China – Free Practice 3: Ricciardo ahead of Massa and Grosjean, Mercedes and Alonso in the pits
On a soaked track, it is Daniel Ricciardo who sets the fastest time. He is ahead of Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean. Neither Mercedes nor Fernando Alonso recorded a timed lap.
The conditions are difficult to start the day: the track is very cold and the rain is soaking the circuit.
During the first half of the session, Pastor Maldonado is the first to take to the track, while the tire choice varies among teams who are unsure which compound will be most effective. During his installation lap, Jean-Eric Vergne seems to encounter an issue, possibly with the hybrid block. Daniil Kvyat is facing a similar issue, which appears to just be a problem with settings.
It’s Pastor Maldonado and his Lotus E22 who set the first time at 1:56:676 after fifteen minutes in this session. He is imitated by several drivers, including his teammate Romain Grosjean, on intermediate tires, who sets the provisional fastest time. The first incident of the day is provided by Valtteri Bottas, who spins off in the double left of turn number 9-10. Daniel Ricciardo improves Romain Grosjean’s time to 1:53:958.
After 30 minutes, Daniel Ricciardo is ahead of Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean, while the drivers are driving little: the focus is on conserving tires to keep some sets in good condition for qualifying and the race if they take place on a wet track. The Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, as well as Kevin Magnussen, have not gone out.
After 40 minutes, Pastor Maldonado’s single-seater is stopped on the side of the track at his engineer’s request, while a few drivers are running without improving, as the tires are degrading quickly.
During the last ten minutes, Nico Rosberg completed two installation laps, followed by Kevin Magnussen. Kimi Räikkönen, meanwhile, completed his timed lap in 1:55.062, achieving the fifth fastest time. Just as Sebastian Vettel was about to set a very fast time, the German decided to return to the pits: an issue with the ERS forced the world champion to return prematurely. Meanwhile, Adrian Sutil improved to take 13th place.
So it’s Daniel Ricciardo who sets the best time in a session without Mercedes or Alonso. He leads Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean, who took advantage of a lap completed just before conditions worsened to place his car in the top 3.
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
1 | Ricciardo | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:53.958 | 5 | |
2 | Massa | Williams Martini Racing | 1:54.492 | +0.534 | 5 |
3 | Grosjean | Lotus F1 Team | 1:54.514 | +0.556 | 4 |
4 | Hülkenberg | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:55.032 | +1.074 | 6 |
5 | Räikkönen | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:55.062 | +1.104 | 4 |
6 | Maldonado | Lotus F1 Team | 1:55.228 | +1.270 | 12 |
7 | Kvyat | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:55.235 | +1.277 | 7 |
8 | Bottas | Williams Martini Racing | 1:55.381 | +1.423 | 5 |
9 | Button | McLaren Mercedes | 1:55.673 | +1.715 | 4 |
10 | Perez | Sahara Force India F1 Team | 1:56.019 | +2.061 | 6 |
11 | Vettel | Infiniti Red Bull Racing | 1:56.233 | +2.275 | 8 |
12 | Vergne | Scuderia Toro Rosso | 1:56.380 | +2.422 | 9 |
13 | Sutil | Sauber F1 Team | 1:56.760 | +2.802 | 8 |
14 | Chilton | Marussia F1 Team | 1:56.841 | +2.883 | 13 |
15 | Gutierrez | Sauber F1 Team | 1:57.468 | +3.510 | 9 |
16 | Kobayashi | Caterham F1 Team | 1:57.812 | +3.854 | 12 |
17 | Bianchi | Marussia F1 Team | 1:57.976 | +4.018 | 14 |
18 | Ericsson | Caterham F1 Team | 1:59.507 | +5.549 | 6 |
19 | Rosberg | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 4 | ||
20 | Magnussen | McLaren Mercedes | 3 | ||
21 | Alonso | Scuderia Ferrari | 1 | ||
22 | Hamilton | Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team | 3 |
