Reigning Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated the opening practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix, finishing at the top of the timesheet ahead of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen.
After going fastest on his first run of the morning, Hamilton only briefly exchanged the top spot on the timesheet with team-mate Valtteri Bottas mid-session.
Hamilton beat Bottas’s time by 0.458 seconds moments after the Finn had hit the front. Hamilton’s 1m33.999s, set on the soft compound tyre, remained the fastest time at the end of the session.
A spin at Turn 11 for Hamilton when he had set a session best time in the middle sector meant that it was not a theoretical best time for the Mercedes driver.
With track temperatures low and wind speeds high, several drivers joined Hamilton in suffering off track moments. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen spun at the final corner while preparing for his run on the ultrasofts. Stoffel Vandoorne later bounced through the gravel trap after a snap of oversteer sent him off at Turn 10.
Raikkonen nearly spun at Turn 11 in the opening stages of the session. He eventually finished second on the timesheet, 0.359s adrift of Hamilton and having posted his time on the ultrasoft tyre.
Bottas’s 1m34.457s on the soft rubber, which had topped the session for a matter of seconds before Hamilton’s improvement, was good enough for an eventual third.
The Red Bull pair of Daniel Ricciardo and Verstappen finished fourth and fifth having set their best times on the ultrasoft tyre, while Sebastian Vettel also used the softest tyre available en route to sixth. Vettel, who has won the first two races of the season, was 0.862s down on Hamilton’s fastest effort.
The Haas and Renault’s rounded out the top 10, with Kevin Magnussen seventh, Carlos Sainz Jr eighth, Romain Grosjean ninth and Nico Hulkenberg 10th. Haas’ benchmarks were set on the ultrasoft, while Renault used the soft compound.
Pierre Gasly followed up his fourth place finish during last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix with 11th on the FP1 timesheet. Team-mate Brendon Hartley was 16th.
The Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon ended the session 13th and 14th, but set their personal bests on the medium tyre. Lance Stroll, who finished the session at the bottom of the timesheet, was the only other driver to do this.
