Hamilton leads Raikkonen in opening China F1 practice

Lewis Hamilton set the pace for Mercedes in the first Formula 1 practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, beating Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in Friday’s P1 running in Shanghai.

Fresh from a difficult race in Bahrain last Sunday that saw him suffer a second straight defeat to Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton kicked off the China race weekend in impressive fashion by finishing four-tenths of a second clear of the field in FP1.

Hamilton recorded a fastest lap time of 1:33.999 to finish three-tenths of a second clear of Raikkonen at the head of the field, setting his best effort on the Soft compound tyre.

The session was not without incident for Hamilton, however, as he suffered a spin at Turn 11 with just over 25 minutes remaining in windy conditions. The car was unharmed, allowing the Briton to continue running without any issues.

Raikkonen slotted into second place, beating fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas, who was 0.458 seconds back from Hamilton in the second Mercedes.

Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen took fourth and fifth place respectively, with the latter being fortunate to complete the session after almost crashing at the final corner.

Despite a run through the gravel after getting on the power too early and sending his car into a spin, Verstappen was able to avoid the wall and still complete his fastest lap time on the flat-spotted set of Ultrasoft tyres.

Championship leader Vettel took sixth for Ferrari, finishing eight-tenths of a second back from Hamilton after opting against completing a fast run on the Ultrasoft tyre late in the session.

Haas led the midfield fight as Kevin Magnussen took seventh place, finishing 1.1 seconds off Hamilton’s fastest time. The Dane was half a second clear of closest rival Carlos Sainz Jr. of Renault in eighth, with their respective teammates Romain Grosjean and Nico Hulkenberg taking ninth and 10th.

Following his Bahrain heroics, Pierre Gasly continued Toro Rosso-Honda’s good form by finishing 11th in opening practice, beating Fernando Alonso by just 0.007 seconds.

Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon finished 13th and 14th respectively ahead of Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, while Brendon Hartley was 16th in the second Toro Rosso.

Sauber’s Charles Leclerc and Marcus Ericsson took 17th and 19th respectively, split by McLaren’s Stoffel Vandoorne, while Lance Stroll propped up the order for Williams, finishing 3.2 seconds back from Hamilton at the front.