Ferrari top and bottom of the times in China

2014 Chinese Grand Prix first practice

Posted on

| Written by

Fernando Alonso was quickest during the first practice session but Ferrari team mate Kimi Raikkonen was at the foot of the results table after failing to set a time.

While new team principal Marco Mattiacci looked on, last year’s re winner ended the session four tenths of a second quicker than Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg.

First practice ran to a now-familiar pattern, with a busy half-hour of running to begin with before the drivers had to give back their first set of medium compound tyres.

Technical problems kept three drivers from setting times initially: Ferrari were working on a steering fault on Raikkonen’s car, a fuel system problem confined Jules Bianchi to his garage to begin with and Esteban Gutierrez and a clutch problem on his Sauber.

The latter pair eventually made it out onto the track but Raikkonen was unable to set a time.

It wasn’t entirely straightforward for those who did make it onto the track. Pastor Maldonado swerved off-track at turn and nine and spun his Lotus, but was able to continue.

Daniil Kvyat also went off the track at turn one. The Toro Rosso driver understeered wide and spun into a gravel trap, but was able to get going again.

The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg headed the times as usual after the first half-hour, after which Alonso took to the top of the times in his Ferrari.

Daniel Ricciardo was third-fastest for Red Bull ahead of a trio of Mercedes-powered cars. Lewis Hamilton, however, had an early end to his session following a technical problem.

Pos.No.DriverCarBest lapGapLaps
114Fernando AlonsoFerrari1’39.78320
26Nico RosbergMercedes1’40.1810.39816
33Daniel RicciardoRed Bull-Renault1’40.7720.98923
422Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes1’40.9701.18723
527Nico HulkenbergForce India-Mercedes1’41.1751.39216
620Kevin MagnussenMcLaren-Mercedes1’41.3661.58320
725Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso-Renault1’41.5051.72226
844Lewis HamiltonMercedes1’41.5601.7779
91Sebastian VettelRed Bull-Renault1’41.6291.84619
1019Felipe MassaWilliams-Mercedes1’41.6991.91614
1126Daniil KvyatToro Rosso-Renault1’41.9772.19423
128Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault1’42.0902.30724
1340Felipe NasrWilliams-Mercedes1’42.2652.48213
1436Giedo van der GardeSauber-Ferrari1’42.6152.83216
1511Sergio PerezForce India-Mercedes1’42.7332.95013
1613Pastor MaldonadoLotus-Renault1’43.7313.94822
1746Kamui KobayashiCaterham-Renault1’44.0384.25516
1821Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari1’44.1624.37917
1917Jules BianchiMarussia-Ferrari1’44.2704.4877
204Max ChiltonMarussia-Ferrari1’44.7824.99920
219Marcus EricssonCaterham-Renault1’44.8355.05222
227Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1

Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

17 comments on “Ferrari top and bottom of the times in China”

  1. I had to laugh with that title :)

  2. Yeeeeeeeah, Alonso for the WIN ! I’d like to thank chinese people for finding the horse Ferrari was missing ! :D

  3. Wow, Ferrari 0.4s faster than Mercedes. That dude Mattiacci is already doing a fantastic job!!

    :D

    1. It’s his sunglasses that bring 2 seconds to the car :D

  4. That is a Ferrari papering over the cracks time if I have ever seen one. 1 second faster than everyone (for most of the session) while the other car can’t make it out on Mattiacci’s first day in the job. Can’t help but feel this weekend will be a struggle for the Maranello on the long straights, especially with 2 DRS zones in 3 corners!

  5. Interesting that GdvG turned a better lap than 8 other drivers in this session.

    1. Actually, it is “GvdG”

  6. At the moment F1 can’t be boring again since Ferrari has 0.4sec over the Mercedes.

    1. dont worry, by qualifying ‘everyone’ will be so bored and screaming for changes

  7. Turns out that extra weight on the new car was Domenicali!

  8. Maldonado’s going off the track was hilarious!

    1. he is going to blame the Pirelli signs “I guess they didn’t see me as they pushed me off the track”

      1. Or that “the left turns should be removed as they’re stopping the drivers from going right”.

    2. Even more hilarious was hearing the Latin american commentators trying to justify Pastor’s spin.

      But seriously, I thought looking at the steering wheel was like glancing at the rear view mirror, it shouldn’t be that distracting. It does explain a lot if Maldonado is overwhelmed by just adjusting a few knobs at such a low speed.

  9. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

    1. Very fitting :)

  10. Is it me or does ferrari’s front wing really look outdated compared to the others who have very aggressive turning vains and lairs (ie: Merc, Force India).

    I understand that they may be going for strait line speed but they don’t even have that to brag about. Clearly they can see that Merc and Force India’s totally different wing is more effective so why do they continue to not alter this side? And I know Ferrari would be doing a sin if they even showed that they were copying someone else so pride wins over failure it seems. I may be seeing this as a spectator but if someone could explain that would be great…

Comments are closed.