rosberg is still at the top of the timesheet ahead of Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, and Alonso. In the Mercedes garage, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda are in discussion. A sign of confidence? At Mercedes, the soft tires are ready with less than five minutes remaining in the session, even though it seems unlikely they can be used while the drivers are still on the Chinese track. Gutierrez makes one last too-wide pass at the end of the pit straight.

The session ends with Nico Rosberg setting the fastest time ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The two Mercedes lead the two Red Bulls of Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. The Lotus cars are further back. Returning to the pits, Sergio Pérez makes a mistake in the gravel trap where Lewis Hamilton crashed in 2007 during the race: the Mexican entered the pit lane way too quickly.

Results of Free Practice 1 for the 2013 Chinese Grand Prix: