China – Free Practice 1: Hamilton Makes a Strong Start

It is under a gray sky and on a slightly damp track that the drivers begin the first free practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix, with Heikki Kovalainen being the first to take the track.

As Jules Bianchi replaces Paul di Resta at the wheel of the Force India VJM05, Bruno Senna gives up his seat to Valtteri Bottas at Williams, and Vitaly Petrov hands over his CT01 to Giedo Van der Garde at Caterham.

After three weeks spent working intensively in the factories, the teams conduct numerous aerodynamic evaluations. In a rare occurrence during free practice, Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren MP4-27 features a bulky measuring instrument attached to the rear of the diffuser, which teams typically only use during private tests. Other teams, led by Ferrari, prefer to use fluorescent fluid to visualize airflow.

At Red Bull, Mark Webber will evaluate the recent developments made to the RB8 while Sebastian Vettel will work with an RB8 in the configuration it had during pre-season testing. Mark Webber is also the first driver to set a timed lap at 1:44.542 as a few drops of rain fall again on the circuit. Many drivers are caught off guard by stepping onto the curbs, although without consequences.

At mid-session, the rain intensifies slightly, and the drivers prefer to return to the pits. Webber then leads Grosjean, Maldonado, Ricciardo, Kovalainen, Massa, Rosberg, De la Rosa, Vergne, and Karthikeyan.

As the last half-hour of testing approaches, Fernando Alonso, daringly, ventures onto the track on slick tires, treading carefully. The Spaniard is joined by Timo Glock, Felipe Massa, and Kamui Kobayashi. All are on slick tires to save sets of wet-weather tires for the remainder of the weekend, which is also expected to be rainy. Kimi Räikkönen, meanwhile, is the only one on intermediate tires, allowing him to clock a timed lap and climb to the tenth spot in the provisional standings.

The number of cars in action increases over the past twenty minutes, drying the track, with Sebastian Vettel even indicating to his pit that it’s too dry for intermediate tires. Consequently, some drivers decide to switch back to slick tires, with Sergio Perez among the first.

With four minutes to go before the checkered flag, Michael Schumacher sets the fastest time at 1:39.318, but Mark Webber immediately takes it back with 1:38.977. However, on his first flying lap of the session, Lewis Hamilton stakes his claim in the first sector. The Brit moves up to third place while, at Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel is deprived of DRS.

After another strong first sector, the McLaren driver ends up in the exhausts of Van der Garde’s Caterham, which does not prevent him from setting the fastest time at 1:38.146. In his final lap, the Englishman improves sector by sector and beats Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes by one second, putting it in second place.

Third, Michael Schumacher is ahead of the two Sauber drivers and the Red Bulls. The Lotus drivers, not having participated in the final rush, are naturally relegated to the back of the standings while Jean-Eric Vergne is the highest-ranking French representative.

Free Practice 1 Results of the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix: