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Formula 1 Chinese GP

Chinese GP Friday practice

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Early days, but again that trait of Red Bull being much more competitive on race runs seems to be rearing its head. Verstappen lapping a tenth quicker than Hamilton at present.
Plenty heading back out on used ultrasofts. Understanding the degradation of that tyre will be key to working out the ideal strategy for this race.
Time to begin those higher fuel race runs as the session nears its final 30 minutes.
Edd Straw
I think Ferrari is fastest, given Raikkonen had a bit of traffic on his best lap. Lost 0.125s to Hamilton in the middle sector, where he had to go round Ericsson's Sauber.
Super tight between Mercedes and Ferrari so far, with Red Bull not too far off either, which bodes well for the rest of the weekend.
Information
Order at the midway point: 1 Hamilton, 2 Raikkonen +0.007s, 3 Bottas +0.033s, 4 Vettel +0.108s, 5 Verstappen +0.341s, 6 Hulkenberg +0.831s, 7 Magnussen +0.976s, 8 Sainz +0.991s, 10 Alonso +1.150s, 11 Perez +1.310s, 12 Gasly +1.367s, 13 Ocon +1.392s, 14 Vandoorne +1.681s, 15 Hartley +1.851s, 16 Sirotkin +1.858s, 17 Ericsson +2.142s, 18 Leclerc +2.434s, 19 Grosjean +2.989s, 20 Stroll +3.665s.
Ericsson goes 17th as the last of the runners to try a qualifying run.
Raikkonen is making a better fist of things though, fastest of all through sector one, but his final sector isn't great and he falls just 0.007s short of taking the fastest time from Hamilton.
Ricciardo heads to the pits without completely what looked like a scruffy lap on the ultrasofts, so he stays ninth behind the Renaults and Magnussen's Haas.
Replays show Stroll's spin came through the high-speed esses at Turn 11.
Vettel's effort is marginally faster, but still not quicker than the Mercs. 1m33.590s puts him third, ahead of Verstappen but only a tenth off the pace now.
Verstappen's qualifying run goes reasonably well. He closes to within 0.341s of Hamilton now and jumps to third with Ricciardo and the Ferraris still to come.
Radio Comms
14th... "Yeah, I've got nothing mate!" All not well for Grosjean on that run.
Radio Comms
Sounds like Stroll has had a moment off-camera. "Are you OK?" asks Williams. All we hear is some heavy breathing before Stroll eventually replies: "I just lost the rear!".
Bottas is quickest of all in the final sector, but loses time to Hamilton in the rest of the lap. Ends up just 0.033s down on his team-mate.
Radio Comms
"Nothing left in these tyres" reports Hamilton, after that spell of drifting.
Certainly looks from the replays that the Mercedes is struggling for rear grip as the lap goes on.
Stopwatch
Two fastest sectors for Hamilton, but he struggles a bit in the third. 1m33.482s takes him nearly six tenths clear of Raikkonen's soft benchmark.
Hulkenberg is the first to get a 'qualifying' time in. 1m34.313s puts him third.
Stopwatch
He's been working up to this. Raikkonen deposes Hamilton at the top by a tenth, just as the Mercedes driver comes back out on the ultrasoft to kick off a qualifying simulation.
Ricciardo maybe has his pedal map more figured out now, he jumps Verstappen into fifth with a 1m34.737s lap. Half a second still to go to the front though.
Raikkonen splits the Mercedes with a 1m34.311s effort. Hamilton's advantage just a little over a tenth now.
Radio Comms
Ricciardo saying "I'm not too happy with the pedal map" on his Red Bull.
After the early sighting runs on the harder tyres, it's the usual suspects filling the top six: Hamilton, Bottas, Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen and Ricciardo, followed by Perez, Ocon, Vandoorne and Alonso. Two by two inside the top 10.
A tidier effort from Vettel now, who jumps up to third on mediums, 0.231s down on Hamilton.. Raikkonen's Ferrari is healthy again and he goes fourth, 0.4s down on the Mercedes.

By: Geoff Creighton

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