China – Free Practice 1 & 2: Double Blow for Hamilton, Räikkönen in Pursuit

First back-to-back of the season in China, a week after the race in Bahrain, Formula 1 is hitting its stride and setting up in Shanghai.

The question about the true pace of the Mercedes compared to the Ferraris might be answered during this Asian weekend, starting with the first free practice session.

Indeed, Lewis Hamilton already makes his mark during the first session by outpacing Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari by more than 3 tenths and his teammate Valtteri Bottas by almost half a second, all without having fitted the softest tires offered here by Pirelli, namely the Ultra Softs.

If the teams feared the rain at the beginning of the session, it was mainly the wind that caused problems for the drivers during this first session. Max Verstappen in his Red Bull, as well as Hamilton and Stoffel Vandoorne in his McLaren, encountered some issues and went off the track, though fortunately without any serious consequences.

Vandoorne skitters through the gravel 😬

But does well to keep it out of the barriers#F1 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/OcBG8vkeuU

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 avril 2018

Once again, behind the top three teams of Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, it’s the Haas and Renault teams that show the most speed, with a clear advantage for Kevin Magnussen, who set the 7th fastest time with a half-second lead over Carlos Sainz. The Dane seems to have perfectly mastered his car at the start of the season.

On the French side, Romain Grosjean is the highest-ranked with his 9th time, ahead of Pierre Gasly, a solid 11th, and Esteban Ocon, 14th, and behind his teammate Sergio Pérez.

The final standings of FP1:

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (END OF FP1)@LewisHamilton tops the first session of the weekend in Shanghai 💪#F1 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 pic.twitter.com/q1RQcrOqHX

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 avril 2018

If the wind decreases considerably for the second practice session, the results are essentially the same since it’s still Lewis Hamilton who places his Mercedes at the top of the timesheet, once again ahead of Kimi Räikkönen’s Ferrari. It is worth noting that all drivers had fitted Ultra Softs on their cars.

But this time, the Finn gets a little closer to the Briton, conceding only 7 thousandths of a second. Bottas and Vettel follow within a tenth, somewhat behind their respective teammates. Are the two protagonists of the Bahrain Grand Prix waiting for the right moment to go on the attack? In any case, it has become a habit for the German to bring out his best performance on Saturday afternoon for qualifying, even though he seems to be dominated by his teammate at the start of the weekend.

Behind, it’s a grim situation for Williams. Lance Stroll, who finished last in the first free practice session, made a mistake after half an hour of running. The white car is very difficult to keep on track, and its two inexperienced drivers are unable to find solutions to the numerous problems.

Not much going @lance_stroll‘s way so far today 😖 P20 in FP1 and now a big spin at Turn 8 #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #F1 pic.twitter.com/s7EFEYb6pI

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 avril 2018

The rain that had been threatening since the beginning of the day appeared in the last ten minutes of the session, forcing all the drivers to return to the pits…except for the two Williams drivers who took the opportunity to perfect their skills in these conditions.

Only notable incident at the end of this session, the recurrence of a loose wheel that this time affects Stoffel Vandoorne’s McLaren and forces the Belgian to stop on track.

📻@svandoorne

“I need to stop the car. The tyre is not on” #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #F1 pic.twitter.com/fPkiKTOFXY

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 avril 2018

Once again, it’s the Renaults and the Haas teams lurking behind the three leading teams. Fernando Alonso, however, manages to slide his McLaren into the Top 10 ahead of Pérez, Gasly, and Ocon. The Spaniard and the two Force India drivers take advantage of the wet track conditions to fit Intermediate tires in the final seconds, collecting some data that could prove useful if the weather continues this way.

The final ranking of FP2:

FP2 INITIAL CLASSIFICATION (90/90 MINS): Nip and tuck between Mercedes and Ferrari #ChineseGP 🇨🇳 #F1 pic.twitter.com/PsqrotVSfk

— Formula 1 (@F1) 13 avril 2018