Valtteri Bottas led the final practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix which came to an early end after Alexander Albon crashed at the final corner.
The Toro Rosso driver lost control of his car at the exit of the final corner on his last flying lap of the session. The STR14 made heavy contact with the barrier, destroying the left-hand side of the car. Albon was able to climb out of his car.Sebastian Vettel headed much of the practice session in his Ferrari having used soft tyres for his first run. However he failed to improve with his last effort, losing time with an error at turn nine.
That opened the door for Bottas. Having lapped half a second off Vettel on the medium compound, he found almost a second when he switched to the softs. A clean lap put him ahead by almost four tenths of a second. Their team mates came next, Charles Leclerc ending up just two-hundredths off Vettel.
The Red Bull drivers didn’t begin their first runs until halfway through the session, and their final efforts were compromised by Albon’s crash. That meant Max Verstappen, who did just five laps, slipped to seventh behind Nico Hulkenberg’s Renault and Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo.
Albon had been running well before he hit the barrier and ended up ninth, a tenth ahead of his team mate and within a tenth of Carlos Sainz Jnr’s McLaren. Lance Norris was just outside the top 10 in the other MCL34.
The Haas pair continued to struggle and ended the session with only the two Williams drivers behind them. George Russell was the quicker of the two FW42, and much closer to the midfield than they had been previously.
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Third practice visual gaps
Valtteri Bottas – 1’32.830
+0.392 Sebastian Vettel – 1’33.222
+0.418 Charles Leclerc – 1’33.248
+0.859 Lewis Hamilton – 1’33.689
+1.144 Nico Hulkenberg – 1’33.974
+1.416 Kimi Raikkonen – 1’34.246
+1.617 Max Verstappen – 1’34.447
+1.680 Carlos Sainz Jnr – 1’34.510
+1.770 Alexander Albon – 1’34.600
+1.953 Daniil Kvyat – 1’34.783
+2.108 Lando Norris – 1’34.938
+2.248 Sergio Perez – 1’35.078
+2.312 Daniel Ricciardo – 1’35.142
+2.393 Lance Stroll – 1’35.223
+2.496 Pierre Gasly – 1’35.326
+2.896 Antonio Giovinazzi – 1’35.726
+2.941 Romain Grosjean – 1’35.771
+3.168 Kevin Magnussen – 1’35.998
+3.294 George Russell – 1’36.124
+3.346 Robert Kubica – 1’36.176
Drivers more then ten seconds off the pace omitted.
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| Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1’34.653 | 1’33.330 | 1’32.830 | -0.5 | 71 |
| 2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’33.911 | 1’33.357 | 1’33.222 | -0.135 | 64 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1’34.167 | 1’34.158 | 1’33.248 | -0.91 | 44 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull-Honda | 1’34.334 | 1’33.551 | 1’34.447 | +0.896 | 54 |
| 5 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’34.118 | 1’34.037 | 1’33.689 | -0.348 | 63 |
| 6 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1’35.591 | 1’34.096 | 1’33.974 | -0.122 | 64 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | McLaren-Renault | 1’35.756 | 1’34.141 | 1’34.510 | +0.369 | 69 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.729 | 1’34.551 | 1’34.246 | -0.305 | 70 |
| 9 | Lando Norris | McLaren-Renault | 1’35.631 | 1’34.296 | 1’34.938 | +0.642 | 73 |
| 10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1’35.239 | 1’34.336 | 1’35.142 | +0.806 | 66 |
| 11 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull-Honda | 1’35.428 | 1’34.455 | 1’35.326 | +0.871 | 63 |
| 12 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.695 | 1’34.634 | 1’34.600 | -0.034 | 74 |
| 13 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Honda | 1’35.447 | 1’34.694 | 1’34.783 | +0.089 | 54 |
| 14 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’35.466 | 1’34.779 | 1’35.223 | +0.444 | 72 |
| 15 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point-Mercedes | 1’35.820 | 1’34.784 | 1’35.078 | +0.294 | 68 |
| 16 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.517 | 1’34.788 | 1’35.998 | +1.21 | 74 |
| 17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas-Ferrari | 1’35.507 | 1’35.704 | 1’35.771 | +0.264 | 70 |
| 18 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo-Ferrari | 1’35.914 | 1’35.726 | -0.188 | 54 | |
| 19 | Robert Kubica | Williams-Mercedes | 1’36.847 | 1’36.121 | 1’36.176 | +0.055 | 76 |
| 20 | George Russell | Williams-Mercedes | 1’37.619 | 1’36.229 | 1’36.124 | -0.105 | 74 |
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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
Tim
13th April 2019, 5:06
That Ferrari advantage is HUGE, it’ gonna be tough for Mercedes, definitely the toughest ever start of the season for them.
Chaitanya
13th April 2019, 5:13
It was very unusual for Albon to hit the inside wall, good to see he was Ok and get out of car quickly.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
13th April 2019, 5:42
Pierre Gasly’s performances have been embarrasing to say the least. How can you be 15th in a car that should comfortably be inside the top 6, nearly a second off your teammate? If Red Bull had anyone lined up right now who they believed was ready for the step-up, they would likely give Gasly 2-3 races maximum before demoting him altogether. Perhaps Giovinanni and Gasly’s performances this season has shown just how mediocre the 2016 GP2 grid was, given they were both the top 2 in the championship that year. If Red Bull is willing to wait until the end of the season, one of Bottas or Ocon might be available (although Ocon and Verstappen’s past history might put them off).
Jere (@jerejj)
13th April 2019, 5:47
@mashiat Relax, it’s just practice. The positions and lap times as always don’t really matter in practice sessions the same as with testing.
Man United_Vettel (@siegfreyco)
13th April 2019, 5:49
Tbf, gasly was on the mediums compared to max’s soft so tyre corrected, he’s much closer today
mixwell (@mixwell)
13th April 2019, 6:11
Mercedes is doomed. That Ferrari advantage is just massive
/sandbag