Chinese GP practice: Bottas leads practice halted by Albon crash
Valtteri Bottas went quickest for Mercedes in what proved to be an unrepresentative final practice session for Formula 1's 2019 Chinese Grand Prix

Practice was red-flagged with five minutes remaining when Alexander Albon ran wide at the exit of the final corner and smote his Toro Rosso heavily against the barrier.
Honours had been split in Friday practice as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel went fastest in the first session and Bottas topped the second, while analysis of long-run times suggested the two teams were closely matched on potential race pace.
But final practice ended with question marks still hanging over the teams' relative performance because the stoppage interrupted the final runs.

After the initial qualifying-simulation runs Vettel was on top with an impressive 1m33.222s, 0.734 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was fractionally faster than Bottas, but the Ferrari was running on Pirelli's soft compound while both Mercedes were on the mediums.
Despite being quickest of all through the second sector, Charles Leclerc was only fourth at this point, nearly eighth tenths off his team-mate's pace.
With 10 minutes remaining Leclerc attempted a second run but had only improved to 1m33.248s, third quickest behind Vettel, when the session was stopped.
When the leading group emerged for their second runs with 10 minutes to go, Bottas leapt to the top of the timesheet on soft tyres with a 1m32.830s, faster than Vettel by 0.392s as Vettel had twice run wide on his first flying lap of the run.
The stoppage then put paid to Vettel's attempts to improve his earlier time, and a scruffy lap by Hamilton at the beginning of his second run left the other Mercedes fourth fastest.
Red Bull sat out half the 60-minute session before mobilising. Pierre Gasly was first of its cars to hit the track but his first run, on medium tyres, was scruffy in places and left him outside the top 10. He never got to set a timed lap on soft tyres.
Max Verstappen's first run of 1m34.447s, on soft tyres, was good enough for fifth but a yawning 1.225s away from Vettel's initial benchmark. His attempts to improve were scuppered by the red flag and he ended the session seventh, usurped by Nico Hulkenberg's Renault and Kimi Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo - both getting final soft-tyred runs in before the red flag.
The two Alfa Romeos came close to having a contretemps on the back straight shortly after the half-way mark, after which Raikkonen suggested team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi had deliberately moved over on him.
Albon and Daniil Kvyat had been sixth and seventh for Toro Rosso after the first qualifying simulations on soft tyres and separated by just a tenth. But they were bumped down the order to ninth and 10th in the final reckoning and may even have slumped further had other midfield runners been able to make final runs.
- F1 1000 special features
- In the shadow of Suzuka - F1's 500th GP
- What will F1's 1100th GP look like?
- Video: Five moments that defined modern F1
- The dramatic start of McLaren's 21st century decline
- Take our 1000th GP quiz
McLaren's Carlos Sainz Jr was one midfielder who got a second run in before the red flag and he ended the session eighth. Team-mate Lando Norris also briefly figured in the top 10 for McLaren but his second run was compromised by an off at the final corner.
Both Racing Points were in the top 10 after the first runs but Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll, like Renault's Daniel Ricciardo, were also stymied by the early stoppage.
Haas drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen languished at the bottom of the timesheets with only the Williams for company for the balance of the session, courtesy of middling-paced initial efforts on medium tyres. The red flag also cost them the opportunity of moving upwards.
Practice three times
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | 1m32.830s | - | 11 |
2 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m33.222s | 0.392s | 12 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1m33.248s | 0.418s | 10 |
4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m33.689s | 0.859s | 10 |
5 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | 1m33.974s | 1.144s | 11 |
6 | Kimi Raikkonen | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1m34.246s | 1.416s | 14 |
7 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull/Honda | 1m34.447s | 1.617s | 5 |
8 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | McLaren/Renault | 1m34.510s | 1.680s | 9 |
9 | Alexander Albon | Toro Rosso/Honda | 1m34.600s | 1.770s | 11 |
10 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso/Honda | 1m34.783s | 1.953s | 10 |
11 | Lando Norris | McLaren/Renault | 1m34.938s | 2.108s | 11 |
12 | Sergio Perez | Racing Point/Mercedes | 1m35.078s | 2.248s | 9 |
13 | Daniel Ricciardo | Renault | 1m35.142s | 2.312s | 11 |
14 | Lance Stroll | Racing Point/Mercedes | 1m35.223s | 2.393s | 10 |
15 | Pierre Gasly | Red Bull/Honda | 1m35.326s | 2.496s | 8 |
16 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Alfa Romeo/Ferrari | 1m35.726s | 2.896s | 12 |
17 | Romain Grosjean | Haas/Ferrari | 1m35.771s | 2.941s | 14 |
18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas/Ferrari | 1m35.998s | 3.168s | 15 |
19 | George Russell | Williams/Mercedes | 1m36.124s | 3.294s | 10 |
20 | Robert Kubica | Williams/Mercedes | 1m36.176s | 3.346s | 11 |

Promoted: Will Charles Leclerc make up for his heartbreak in China?
Toro Rosso's Alex Albon to miss Chinese GP qualifying after crash

Latest news
Why 2022 could be Leclerc's best chance to end his Monaco F1 curse
Charles Leclerc's ill-fortune at his home Formula 1 race is well-established. But his single lap pace and over longer runs during Friday practice will leave the Ferrari driver upbeat that he can make up for his Barcelona disappointment by finally recording a finish and perhaps even banking 25 world championship points in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix
The inevitable consequence of the Liberty F1 popularity boom
Sell out crowds at Formula 1 races are the norm rather than the exception these days, as grand prix racing is enjoying a massive boom under Liberty Media. But the Spanish Grand Prix highlighted numerous issues some circuits may face as demand for F1 soars
The danger for Red Bull in its Barcelona F1 team orders choice
OPINION: Red Bull walked into a team orders saga on its way to taking a Spanish Grand Prix 1-2 last weekend, where it took the lead of the 2022 Formula 1 world championships for the first time. But its decisions have added an element of risk to later races
Why Mercedes' Spanish GP gains aren't as grand as they seemed
Mercedes' strong showing in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix prompted team boss Toto Wolff to say it had halved its deficit to the leaders and its Formula 1 title chances were back on after a rocky start to the 2022 campaign. But a closer inspection of the team's performance suggests its gains aren't as grand as they first appeared
What's next for the Green Red Bull controversy?
From the 'pink Mercedes' to the 'Green Red Bull', the Silverstone-based team has received suspicious glares from up and down the Formula 1 paddock over its car design exploits. But after being cleared by the FIA over its Spanish Grand Prix updates amid a backdrop of cries of foul play, what's next in this saga?
Spanish Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2022
In an unusually hectic Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc was denied a dominant performance by his Ferrari engine letting go which allowed Max Verstappen to pick up the pieces. But numerous flashpoints kept the race twisting and turning throughout, with one perfect score from an emerging contender
How Verstappen overcame his and Red Bull’s errors to bounce back in double-quick time
Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari engine disaster offered an open goal for Max Verstappen and Red Bull to strike, but the reigning Formula 1 world champion still had to solve multiple errors and profit from a begrudged assist from team-mate Sergio Perez, which created an unexpectedly eventful Spanish Grand Prix
The risk-laden sector at the heart of F1's latest sponsorship arms race
No self-respecting Formula 1 team is complete these days without a cryptocurrency sponsor and a cupboard full of non-fungible tokens. STUART CODLING digs into the new sponsorship battleground and casts an eye on its future