Hamilton quickest again in China F1 FP2

Lewis Hamilton continued to lead the way for Mercedes in second practice for the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai, edging out Ferrari Formula 1 rival Kimi Raikkonen for top spot in Friday’s afternoon session.

After comfortably topping FP1 earlier in the day, Hamilton continued to set the pace through second practice at the Shanghai International Circuit as the front-runners showed their hands a little more with some qualifying simulation runs.

Hamilton recorded a fastest lap time of 1:33.482 on the Ultrasoft tyre to take P1 despite a somewhat scruffy lap that saw him get loose through the final sector.

The time was good enough for Hamilton to beat Raikkonen by just 0.007 seconds in the final classification, pointing towards another fight between Ferrari and Mercedes through the race weekend.

Valtteri Bottas was a close third in the sister Mercedes car, finishing just 0.033 seconds behind his teammate at the top of the timesheets, while Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel took fourth despite lapping only one-tenth of a second slower than Hamilton.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was left to settle for fifth in the final timesheets, lapping three-tenths back from Hamilton. Teammate Daniel Ricciardo failed to complete a qualifying simulation on the Ultrasfots, leaving him a lowly ninth in the final standings.

Renault and Haas continued their battle from FP1 to be the best of the rest behind the ‘big three’ teams. Nico Hulkenberg led the way for Renault in P6, narrowly beating Haas’ Kevin Magnussen in seventh. Carlos Sainz Jr. took eighth in the second Renault.

Fernando Alonso managed to compete the top 10 for McLaren, finishing ahead of Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon in 11th and 13th respectively, split by Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly.

Stoffel Vandoorne took 14th in the second McLaren, but was forced to par up at the side of the track with 15 minutes remaining after one of the tyres on his car came loose. The Belgian ended the session ahead of Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso in P15, while Williams’ charge was led by Sergey Sirotkin in 16th.

Sauber drivers Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc were 17th and 18th respectively as Romain Grosjean slipped to 19th for Haas, with Lance Stroll winding up 20th for the second session in a row for Williams.