Free Practice 1 – Hamilton has a head start

Lewis Hamilton is the first leader of the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix, which will prove to be crucial in the quest for the drivers’ title. He wins the first practice session in Shanghai.

The title rival driver, Felipe Massa, finishes second for Ferrari but 0.390 seconds behind Hamilton. The Briton could clinch the 2008 championship this weekend but arrives at the track under pressure after multiple incidents and penalties at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) and Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) are third and fourth, respectively. The last title contender, BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica, is in fifth place, ahead of the man in form at the moment, Fernando Alonso (Renault) in sixth.

After a very calm start to the session, Räikkönen was the first driver from the top of the standings to head out onto the track, 35 minutes had then passed. He beat Sebastien Bourdais’ time by six tenths of a second.

The McLaren and Ferrari drivers then took turns at the top of the timesheet. Within ten minutes, leaders kept changing: Kovalainen, Massa before Räikkönen came back but only for a few seconds as Kovalainen improved his time. Finally, Räikkönen thinks he has the final word…

Hamilton then picks up speed because at mid-session, he completes a lap in 1:36.044. He takes command of the operations.

Massa was better two minutes later since he improved the current championship leader’s time by 0.020 seconds.

This turned out to be the last change in the first part of these free practice 2. Fifteen minutes later, it was Hamilton who made a big impact as his main rivals did not improve their times, the Briton found the resources necessary to progress by four-tenths of a second. He completed a lap in 1.35.630 and remained in the lead.

Behind the top six, we find Kubica’s teammate, Nick Heidfeld, in seventh position, followed by Toro Rosso drivers Sébastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel in 8th and 10th respectively, separated by Nelson Piquet (Renault).

Turn 11 was the scene of most incidents of the session with Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) both spinning halfway around. They are 18th and 11th. Trulli briefly goes off into the grass. Rubens Barrichello’s Honda performs the same maneuver at the same spot.

Free Practice 1 Results – Chinese GP – Friday, 17 October 2008