Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Chinese GP: Nico Rosberg and Mercedes dominate practice one

Nico Rosberg led team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes one-two in opening Chinese Grand Prix practice, as the squad returned to the scene of its first modern-era Formula 1 victory one year ago

Warring Red Bull duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel were next up, but a second off the Mercedes' pace.

Mercedes took charge on the last lighter-fuel runs going into the final half-hour of the session.

Rosberg initially put in a 1m37.872s to knock Felipe Massa's Ferrari off the top spot.

This mark was then pipped by Webber, who went 0.2s faster just a minute later.

But Rosberg had more speed to come. Despite signs of tyre graining and being eight laps into a stint, he unleashed a 1m36.904s, backed off for a lap, then delivered the best lap of the morning with a 1m36.717s.

Mercedes then appeared to have superior pace on the race stint simulations in the final half-hour, although fuel load variations inevitably skew this picture.

Hamilton was ultimately 0.454s down on his team-mate, but 0.487s clear of Webber. Three tenths of a second split the two Red Bulls in third and fourth.

Jenson Button had been among the first to set a flying lap, albeit over half an hour into the session, and kept his McLaren near the top for a long while.

He ended up sixth, between the Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Massa.

Button's team-mate Sergio Perez provided a bizarre end to the session when he crashed in the pitlane entry gravel trap, replicating the infamous incident that ended McLaren predecessor Hamilton's 2007 Chinese GP.

Adrian Sutil also had a stint in first place before ending up eighth, two places in front of Force India team-mate Paul di Resta. Romain Grosjean's Lotus split them.

The Frenchman's team-mate Kimi Raikkonen provided the session's other main incident when he ran wide at Turn 9 and spun back across the track. Raikkonen resumed without damage.

Sauber rookie Esteban Gutierrez also had an excursion, exploring the gravel at Turn 1.

Ex-HRT third driver Ma Qing Hua made his Caterham debut in Charles Pic's car at his home event. The GP2 racer was last, 1.5s off team-mate Giedo van der Garde.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car              Time       Gap       Laps
 1.  Nico Rosberg         Mercedes              1m36.717s            21
 2.  Lewis Hamilton       Mercedes              1m37.171s  + 0.454s  20
 3.  Mark Webber          Red Bull-Renault      1m37.658s  + 0.941s  21
 4.  Sebastian Vettel     Red Bull-Renault      1m37.942s  + 1.225s  20
 5.  Fernando Alonso      Ferrari               1m37.965s  + 1.248s  17
 6.  Jenson Button        McLaren-Mercedes      1m38.069s  + 1.352s  24
 7.  Felipe Massa         Ferrari               1m38.095s  + 1.378s  14
 8.  Adrian Sutil         Force India-Mercedes  1m38.125s  + 1.408s  21
 9.  Romain Grosjean      Lotus-Renault         1m38.398s  + 1.681s  17
10.  Paul di Resta        Force India-Mercedes  1m38.561s  + 1.844s  15
11.  Kimi Raikkonen       Lotus-Renault         1m38.790s  + 2.073s  16
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m39.057s  + 2.340s  19
13.  Pastor Maldonado     Williams-Renault      1m39.158s  + 2.441s  22
14.  Nico Hulkenberg      Sauber-Ferrari        1m39.180s  + 2.463s  21
15.  Daniel Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m39.336s  + 2.619s  19
16.  Sergio Perez         McLaren-Mercedes      1m39.360s  + 2.643s  20
17.  Valtteri Bottas      Williams-Renault      1m39.392s  + 2.675s  20
18.  Esteban Gutierrez    Sauber-Ferrari        1m40.032s  + 3.315s  22
19.  Jules Bianchi        Marussia-Cosworth     1m41.966s  + 5.249s  16
20.  Max Chilton          Marussia-Cosworth     1m42.056s  + 5.339s  18
21.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham-Renault      1m42.083s  + 5.366s  21
22.  Ma Qing Hua          Caterham-Renault      1m43.545s  + 6.828s  20

AUTOSPORT Chinese GP coverage:

FP1 FP2 FP3 Qualifying Race Gallery Live commentary Official quotes

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Will Red Bull row spill over on track?
Next article Chinese GP: Felipe Massa sets the pace in second practice

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe