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Max Verstappen has ended an interrupted first free practice session on top with a lap time of 1:50.491. The session was halted after just eight minutes and a red flag was deployed for over 30 minutes due to the medical helicopter not being able to land in the hospital designated in Shanghai.
Williams finished the session second and third, with Felipe Massa ahead of Lance Stroll. Carlos Sainz set his lap which was good enough for P4 in the wet and tricky conditions.
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Romain Grosjean will be hoping for a more positive result in China after a retirement two weeks ago in Australia. He ended the session in fifth position. Daniil Kvyat and Fernando Alonso followed the Frenchman in sixth and seventh.
Daniel Ricciardo posted a lap which put him in eighth, while Finn Valtteri Bottas placed his Mercedes in P9. Completing the top ten was Kevin Magnussen in the second Haas car.
Nico Hulkenberg was eleventh but ended his day in the gravel as the German spun off-track in the tough conditions, and was forced to hitch a ride back to the pit-lane on the back of a scooter. Stoffel Vandoorne was twelfth, ahead of the two Sauber's of Marcus Ericsson and Antonio Giovinazzi.
Failing to set a lap was Jolyon Palmer, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon. The session was red flagged once again with just under half an hour to go, due to the same original reason involving the medical helicopter. Due to the difficulties, the session did not restart.
Fergal Walsh
Shanghai International Circuit - 07 April 2017
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Leclerc
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