McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton has started his Chinese Grand Prix weekend well by topping the timesheets in the first practice session. The British driver was ahead of his closest championship rival Felipe Massa by just under 0.4 seconds. Raikkonen and Kovalainen rounded out the top four.
The session saw a few minor dramas. Raikkonen spin on his second quick lap of the session, but did no damage and was able to continue. Jarno Trulli and Mark Webber both had spins in the Turns 11 & 12 chicane mid-corner, however both were able to continue on undamaged. Barrichello also got the corners wrong and took a detour across the grass.
The Renault of Nelson Piquet took a trip through one of the gravel traps after an error, however he managed to keep the car going and return to the pits.
Lewis Hamilton has made an emphatic statement during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, topping the second session as well as the first.
The second practice session saw a slightly different timesheet with his closest championship rival Felipe Massa only able to put in the sixth quickest time of the session, with both Renaults, Toyota s Jarno Trulli, and Red Bull s Mark Webber all quicker than him.
The session saw little in the way of drama, although quite a few drivers were testing the limits of the circuit and therefore running wide at some of the corners. Bourdais had two off-road excursions onto the grass at Turn 2, before spinning into the gravel trap towards the end of the session. Sebastian Vettel also ran wide at Turn 2, and also at Turn 13 later in the session. Webber was another driver who ran wide at the second turn.
Turn 12 also saw some action with both Kimi Raikkonen and Nelson Piquet having small spins at the corner.
Unofficial Timings for Practice Session 2 of the Chinese Grand Prix:
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.750 33 2. Alonso Renault 1:36.024 + 0.274 36 3. Piquet Renault 1:36.094 + 0.344 38 4. Trulli Toyota 1:36.159 + 0.409 32 5. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:36.375 + 0.625 38 6. Massa Ferrari 1:36.480 + 0.730 31 7. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.529 + 0.779 32 8. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.542 + 0.792 34 9. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:36.553 + 0.803 38 10. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:36.556 + 0.806 33 11. Glock Toyota 1:36.615 + 0.865 33 12. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:36.775 + 1.025 37 13. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.797 + 1.047 33 14. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:36.808 + 1.058 36 15. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:36.925 + 1.175 38 16. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:36.975 + 1.225 31 17. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:37.473 + 1.723 38 18. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:37.617 + 1.867 33 19. Button Honda 1:37.800 + 2.050 37 20. Barrichello Honda 1:37.904 + 2.154 36
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:35.630 23
2. Massa Ferrari 1:36.020 + 0.390 24
3. Raikkonen Ferrari 1:36.052 + 0.422 23
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1:36.103 + 0.473 21
5. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:36.507 + 0.877 25
6. Alonso Renault 1:36.661 + 1.031 25
7. Heidfeld BMW Sauber 1:37.040 + 1.410 23
8. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.070 + 1.440 32
9. Piquet Renault 1:37.180 + 1.550 30
10. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:37.278 + 1.648 25
11. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:37.491 + 1.861 26
12. Button Honda 1:37.619 + 1.989 25
13. Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1:37.630 + 2.000 23
14. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1:37.638 + 2.008 22
15. Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1:37.638 + 2.008 26
16. Glock Toyota 1:37.664 + 2.034 29
17. Barrichello Honda 1:37.827 + 2.197 28
18. Trulli Toyota 1:38.219 + 2.589 24
19. Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1:38.285 + 2.655 25
20. Fisichella Force India-Ferrari 1:38.479 + 2.849 26
