Lewis Hamilton has set the quickest time in the first practice session ahead of Nico Rosberg for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Rosberg led the session early on as Hamilton fluffed his first flying lap by locking up and running wide at the Turn 14 hairpin. It took Hamilton a while to get another timed lap in but he managed to post a 1:39.033 halfway through the session, clearing Rosberg’s benchmark by half a second.
A green track mixed with cool and breezy conditions caught a few drivers out throughout in the session. GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer, who made his Formula 1 weekend debut stepping in for Romain Grosjean, was the first to spin at Turn 1. He was closely followed by Carlos Sainz Jr. in the Toro Rosso.
Although it was not just the rookies making errors on a track with low grip, the Mercedes pair were constantly finding themselves in the run-off areas. Both Rosberg and Hamilton experienced lock ups at Turn 6, while Hamilton lost the rear of his car during Turn 1 and slide off the track.
Ferrari remains the second best team of the field, albeit over a second behind the silver arrows. Sebastian Vettel was third quickest and half a second ahead of Kimi Räikkönen.
Sauber’s Felipe Nasr slotted into fifth position ahead of the Red Bull pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Even though the Red Bulls were ahead of their sister team Toro Rosso, the margin between Kvyat and Sainz in eighth was just 0.02 seconds. Nasr’s team-mate Marcus Ericsson was almost a second behind in 14th.
Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa completed the top 10 for Williams, although they were over two seconds off Hamilton’s best time.
| 2015 Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice 1 Results | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Driver | Team / Entry | Time | Gap | Laps | |
| 1. | Lewis Hamilton |  |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W06 Hybrid | 1:39.033 | 21 | |
| 2. | Nico Rosberg |  |
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1W06 Hybrid | 1:39.574 | + 0.541 | 21 |
| 3. | Sebastian Vettel | |
Scuderia Ferrari SF15-T | 1:40.157 | + 1.124 | 18 |
| 4. | Kimi Raikkonen |  |
Scuderia Ferrari SF15-T | 1:40.661 | + 1.628 | 27 |
| 5. | Felipe Nasr |  |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C34 | 1:41.012 | + 1.979 | 18 |
| 6. | Daniel Ricciardo |  |
Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB11 | 1:41.029 | + 1.996 | 21 |
| 7. | Daniil Kvyat |  |
Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault RB11 | 1:41.097 | + 2.064 | 24 |
| 8. | Carlos Sainz |  |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR10 | 1:41.112 | + 2.079 | 23 |
| 9. | Valtteri Bottas | |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW37 | 1:41.303 | + 2.270 | 23 |
| 10. | Felipe Massa | |
Williams Martini Racing Mercedes FW37 | 1:41.304 | + 2.271 | 17 |
| 11. | Pastor Maldonado |  |
Lotus F1 Team Mercedes Ere Hybrid | 1:41.335 | + 2.302 | 23 |
| 12. | Max Verstappen |  |
Scuderia Toro Rosso Renault STR10 | 1:41.575 | + 2.542 | 28 |
| 13. | Jenson Button | |
McLaren Honda MP4-30 | 1:41.845 | + 2.812 | 19 |
| 14. | Marcus Ericsson |  |
Sauber F1 Team Ferrari C34 | 1:41.918 | + 2.885 | 24 |
| 15. | Jolyon Palmer | |
Lotus F1 Team Mercedes Ere Hybrid | 1:41.967 | + 2.934 | 25 |
| 16. | Sergio Perez |  |
Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM08 | 1:42.141 | + 3.108 | 22 |
| 17. | Fernando Alonso | |
McLaren Honda MP4-30 | 1:42.161 | + 3.128 | 20 |
| 18. | Nico Hulkenberg | |
Sahara Force India Mercedes VJM08 | 1:42.184 | + 3.151 | 19 |
| 19. | Will Stevens | |
Manor Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03 | 1:45.379 | + 6.346 | 18 |
| 20. | Roberto Merhi | |
Manor Marussia F1 Team Ferrari MR03 | 1:46.443 | + 7.439 | 20 |
Image via Mercedes AMG F1 Team
Josh Kruse
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