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Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has set the fastest time in the second free practice for the 2018 Chinese Grand Prix. The reigning world champion put in a 1:33.482, but he was closely followed by Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen. Valtteri Bottas and Sebastian claimed P3 and P4, with the top four within 0.108 of a second.
Rain fell towards the end of the session as teams completed their long-runs. There was concern down at McLaren, as Stoffel Vandoonre was forced to stop in the pit-lane after McLaren released him unsafely.
Max Verstappen was fifth for Red Bull, leading Nico Hulkenberg in sixth. Hulkenberg's teammate Carlos Sainz was eighth, with Kevin Magnussen placing himself between the two Renaults, once again demonstrating the strong pace of the Haas.
Daniel Ricciardo was ninth, ahead of Fernando Alonso who rounded out the top ten. Just 1.1 seconds separated the top ten after the second practice sessions, as teams will now buckle down over the data and look for ways to improve the cars.
Force India will be encouraged by the pace it showed at the Shanghai Circuit, ending the second practice session on in P11 and P13. Locked in between the two pink panthers was Pierre Gasly, who impressed last time out in Bahrain with his fourth place finish.
Romain Grosjean still appears to be struggling with his Haas, only managing to set the nineteenth fastest lap in the session. Williams too look to be struggling, with Sergey Sirotkin and Lance Stroll lingering towards the end of the bottom of the timesheets.
Shanghai International Circuit - 13 April 2018
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Replies (6)
Login to replyrenaultFanF1
Posts: 80
Should be a very interesting qualification session tomorrow. Mercedes is looking strong as ever, but Ferrari is VERY close.
Again, that midfield battle is so close, 7 cars in 4 - 5 tenths. Just amazing start of the season. At the back, Sirotkin seems to be adjusting to the Williams car and getting some performance out of it... while Stroll is firmly nailed to the bottom
Pauli
Posts: 140
Where is qualification simulation with high power mode?
Ferrari was doing them in previous races. But I guess they have listened Toto's comments about them running higher mode than Mercedes and decided to reduce engine wear in practice. (disclaimer: I didn't watch the practice so I don't know details behind times)
Midfield battles seems very close too. Surprisingly Sirotkin seems to have his car working well this weekend. If he can carry that performance to qualification and races then he would start to back the claims that he is also fast driver instead of pure pay driver.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Whoa. Kimi indeed likes this car.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Looks nice and tight. I like China, I find that this track tend to offer some decent racing, and this does look good.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
This season is really shaping up nicely, the amount of close racing, drama etc. Not sure why but somehow I rate Sirotkin higher than Stroll. I am enjoying the Haas and Alfa revivals. Kmag is looking like the better driver in that Haas.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yeah, I really loved the last race! One of the best races in recent times, as far as I remember. And yeah, KMag has looked real sharp so far. Also seem to be a clear difference between Hartley and Gasly. There seem to be a pretty clear pattern in most teams, with one dominant driver in each team. So far at least.