163---3333.jpg)
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time in Friday’s practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, further indicating the Formula One championship leader will be the man to beat this weekend.
Vettel’s best time was almost 0.2 seconds faster than McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, who in turn was 0.1 second faster than teammate Jenson Button in an afternoon practice session that was shrouded in Shanghai smog.
Vettel is trying to become the first since Michael Schumacher in 2004 to win the opening three races of a season.
“We found a good rhythm and we’re happy with the car,” Vettel said. “There’s still a lot to do and it will be tight (Saturday) and on Sunday, so we’ll look where we can improve. But today we had no big issues.”
Click Here to Read More
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in First Practice at China
Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Formula 1: Sebastian Vettel Fastest in Second Practice at China
The Mercedes pair of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher were fourth and fifth respectively in a performance which will give encouragement to a team that has had a difficult start to the season. Kansas City Star
Felipe Massa was sixth for Ferrari, although his team-mate Fernando Alonso battled with hydraulic problems during the session and could only manage 14th from just 17 laps on track.
Adrian Sutil was seventh for Force India, but it was a bad session for his team-mate Paul di Resta, the Scotsman failing to get out for any of the 90-minute session due to a fuel pressure problem.
Renault’s Nick Heidfeld was another to suffer, the German, who finished third at Sepang last Sunday, committing his second error of the day when he ran wide at turn two.
Heidfeld knocked loose the front wing of the R31 - as he did after a spin in the opening practice session - but was able to slowly recover to the pit lane entrance where his mechanics wheeled him back to the garage and patched him up. He recovered to finish in eighth, one place ahead of team-mate Vitaly Petrov. The Press Association
Pos No Driver Team Time/Retired 1 1 Sebastian VettelRBR-Renault 01:37.7 2 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:37.9 3 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:37.9 4 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 01:37.9 5 7 Michael SchumacherMercedes 01:38.1 6 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:38.5 7 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 01:38.7 8 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 01:38.8 9 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:38.9 10 2 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 01:39.3 11 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 01:39.5 12 12 Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Cosworth 01:39.7 13 18 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 01:39.8 14 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:39.8 15 19 Jaime AlguersuariSTR-Ferrari 01:39.8 16 11 Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth 01:39.9 17 17 Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 01:40.0 18 20 Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault 01:40.5 19 21 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Renault 01:41.5 20 22 Narain KarthikeyanHRT-Cosworth 01:42.9 21 23 Vitantonio LiuzziHRT-Cosworth 01:43.9 22 25 Jerome d'AmbrosioVirgin-Cosworth 01:44.0
| 
|