The Chinese GP, the third race of the season, kicked off under cool and overcast conditions with the first practice session (FP1). The high tailwinds at the Shanghai International Circuit on Friday afternoon, caused cars to spin out. The first and last turns of the circuit were the two main areas where the drivers had issues.
Lewis Hamilton Tops First Practice Session
Early in the session, you could see people go wide on the last turn, with some of them running off into the gravel. Max Verstappen, Stoffel Vandoorne and other drivers found themselves making trips into the gravel.
Ferrari were seen practicing pit stops, as they had a new member replacing the mechanic that was injured after an accident last week in Bahrain. During Kimi Raikkonen’s stop during the race last Sunday a pit member’s leg was run over, causing him to suffer a fractured shinbone and fibula.
Mercedes Back In Form
Lewis Hamilton topped the leaderboards with a lap time of 1:33.999s. Behind him was Raikkonen, and his teammate Valtteri Bottas. Fourth and fifth place was occupied by Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen. Sebastian Vettel, the championship leader, was sixth.
Free Practice 1 Results:
| Pos | Driver | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:33.999 | 22 | ||
| 2 | 1:34.358 | +0.359s | 14 | |
| 3 | 1:34.457 | +0.458s | 28 | |
| 4 | 1:34.537 | +0.538s | 22 | |
| 5 | 1:34.668 | +0.669s | 22 | |
| 6 | 1:34.861 | +0.862s | 18 | |
| 7 | 1:35.178 | +1.179s | 21 | |
| 8 | 1:35.616 | +1.617s | 23 | |
| 9 | 1:35.718 | +1.719s | 21 | |
| 10 | 1:35.800 | +1.801s | 18 | |
| 11 | 1:36.037 | +2.038s | 21 | |
| 12 | 1:36.044 | +2.045s | 29 | |
| 13 | 1:36.051 | +2.052s | 28 | |
| 14 | 1:36.351 | +2.352s | 32 | |
| 15 | 1:36.691 | +2.692s | 31 | |
| 16 | 1:36.715 | +2.716s | 23 | |
| 17 | 1:36.723 | +2.724s | 23 | |
| 18 | 1:36.756 | +2.757s | 25 | |
| 19 | 1:36.909 | +2.910s | 21 | |
| 20 | 1:37.277 | +3.278s | 28 |
MAIN PHOTO:
Embed from Getty Images
