Max Verstappen tops disrupted FP1 session in Shanghai

In the first practice session at the Shanghai circuit today, Max Verstappen topped the timesheets ahead of Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll in a session that saw the drivers perfecting their set ups and seeing where they need to improve before FP2 in quite awful weather conditions.

It took more than 45 minutes for the FP1 session to properly get going, thanks to a lengthy red flag. The stoppage was initially called shortly after the session had started, due to weather conditions in Shanghai being unsuitable for the medical helicopter to land at the hospital if needed. It wasn’t until 47 minutes after the session started that the track went green again.

While not actually raining the circuit was still wet, the majority of drivers appearing on wets before quickly switching to intermediates. The changeover proved a little tricky for the Haas drivers, both Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean spinning on the intermediates.

With half an hour to go a virtual safety car was called while crews retrieved Nico Hulkenberg’s beached Renault from the Turn 3 gravel trap after a spin.

By the time that was cleared, the red flag was back out as conditions grounded the medical helicopter again. With four minutes to run, and no sign of improvement in the weather, the session was called off.

But it was Max Verstappen who was fastest with a lap time of 1:50.491 ahead of Felipe Massa in second place who was 1.595 seconds behind him and ahead of Lance Stroll in third place who was 2.016 seconds behind Verstappen.

Carlos Sainz Jr finished the session in fourth place ahead of Romain Grosjean in fifth place, Daniil Kvyat in sixth place, Fernando Alonso in seventh place, Daniel Ricciardo in eigth place, Valtteri Bottas in ninth place and Kevin Magnussen in tenth place.

Nico Hulkenberg ended the session in eleventh place ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne in twelfth place, Marcus Ericsson in thirteenth place and Antonio Giovinazzi in fourteenth place.
Jolyon Palmer, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton did not set times in the session.

The classification of FP1 for the Chinese GP is as follows:–

1. Max Verstappen, Red-Bull-TAG Heuer, 1.50.491
2. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 1.595s
3. Lance Stroll, Williams-Mercedes, 2.016s
4. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.349s
5. Romain Grosjean, Haas Ferrari, 2.548s
6. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 2.823s
7. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.029s
8. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-TAG Heuer, 3.547s
9. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 4.173s
10. Kevin Magnussen, Haas Ferrari, 4.613s
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 5.117s
12. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren-Honda, 6.954s
13. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 24.467s
14. Antonio Giovinazzi, Sauber-Ferrari, 24.790s
15. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, No Time
16. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, No Time
17. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, No Time
18. Esteban Ocon, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
19. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, No Time
20. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, No Time

Driving for Pleasure will be covering the Chinese GP weekend with our practice, qualifying and race reports alongside the latest news.

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa