Ricciardo quickest as Mercedes sit out wet session

2014 Chinese Grand Prix third practice

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A Mercedes car was not fastest at the end of the final practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix – as neither of their drivers set a time.

Damp conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit led Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to stay in their garages for most of the final hour of running, neither driving choosing to set a lap.

Fernando Alonso and Kevin Magnussen also preferred to save as much life in their limited supply of intermediate tyres ahead of a qualifying session which is also expected to be wet.

Daniel Ricciardo headed the times but completed just five laps, which was typical of most of his rivals.

One of few drivers to break into double figures was Pastor Maldonado. He hit trouble for the third session in a row but this time the problems were down to his car – he was instructed to stop with an unspecified problem during the session.

Sebastian Vettel also had some problems with his car, which developed a KERS glitch towards the end of the session.

Felipe Massa was second-fastest for Williams ahead of Romain Grosjean’s Lotus.

Pos. No. Driver Car Best lap Gap Laps
1 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’53.958 5
2 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’54.492 0.534 5
3 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1’54.514 0.556 4
4 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’55.032 1.074 6
5 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’55.062 1.104 4
6 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1’55.228 1.270 12
7 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1’55.235 1.277 7
8 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’55.381 1.423 5
9 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’55.673 1.715 4
10 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’56.019 2.061 6
11 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’56.233 2.275 8
12 25 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1’56.380 2.422 9
13 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1’56.760 2.802 8
14 4 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1’56.841 2.883 13
15 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1’57.468 3.510 9
16 10 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1’57.812 3.854 12
17 17 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1’57.976 4.018 14
18 9 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1’59.507 5.549 6
19 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 4
20 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 3
21 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1
22 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 3

Combined session times

Pos Driver Car FP1 FP2 FP3 Fri/Sat diff Total laps
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1’41.560 1’38.315 37
2 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1’39.783 1’38.456 49
3 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1’40.181 1’38.726 50
4 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1’40.772 1’38.811 1’53.958 +15.147 58
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1’41.629 1’39.015 1’56.233 +17.218 58
6 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1’41.699 1’39.118 1’54.492 +15.374 44
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1’39.283 1’55.062 +15.779 30
8 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’40.970 1’39.491 1’55.673 +16.182 56
9 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1’42.090 1’39.537 1’54.514 +14.977 64
10 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1’41.977 1’39.648 1’55.235 +15.587 56
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1’41.175 1’39.736 1’55.032 +15.296 52
12 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1’41.366 1’39.744 52
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1’41.505 1’39.759 1’56.380 +16.621 63
14 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1’39.830 1’55.381 +15.551 30
15 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1’42.733 1’40.124 1’56.019 +15.895 51
16 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1’44.162 1’40.359 1’57.468 +17.109 58
17 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1’40.395 1’56.760 +16.365 38
18 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1’43.731 1’40.455 1’55.228 +14.773 46
19 Felipe Nasr Williams-Mercedes 1’42.265 13
20 Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1’44.270 1’42.327 1’57.976 +15.649 48
21 Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1’42.615 16
22 Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1’44.782 1’43.473 1’56.841 +13.368 63
23 Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1’44.038 1’43.530 1’57.812 +14.282 60
24 Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1’44.835 1’43.679 1’59.507 +15.828 60

2014 Chinese Grand Prix

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2014 F1 practice sessions


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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    6 comments on “Ricciardo quickest as Mercedes sit out wet session”

    1. Profile Photo

      Jimi (@hendrix666)
      19th April 2014, 5:18

      Is it just me or does Chilton seem to be not too bad in the wet? He had the lowest differential between dry and wet fastest lap.

    2. Profile Photo

      Michael Hu (@mjhu)
      19th April 2014, 5:18

      It’s cold here! Hope the quali is good

    3. Profile Photo

      Little_M_Lo (@pezlo2013)
      19th April 2014, 5:59

      Do you think Ricciardo could take pole from Mercedes given he did more running time in the wet?

      1. Profile Photo

        Roald (@roald)
        19th April 2014, 6:09

        In sincerely doubt five laps in the wet will close the gap to Mercedes.

      2. Profile Photo

        Corrado (@)
        19th April 2014, 6:13

        Don’t know, but he’s showing everybody who’s the 4-time real champ, no ??! :D Mercedes saved some rubber too, so they should have the upper-hand on this matter too. At least that’s what THEY say: fresh rubber = better performance.

        1. Profile Photo

          Eric (@)
          19th April 2014, 10:39

          @corrado-dub

          I agree, Daniel being 1.055 sec faster than Vettel in qualy in Malaysia was really impressive!

    Comments are closed.