Chinese GP: Free Practice #3 - RE-CAP & TIMES

CHINESE GP - FREE PRACTICE #3 - RE-CAP & TIMES

    Sebastian Vettel led a Ferrari 1-2 in cool conditions in the final free practice session ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

    Ferrari appeared to have the advantage, with Vettel more than 0.7s quicker than the Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas and over a second quicker than reigning champion Lewis Hamilton, who topped FP1 and FP2.

    Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen finished second quickest, with a lap time half a second slower than Vettel’s 1m33.469s.

    A number of drivers, including Lewis Hamilton, ran wide in the tricky conditions but everyone managed to stay out of the walls.

    Mercedes may have had a slightly disappointing session, but it was nothing compared to that of Red Bull.

    Less than a week since a double DNF in Bahrain, Daniel Ricciardo suffered an engine failure half way through the session. Smoke poured out the back of Ricciardo’s Red Bull as he came to a stop at the penultimate corner, having only completed four laps. The virtual safety car was deployed n the sector as marshals pushed the car back to the pits.

    Team-mate Max Verstappen managed to end the session fourth fastest, but also hinted at problems with his Red Bull. He claimed he was losing speed when he got close to the limiter and said it felt similar to last season’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where he retired with an engine failure.

    Haas also encountered problems when Romain Grosjean’s brakes caught fire in the pits. The incident ended his session and he ended the morning slowest.

    Team-mate Kevin Magnussen was sixth quickest on the soft compound of tyre, ahead of the Force Indias of Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon.

    Carlos Sainz and Sergey Sirotkin complete the top 10.

TIMES:

1. Sebastian Vettel - 1:33.018 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Germany
2. Kimi Raikkonen - 1:33.469 / Ferrari-Ferrari / Finland
3. Valtteri Bottas - 1:33.761 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Finland
4. Max Verstappen - 1:33.969 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Netherlands
5. Lewis Hamilton - 1:34.057 / Mercedes-Mercedes / Great Britain
6. Kevin Magnussen - 1:34.329 / Haas-Ferrari / Denmark
7. Sergio Perez - 1:34.445 / Force India-Mercedes / Mexico
8. Esteban Ocon - 1:34.456 / Force India-Mercedes / France
9. Carlos Sainz - 1:34.582 / Renault-Renault / Spain
10. Sergey Sirotkin - 1:34.741 / Williams-Mercedes / Russia
11. Nico Hulkenberg - 1:34.841 / Renault-Renault / Germany
12. Fernando Alonso - 1:34.851 / McLaren-Renault / Spain
13. Stoffel Vandoorne - 1:34.977 / McLaren-Renault / Belgium
14. Brendon Hartley - 1:34.991 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / New Zealand
15. Daniel Ricciardo - 1:35.061 / Red Bull Racing-TAG-Heuer / Australia
16. Pierre Gasly - 1:35.079 / Scuderia Toro Rosso-Honda / France
17. Lance Stroll - 1:35.375 / Williams-Mercedes / Canada
18. Charles Leclerc - 1:35.497 / Sauber-Ferrari / Monaco
19. Marcus Ericsson - 1:35.679 / Sauber-Ferrari / Sweden
20. Romain Grosjean - 1:35.756 / Haas-Ferrari / France

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Article Written By: Bethonie Waring
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