Chinese Grand Prix – Free Practice: Russell fastest in Shanghai, Mercedes on another planet

It's time for the only free practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, as free practice 2 and 3 give way to sprint qualifying and the sprint race. George Russell set the fastest time, followed by his teammate Kimi Antonelli and then the two McLarens.

We've barely left the pit lane when Franco Colapinto spins out at the start of the only free practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix. The Argentine driver suddenly locks up his wheels in the middle of turn 9, but nothing is broken and he gets back on track. However, after a slight contact between Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, it appears that some carbon fiber flew onto the track in the aftermath. We saw another impressive rear wheel lock-up from Hamilton, “my brakes locked up,” he said over the radio. His new tires took a beating. The incident between the two drivers is noted by the FIA, but there will be no investigation.

Debris on the track and VSC

There is a brief period of VSC (virtual safety car) due to debris on the straight, which the marshals quickly clear. Slow-motion replays show that Bortoleto also locked up his wheels and drove straight on. The incidents continued: Hadjar was now gesticulating in the direction of a Cadillac, which had clearly caused him traffic on the track.

The yellow flags are then out, and it's for Lindblad at turn 9, who has come to a stop there… and the VSC is now deployed. It appears that the fire extinguisher has been activated in the car, as a small amount of smoke can be seen in the cockpit.

No one can really afford to miss a session here… but even less so the only rookie on the grid. Lindblad is practically discovering Shanghai for the first time: apart from a few laps on the simulator, his experience of the track is very limited, as FP2 and FP3 don't usually race here in the support series. Suffice to say that every lap on the track is worth its weight in gold…

Ferrari experiments, Norris narrowly avoids disaster

We get to see the famous rear wing reversal on Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, which we already saw during winter testing in Bahrain. We can't wait to see how it will perform in qualifying and then in the race, with the long 1.3 km straight on the Shanghai circuit.

Lando Norris narrowly avoids spinning out after a driving error causes him to lock up his wheels. We have 35 minutes left in this free practice session and George Russell is currently the fastest, with a time of 1:34.169, ahead of Charles Leclerc (+0.240 seconds) and Kimi Antonelli (+0.625 seconds). Mercedes is currently living up to its almost perfect weekend in Australia.

Sainz invisible, Hamilton changes strategy

It should also be noted that Carlos Sainz has still not left the garage, and Williams is carefully avoiding commenting on this immobility. Let's hope for the Spaniard that the problem will be resolved before the end of this single free practice session, ahead of the sprint qualifying in a few hours.

Hamilton finally abandoned his medium tires, which were nicely worn down, and switched to soft tires. But his first lap didn't really shake up the times: he was fifth. Yet last year, right here, he took pole position in the Sprint before going on to win the race the next day — which remains, for now, his only victory with Ferrari.

It remains to be seen whether he can do it again this weekend… even if Mercedes, his former team, is unlikely to make it easy for him. He moved up to third, but still remained four-tenths of a second behind Russell, whose benchmark time was set on medium tires. The rest of the field stayed on the starting mediums, with the exception of Lance Stroll.

An exciting finish on the track

At the end of this free practice session, the drivers were exceptionally allowed two extra laps to make two start attempts. Piastri's engineer informed him that both McLaren cars were experiencing sudden drops in performance, known as clipping, due to energy management.

Hamilton was in second place with just over a quarter of an hour to go, 0.208 seconds behind Russell. An important detail: the Mercedes driver set his benchmark time on medium tires, while Hamilton was running on soft tires, as mentioned above. But Hamilton later complains to his engineer, asking him to give him information, as he has no idea where he stands in this session. And while some are completing lap after lap, Sainz has finally decided to join the party: the Spaniard has just left the pits. Better late than never…
Mercedes confirms its dominance in China, the pack gets organized
Russell improves with a 1:32.807 and remains firmly in the lead. Antonelli slips into second place, 0.156 seconds behind, a very clean performance from the rookie. Behind him, Leclerc puts his Ferrari in third place, just ahead of his teammate. But the gap is significant: nearly eight tenths already separate him from Russell's time. Things are speeding up as the session draws to a close. Norris climbs to fourth place, one tenth behind Leclerc – which already looks like an improvement on last week. Piastri, meanwhile, abandoned his flying lap after a mistake in the middle sector. At Haas, they are not just making up the numbers: Bearman, already the best of the midfield in Australia, is sixth, just behind Hamilton. He is 0.029 seconds ahead of Verstappen, with the Dutchman in seventh, just ahead of Piastri, who is starting his second flying lap. And this time, the Australian delivers: Piastri climbs to third, 0.736 seconds behind Russell, but one tenth ahead of Leclerc.

The clock is also ticking for Hadjar. The Frenchman moves up from 18th to 14th place, but remains 2.444 seconds off Russell's benchmark time. Meanwhile, Leclerc briefly runs into the gravel trap on his exit from Turn 16, which he misjudged.

At the front, Mercedes remains on another planet. Russell clocked 1:32.741, more than a tenth ahead of his teammate. The Silver Arrows are followed by the McLarens, 0.555 seconds (!) behind, Norris first, then the Ferraris, with Leclerc being the fastest of the two.

Red Bull placed Verstappen eighth and Hadjar thirteenth. Hülkenberg climbed to ninth on a circuit where he is generally comfortable, just ahead of Gasly, who just managed to stay in the top 10.