Vettel was well ahead of his rivals
Sebastian Vettel headed Mark Webber in Friday Practice 1 for the Chinese Grand Prix, with Vettel 2 seconds faster than any other competitor after Webber.
The McLarens of Hamilton and Button were 3rd and 4th, although Jenson was delayed by a KERS issue. Nick Heidfeld was 5th after setting only 5 laps, but crashed with half an hour to go.
Felipe Massa was 6th while teammate Alonso was 12th, with Ferrari running more tests on their faltering aerodynamic package. Sebastien Buemi finished 10th, while Daniel Ricciardo took over Jaime Alguersuari’s car and was placed 16th.
Vitantonio Liuzzi managed to split the Virgins in 21st position. Luiz Razia drove Jarno Trulli’s car, but was 5.8 seconds off the pace, 3 seconds slower than Heikki Kovalainen in 14th.
Narain Karthikeyan was last, but he half a second within the 107% rule for qualifying.
Note: Pirelli have run out of gold bands to put on the softer tyres, so silver bands are also being used on the softer compound.
Heidfeld quickly accepted the blame for his crash:
"It was a driving mistake. I went off twice and that can happen - I just went over
the limit.
I was in a very good mood until I crashed into the tyre. I have been around for a
while but I cannot remember crashing twice in one day, so that was not a good start.
It was just my mistake. These things unfortunately can happen, I think a lot of other
people also went off a bit and had spins. Unfortunately I destroyed two wings, it
shows it isn't easy today but it is not meant to be an excuse. I just f***** up!"
Times from China FP1:
1. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1.38.739 23
2. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1.39.354 0.615 27
3. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1.40.845 2.106 21
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1.40.940 2.201 22
5. Nick Heidfeld Renault 1.40.987 2.248 5
6. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1.41.046 2.307 25
7. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1.41.189 2.450 20
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1.41.222 2.483 20
9. Vitaly Petrov Renault 1.41.231 2.492 16
10. Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.41.328 2.589 21
11. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1.41.361 2.622 23
12. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1.41.434 2.695 15
13. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1.41.494 2.755 20
14. Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1.41.579 2.840 13
15. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1.41.610 2.871 18
16. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1.41.752 3.013 20
17. Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1.41.939 3.200 25
18. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1.42.301 3.562 23
19. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1.43.792 5.053 20
20. Jerome D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1.44.089 5.350 20
21. Tonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth 1.44.359 5.620 18
22. Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1.44.438 5.699 11
23. Luiz Razia Lotus-Renault 1.44.542 5.803 9
24. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1.45.019 6.280 23
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