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Hamilton leads first session in China
By Matt Beer Friday, October 17th 2008, 03:32 GMT
Lewis Hamilton got his potentially decisive Chinese Grand Prix weekend off to an encouraging start by topping the first practice session in Shanghai.
The McLaren driver's title rival Felipe Massa was second for Ferrari, but was 0.390 seconds slower than Hamilton, who could potentially wrap up the 2008 championship this weekend, but arrives at the circuit under pressure following the controversial incidents and penalties of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) and Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) completed the top four, with outside title contender Robert Kubica fifth for BMW ahead of the in-form Fernando Alonso (Renault).
After a very quiet start to the session, Raikkonen was the first of the major contenders to show his hand after 35 minutes, beating previous pace-setter Sebastien Bourdais by six tenths of a second, only to then spin at Turn 2 on his next lap.
The McLaren and Ferrari drivers then proceeded to swap the top spot repeatedly during a frantic 10 minutes which saw first Kovalainen, then Massa hit the front, before Raikkonen moved back ahead - but only for a few moments as Kovalainen also improved and returned to first position just after Raikkonen.
Hamilton took time to get up to speed, wasting one lap by running very wide over the run-off exiting Turn 13. But as the session hit its halfway point he produced a 1:36.044 with his first clean lap and moved to the head of the order.
Massa was still improving though, and two minutes later he usurped his title rival by 0.020 seconds.
That proved to be the final change of the first runs, but when the front-runners returned to the track 15 minutes later it was Hamilton who took charge. While his main rivals failed to improve their times, the championship leader found a further four tenths of a second and moved clear of the field with a 1:35.630 lap.
With the lead drivers all sticking to old tyres and relatively long runs in the closing minutes, Hamilton's time remained the benchmark through to the end of the morning.
Behind the top six, Kubica's teammate Nick Heidfeld took seventh, with Toro Rosso duo Sebastien Bourdais and Sebastian Vettel eighth and 10th, sandwiching Nelson Piquet (Renault).
The Turn 11/12 chicane was the scene of most of the session's incidents, with both Jarno Trulli (Toyota) and Mark Webber (Red Bull) having half-spins mid-corner - Trulli's leaving him briefly stuck on the grass until he found reverse and edged back onto the circuit. Honda's Rubens Barrichello also had a brief moment at this spot and bounced over the grass.
Piquet had an excursion through the pitlane gravel trap made famous by Hamilton's error in the 2007 race. Unlike Hamilton last year, though, Piquet was able to keep going through the gravel and return to his pit.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.630 23
2. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:36.020 + 0.390 24
3. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:36.052 + 0.422 23
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.103 + 0.473 21
5. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:36.507 + 0.877 25
6. Alonso Renault (B) 1:36.661 + 1.031 25
7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:37.040 + 1.410 23
8. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.070 + 1.440 32
9. Piquet Renault (B) 1:37.180 + 1.550 30
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:37.278 + 1.648 25
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.491 + 1.861 26
12. Button Honda (B) 1:37.619 + 1.989 25
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:37.630 + 2.000 23
14. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:37.638 + 2.008 22
15. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:37.638 + 2.008 26
16. Glock Toyota (B) 1:37.664 + 2.034 29
17. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:37.827 + 2.197 28
18. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:38.219 + 2.589 24
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:38.285 + 2.655 25
20. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:38.479 + 2.849 26
All timing unofficial
Hamilton also tops second practice
By Matt Beer Friday, October 17th 2008, 07:30 GMT
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton remained on top in second practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, as his first quick time remained unbeaten all afternoon.
His title rival Felipe Massa was only sixth fastest, with the two Renaults, Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Red Bull's Mark Webber splitting the championship rivals.
Hamilton came out for a short run as soon as the session began and set an early 1:35.750 before pitting.
That put him a full second clear of the pack at the time, and unusually his first time stood as the benchmark throughout the session.
Indeed few drivers managed to improve on their early laps until the final minutes, and the title contenders in particular struggled to gain any time when they tried the softer tyres.
Trulli fared better on the softs and spent much of the session in second until being pushed back to fourth when Fernando Alonso and Nelson Piquet jumped up the order late on.
Massa was edged right back to 10th as others improved in the closing minutes, but salvaged sixth behind Webber with his final lap, despite running slightly wide at the last corner.
Bourdais took seventh, despite ending the session off the road. The Frenchman had a series of adventures at Turn 2 - twice running wide over the grass strip there before eventually spinning into the gravel trap with ten minutes to go.
His teammate Sebastian Vettel also explored the circuit's limits, running very wide at both Turn 2 and on the exit of the fast Turn 13.
Webber was another driver to run wide over the Turn 2 run-off, while Turn 12 continued to cause problems too, with both Kimi Raikkonen and Piquet spinning there.
Raikkonen ended the session in eighth, with Nick Heidfeld (BMW) and Nico Rosberg (Williams) completing the top ten, the latter having held fourth for much of the session.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:35.750 33
2. Alonso Renault (B) 1:36.024 + 0.274 36
3. Piquet Renault (B) 1:36.094 + 0.344 38
4. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:36.159 + 0.409 32
5. Webber Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.375 + 0.625 38
6. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:36.480 + 0.730 31
7. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.529 + 0.779 32
8. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:36.542 + 0.792 34
9. Heidfeld BMW Sauber (B) 1:36.553 + 0.803 38
10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.556 + 0.806 33
11. Glock Toyota (B) 1:36.615 + 0.865 33
12. Kubica BMW Sauber (B) 1:36.775 + 1.025 37
13. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:36.797 + 1.047 33
14. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:36.808 + 1.058 36
15. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:36.925 + 1.175 38
16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:36.975 + 1.225 31
17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:37.473 + 1.723 38
18. Sutil Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:37.617 + 1.867 33
19. Button Honda (B) 1:37.800 + 2.050 37
20. Barrichello Honda (B) 1:37.904 + 2.154 36
All Timing UnofficialHamilton is looking good, but I'm concerned about Kovalainen being the slowest of the Ferrari and McLaren drivers. If McLaren want to officially win the constructors' title, Kovalainen is going to need to do better. It would also help take some of the pressure off Hamilton.
Renault look competitive once again this weekend. The chassis is decent, but after a series of hints from Symonds, I think we can safely say that they have been doing a bit of work on their engine already.
Ayrton Senna: WDC 1988,
1989, 1990, 1991
McLaren: WCC 1974, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998,
1999, 2007McLaren: WDC 1974, 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1998, 1999, 2008
