China – Free Practice 1: Vettel leads Hamilton and Leclerc
During a relatively calm first session without incident, Sebastian Vettel took an initial advantage over Lewis Hamilton despite being on softer tires. Daniel Ricciardo finished with an encouraging sixth time at the wheel of the Renault.
A bit of sunshine in the sky of Shanghai for the start of this thousandth Formula 1 Grand Prix and as usual, it’s the Haas cars of Magnussen and Grosjean that are the first to appear at the green light of the pit lane.
Installation laps follow one another at the beginning of the session, and aerodynamic tests are quickly carried out by some teams, including Racing Point with Lance Stroll on the rear wing with a new system of probes placed upstream of the wing.
Is there a more exciting sight on a Friday morning?
If so, we’ve yet to find it 😆#F1 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #MakeItCount pic.twitter.com/GMHGVloqAB
— SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) April 12, 2019
After an installation lap completed with a loaded aero package and sensors downstream of the rear train for Pierre Gasly, Red Bull is making a rear wing change in the Frenchman’s garage during the respite period. No traffic jams on the track during this first third of the session, yet conditions are better than usual with nearly 20°C in the air and nearly 30°C on the track.
Wearing medium tires, Robert Kubica and George Russell break the calm that had prevailed for about ten minutes, with Kimi Räikkönen and Lando Norris following suit. The first timed marks are therefore claimed by Russell at 1:40.725 and Kubica at 1:41.339. Afterwards, the times decrease with Sainz dropping under the 1:38 mark and then Magnussen under the 1:37 mark. As the first top driver, Vettel sets the best time on his first attempt with 1:35.988.
The German is quickly joined by Leclerc at the top of the timesheet, with the Monegasque trailing his teammate by 458 milliseconds. As Hamilton and Bottas dislodge Vettel and Leclerc from the virtual front row, Lance Stroll gets too ambitious in the last corner and loses the rear. Fortunately, he manages to recover the car.
Lance Stroll takes a less-than-ideal line through the final corner 😅#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #Race1000 pic.twitter.com/UCH6h0mUAk
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 12, 2019
Little by little, the lap times are dropping, and in this game, the Mercedes with soft tires are the most efficient, with Lewis Hamilton at 1:35.102 and Valtteri Bottas at 1:35.145. Max Verstappen managed to climb to third place, 18 thousandths ahead of Sebastian Vettel. Sergio Pérez is the “intruder” with this fifth time ahead of Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly. Hülkenberg, Sainz, and Grosjean complete the top 10 of this first half of the session.
Return to a calmer period as the mid-session deadline approaches. In the garages, the single-seaters are perched on the trestles, but our attention turns to Antonio Giovinazzi’s car. The Alfa Romeo driver only has two laps under his belt and is the only one yet to complete a timed run. The engine cover of the Alfa Romeo is dismantled, but no information currently explains the situation.
The standings at mid-session: Hamilton, Bottas, Verstappen, Vettel, Pérez, Leclerc, Gasly, Hülkenberg, Sainz, Grosjean, Albon, Magnussen, Kvyat, Stroll, Ricciardo, Norris, Räikkönen, Kubica, Russell, Giovinazzi
Still seeking confidence with his Renault, Daniel Ricciardo gains some by moving up to the provisional third place. The leaderboard sees many changes, with front-runners pushing the current limits of the track’s grip to set the best time. The Mercedes on softs, the Ferraris on mediums. After a first attempt, it’s Vettel who leads with a 1:33.911, ahead of Hamilton and Leclerc by 0.2 seconds and Bottas trailing at 0.7 seconds.
In the Alfa Romeo garage, things are getting worse for Giovinazzi. The Italian is now out of his car, and the mechanics are busy disconnecting the engine and the gearbox. On the track, it’s Albon who is struggling to tame his car, the Thai driver is battling with the overall balance of his vehicle. No mistakes but a few sliding moments for the Toro Rosso driver.
The session is slowly approaching its conclusion, and it’s now time for race simulation for the entire field. DRS is rarely activated by the drivers to better match the conditions encountered on Sunday. The lap times show a race pace advantage for Ferrari despite using tires one step harder than those of the Mercedes.
The final ranking at the end of the session:
Full classification from our first 90 minutes of action in Shanghai 📝#ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #Race1000 pic.twitter.com/u6VULPe1jA
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 12, 2019
