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Is Ferrari still in the game?

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Friday's Chinese GP free practice running offered hints at the competitive order throughout the field. BEN ANDERSON breaks down the numbers on Mercedes v Ferrari, Williams v Red Bull, McLaren's hopes and more

After its stunning showing in Malaysia last time out, Ferrari approaches this Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix with the weight of Formula 1 fans' expectations resting on its shoulders.

The headline laptimes from the first day of F1 running at the Shanghai circuit indicate what we already knew - that Mercedes still has a significant pace advantage over its nearest rival. Lewis Hamilton lapped over four tenths faster than Kimi Raikkonen on the softer tyre in the second free practice session - his ultimate margin of 0.443 seconds roughly 0.07s bigger than the advantage he held over the Finn at the same stage in Malaysia.

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