Jenson Button was fastest in a incident-packed first practice session for the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg was second for Mercedes – less than a tenth of a second slower that the reigning world champion, with Lewis Hamilton rounding off the top three.
The session with be remembered for two major events. Firstly, question marks continue to surround the reliability of Ferrari, after Fernando Alonso was forced to stop at turn 6 with flames evident from the exhausts.
The drama did not end there, however, with Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi suffering a horrendous accident on Shanghai’s back straight, with 75 minutes of the session gone.
The suspension of Buemi’s STR5 appeared to shatter in the braking zone, sending the young Swiss driver flying off the circuit. As a result, team-mate Jaime Alguersuari was withdrawn from the remainder of the session.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Button McLaren 1:36.677 15 2. Rosberg Mercedes 1:36.748 +0.071 17 3. Hamilton McLaren 1:36.775 +0.098 19 4. Vettel Red Bull 1:37.509 +0.832 14 5. Kubica Renault 1:37.601 +0.924 20 6. Petrov Renault 1:37.716 +1.039 17 7. Schumacher Mercedes 1:37.745 +1.068 25 8. Webber Red Bull 1:37.980 +1.303 17 9. Sutil Force India 1:38.008 +1.331 13 10. Massa Ferrari 1:38.098 +1.421 19 11. Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:38.161 +1.484 19 12. Kobayashi Sauber 1:38.375 +1.698 21 13. de la Rosa Sauber 1:38.421 +1.744 19 14. Hulkenberg Williams 1:38.569 +1.892 20 15. di Resta Force India 1:38.618 +1.941 26 16. Barrichello Williams 1:38.678 +2.001 17 17. Buemi Toro Rosso 1:39.939 +3.262 5 18. Trulli Lotus 1:41.531 +4.854 22 19. Kovalainen Lotus 1:41.779 +5.102 23 20. Glock Virgin 1:41.830 +5.153 20 21. di Grassi Virgin 1:42.181 +5.504 27 22. Senna HRT 1:43.875 +7.198 23 23. Chandhok HRT 1:43.949 +7.272 20 24. Alonso Ferrari no time 6
