China – FP1: Hamilton and Mercedes One Second Ahead of Ferrari

It is under the Shanghai sun that the first free practice session of the 2015 Chinese Grand Prix will begin.

As usual, the first half-hour is dedicated to using the tire set provided by Pirelli to allow the cars to run. This gives Nico Rosberg the opportunity to quickly set the best time, quite comfortably ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Sebastian Vettel. Several small mistakes are noted, starting with the spins of Jolyon Palmer (who takes Grosjean’s place for this FP1) and Carlos Sainz, but also Lewis Hamilton’s error as he misses the braking at the end of the long back straight, aborting his latest flying lap.

The Briton catches up shortly after mid-session, despite missing an apex in the last sector. 1:39.033 for the reigning world champion, half a second ahead of his teammate. The two men are followed by Kimi Räikkönen, Sainz, Daniil Kvyat, and Maldonado. Mercedes is testing a new front wing in China, as are several teams that have brought upgrades for this third round. In terms of top speeds, Ferrari’s progress is confirmed with the four best speeds set by Ferrari engines.

In the last half-hour of this first session, the long stints begin, with rare exceptions like Vettel, who sets the third-fastest provisional time, one and a half seconds behind Hamilton. The lap times in the context of the long stints appear to show a strong Ferrari, although at this stage of the weekend few conclusions can be drawn. Mistakes are multiplying, still at the end of the long straight, with a new spin for Felipe Massa this time.

The session ends with the best time from Lewis Hamilton, half a second ahead of Nico Rosberg and one second and one-tenth ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who improved at the very end of the session.

2015 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1