Ferrari out-paced Mercedes on harder rubber in the opening practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Sebastian Vettel, seeking to bounce back from a difficult weekend in Bahrain, set a quickest time of 1’33.911 in the opening session. He used the medium (C3) compound tyre, while rival Lewis Hamilton could go no quicker despite using the soft (C4) tyre for his quickest run.The second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc almost matched Hamilton’s lap time, also on the medium compound tyre.
Max Verstappen was fourth-quickest for Red Bull, lapping within half a second of Vettel and relegating Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes to fifth place. Pierre Gasly set the seventh-fastest time and also collected a fine for breaking the pit lane speed limit.
Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg was in no danger of doing the same as he discovered his pit lane speed limiter had been incorrectly set at 60kph instead of 80kph. His team mate Daniel Ricciardo led the midfield runners but was over 1.3 seconds slower than Vettel.
Behind Gasly, three other cars appeared in the top 10, all lapping with a tenth of a second of the Red Bull. Daniil Kvyat was eighth for Toro Rosso, followed by Lance Stroll’s Racing Point and Romain Grosjean’s Haas.
The Alfa Romeo team had a troubled Friday in Bahrain and the Chinese Grand Prix weekend didn’t get off to a great start for them either. Kimi Raikkonen was only 15th, while a power unit problem meant Antonio Giovinazzi was unable to set a time. The Williams drivers occupied their usual positions at the bottom of the times.
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| Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’33.911 | 19 | |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.118 | 0.207 | 21 |
| 3 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’34.167 | 0.256 | 21 |
| 4 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.334 | 0.423 | 20 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’34.653 | 0.742 | 23 |
| 6 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’35.239 | 1.328 | 23 |
| 7 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull-Honda | 1’35.428 | 1.517 | 23 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.447 | 1.536 | 24 |
| 9 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’35.466 | 1.555 | 25 |
| 10 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.507 | 1.596 | 24 |
| 11 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.517 | 1.606 | 25 |
| 12 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’35.591 | 1.680 | 22 |
| 13 | 4 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’35.631 | 1.720 | 24 |
| 14 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.695 | 1.784 | 26 |
| 15 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.729 | 1.818 | 23 |
| 16 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’35.756 | 1.845 | 24 |
| 17 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’35.820 | 1.909 | 24 |
| 18 | 88 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.847 | 2.936 | 27 |
| 19 | 63 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.619 | 3.708 | 29 |
| 20 | 99 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari |
First practice visual gaps
Sebastian Vettel – 1’33.911
+0.207 Lewis Hamilton – 1’34.118
+0.256 Charles Leclerc – 1’34.167
+0.423 Max Verstappen – 1’34.334
+0.742 Valtteri Bottas – 1’34.653
+1.328 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’35.239
+1.517 Pierre Gasly – 1’35.428
+1.536 Daniil Kvyat – 1’35.447
+1.555 Lance Stroll – 1’35.466
+1.596 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.507
+1.606 Kevin Magnussen – 1’35.517
+1.680 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’35.591
+1.720 Lando Norris – 1’35.631
+1.784 Alexander Albon – 1’35.695
+1.818 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’35.729
+1.845 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’35.756
+1.909 Sergio Perez – 1’35.820
+2.936 Robert Kubica – 1’36.847
+3.708 George Russell – 1’37.619
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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2019 Chinese Grand Prix
- Top ten pictures from the 2019 Chinese Grand Prix
- 2019 Chinese Grand Prix Star Performers
- Hamilton cruises to sixth China win as Ferrari tactics backfire
- Third consecutive one-two gives Mercedes chance to break record
- Paddock Diary: Chinese Grand Prix day four
Dan S (@dans)
12th April 2019, 5:38
I’m pretty sure Ferrari is running higher engine modes than Mercedes, as the top speed differential is to great to be anything else.
papaya
12th April 2019, 6:12
Ferrari lowest power mode > Mercedes medium power mode. It’s the same as Bahrain. There’s no way for the Ferrari to goes slower than this unless they disable 1 cylinder.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
12th April 2019, 6:18
They tested that at Bahrain on Sunday, didn’t they? ;)
AliceD (@aliced)
12th April 2019, 7:02
I am sure Toto will disagree with you.
Raymondu999
12th April 2019, 7:50
According to Toto, Mercedes are using all max qualifying modes while Ferrari is running on 2 cylinders and their drivers are cruising.
Taimur (@invictus)
12th April 2019, 9:07
Maybe some grapefruit juice with some yeast in the fuel?
GeeMac (@geemac)
12th April 2019, 9:41
Top speed isn’t just down to engine power. The downforce level the various teams decide to run and overall aero efficiency of the cars play significant roles as well.
Jere (@jerejj)
12th April 2019, 10:31
@geemac Indeed.
Todfod (@todfod)
12th April 2019, 7:58
I know it’s just FP1, but Gasly is a second down on his teammate with a Renault in front of him and a Toro Rosso within a few hundredths of a second behind. He’s going to start feeling the heat pretty early on this weekend…
Esploratore (@esploratore)
12th April 2019, 8:23
Think this could be relatively representative for a fp1, ferrari 3 tenths faster than mercedes which is 1 tenth faster than red bull with a good driver could be based on bahrain and considering red bull had issues in bahrain, renault and haas leading the midfield, then force india and toro rosso, with williams at the bottom would also not be unusual.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
12th April 2019, 8:11
Points are handed out on Sunday. Ferrari need to fully focus on that. No use leading 5 of the 6 sessions like in Bahrain with the race not being one of those.
Pjotr (@pietkoster)
12th April 2019, 10:21
Ok, we are only talking about tyres. What about everything else. What are the other teams trying? It still is practise. We have to wait.