2012 Chinese GP first practice: Hamilton fastest in damp

Lewis Hamilton set a flying lap at the end of first practice to head the times by a full second.

The session got off to a slow start with no-one setting a time in the first half hour. Several drivers chose intermediate tyres for their installation laps as the track was damp at the start of the session.

Many teams spent the early laps doing aerodynamic testing. Hamilton appeared with a large array of sensors on the rear of his McLaren as they tested a new floor on the MP4-27, then did little running until the final minutes.

Fernando Alonso had a liberal coating of flow-vis paint on the rear wing of his Ferrari F2012 when he took to the track. Pastor Maldonado and Timo Glock also did fixed-speed runs along Shanghai’s long back straight.

Red Bull, meanwhile, were conducting back-to-back tests between two different exhaust solutions. Mark Webber set the early pace with a lap of 1’39.558.

But within a few minutes of the drivers setting the first times, the rain returned again, sending everyone back into the pits around the halfway mark.

The falling rain caught out several drivers, particularly at turn three. Romain Grosjean caught a slide in his Lotus while Felipe Massa understeered off in the Ferrari.

Alonso was first to return to the track with slightly more than half an hour left to run.

However it wasn’t until the final five minutes that the lap times started to improve. Webber lowered his best time but Hamilton moved the mark well beyond his reach when he returned to the track.

Nico Rosberg put in a late effort to go quickest with a 1’38.116, but was instantly demoted by Hamilton whose fastest effort was a second quicker.

The second Mercedes of Michael Schumacher was third ahead of the two Saubers.

Jenson Button ended the session eighth behind the Red Bulls after being delayed by traffic on his last lap. The Toro Rosso duo completed the top ten.

Kimi Raikkonen ended the session at the bottom of the times after experiencing problems with his DRS. He wasn’t the only driver – Vettel reported a similar problem on his Red Bull.

Pos.	Car	Driver	Car	Best lap	Gap	Laps
1	4	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1’37.106		7
2	8	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1’38.116	1.010	14
3	7	Michael Schumacher	Mercedes	1’38.316	1.210	14
4	15	Sergio Perez	Sauber-Ferrari	1’38.584	1.478	13
5	14	Kamui Kobayashi	Sauber-Ferrari	1’38.911	1.805	12
6	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1’38.977	1.871	15
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1’39.198	2.092	12
8	3	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1’39.199	2.093	6
9	16	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’39.748	2.642	16
10	17	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1’39.768	2.662	14
11	5	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1’40.056	2.950	14
12	6	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1’40.153	3.047	14
13	19	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	1’40.298	3.192	8
14	12	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1’40.328	3.222	13
15	18	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	1’40.540	3.434	12
16	20	Heikki Kovalainen	Caterham-Renault	1’41.071	3.965	14
17	10	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1’41.204	4.098	14
18	24	Timo Glock	Marussia-Cosworth	1’42.330	5.224	14
19	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	1’42.521	5.415	11
20	11	Jules Bianchi	Force India-Mercedes	1’44.118	7.012	8
21	22	Pedro de la Rosa	HRT-Cosworth	1’44.227	7.121	10
22	25	Charles Pic	Marussia-Cosworth	1’44.500	7.394	15
23	23	Narain Karthikeyan	HRT-Cosworth	1’47.204	10.098	12
24	9	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	1’50.465	13.359	11

2012 Chinese Grand Prix

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12 comments on “Hamilton ahead by a second in damp first practice”

d3v0 (@d3v0)
13th April 2012, 4:43

According to the SkyF1 graphic, it appears second place Rosberg was on INTERS when he sent his time.

However I think all the times are mostly irrelevant since it was a drying track. Van Der Garde could have been fastest if he was last out there.

What do you guys think about Vettel running the Jerez-test spec “old” exhaust layout?
1. Nick.UK (@)
  13th April 2012, 5:15
  
  Maybe they had developed it further during the 3 weeks off. But the fact that both cars are using different solutions is a sure sign they are not sure on what they have yet. Although it could be driver preference. I did notice Christian Horner looking more than a little grumpy in the pitlane, possible as he knows they need dry running to really get some proper data to help with development.
  1. d3v0 (@d3v0)
    13th April 2012, 5:27
    
    Yeah there were some new vanes and lines/etc on the exhaust of Vettel’s Jerez-spec car. I just cant get over how powerful Mac is looking, especially since they brought a huge sack of upgrades to this race. Surely theyre in it to win in a dry race, who could touch them?
Pamphlet (@pamphlet)
13th April 2012, 4:44

Hot damn, it’s like nothing can separate Vergne and Ricciardo. Nice to see that Felipe’s at least keeping up with ‘nando during practice.
1. Nick.UK (@)
  13th April 2012, 5:17
  
  Not really, Fernando was on Inters and Massa slicks.
  1. Jake (@jleigh)
    13th April 2012, 5:28
    
    There was a few drivers who were on dries but the timing seemed to think they were on inters and i think thats the case for ALO
    1. Pamphlet (@pamphlet)
      13th April 2012, 5:29
      
      And Rosberg at the end, apparently.
Nick.UK (@)
13th April 2012, 5:16

“Timo, do you need new underwear, or are you alright?”
BasCB (@bascb)
13th April 2012, 5:55

Ah, love it how these sessions can be a mixed bag sometimes. Sure McLaren is fast and Mercedes should also be fast, Lotus as well, if they keep it working and on track. Red Bull, hm, let’s see what Vettel does with exhaust layout for Saturday, but not looking too good.

Alonso will be there, somewhere, in the race.
JCost (@jcost)
13th April 2012, 7:21

Off-topic:

How long should be an F1 car to accommodate Yap Ming?
1. Slr (@slr)
  13th April 2012, 9:53
  
  @jcost You mean Yao Ming the basketballer? I’d say another three feet.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
13th April 2012, 8:20

1s is very comfortable but it’s hard to gauge it, especially given both Red Bull and Ferrari were testing extensively. Not to mention the track was drying as well.