Lewis Hamilton put his recent troubles behind him by going fastest in first practice for this weekend’s Chinese grand prix in Shanghai today.
The 24-year-old, whose title defence has been hit by problems with his McLaren car and the fall-out from his disqualification in Australia, set the pace with a time of one minute 37.334 seconds. Hamilton’s McLaren was running with a new interim diffuser and front wing following Wednesday’s decision by the FIA to uphold the legality of the controversial ‘double-diffuser’ design.
Fellow Briton Jenson Button, looking to make it three wins out of three for the season so far, finished 0.116 secs behind Hamilton. Button’s Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello was third fastest at 1:37.566, while McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen proved Hamilton’s time was no fluke by finishing fourth. Guardian.co.uk
Click Here For More Formula 1 Photos
Australian Mark Webber continued Red Bull’s good showing so far this season for fifth place but Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Nico Rosberg of Williams, both using the rear diffuser, will be disappointed to have finished six and seventh in the times.
Ferrari’s travails continued, however, with Finn Kimi Raikkonen 11th fastest and Brazilian Felipe Massa managing only the 15th best time for the reigning constructors’ champions.
Raikkonen was one of several drivers who came off the track as teams struggled with grip as they weighed their tire choices for the weekend. The Washington Post
Sebastian Vettel (1m 38.274s) was 12th in his Red Bull ahead of Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso (1m 38.307) and Adrian Sutil’s Force India (1m 38.319s), then behind Massa came Heidfeld in 1m 38.456s and team mate Robert Kubica on 1m 38.463s, the BMW Sauber duo sandwiching Giancarlo Fisichella who recorded 1m 38.460s for Force India. Both BMWs ran KERS.
At the back, Nakajima lapped his FW31 in 1m 38.730s ahead of Piquet’s Renault on 1m 38.825s. Formula 1
| 
| 