PRACTICE TWO
Report: Second and seventh places for Scuderia Ferrari in the second free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix, in which Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was fastest with a 1.38.315. Fernando Alonso was second in 1.38.456 ahead of Rosberg in the other Mercedes. The Spaniard completed 28 laps.
As for Raikkonen, his session was much more productive than the first, when he only did one lap. This time he did 25, with a best of 1.39.293, good enough for seventh on the time sheet.
Both Scuderia Ferrari men worked on long runs on the soft tyre to check its performance over a good distance. Alonso then ran the harder Mediums only in the final minutes and they were naturally more consistent.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m38.315s 25
2. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m38.456s +0.141s 28
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m38.726s +0.411s 30
4. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m38.811s +0.496s 30
5. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m39.015s +0.700s 31
6. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m39.118s +0.803s 25
7. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m39.283s +0.968s 25
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.491s +1.176s 29
9. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m39.537s +1.222s 36
10. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m39.648s +1.333s 26
11. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m39.736s +1.421s 30
12. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m39.744s +1.429s 29
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m39.759s +1.444s 28
14. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m39.830s +1.515s 25
15. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m40.124s +1.809s 32
16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.359s +2.044s 32
17. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m40.395s +2.080s 30
18. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m40.455s +2.140s 12
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m42.327s +4.012s 27
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m43.473s +5.158s 30
21. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m43.530s +5.215s 32
22. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m43.679s +5.364s 32
QUOTES
Kimi Raikkonen: “It was a difficult day, that began with a technical problem in the morning session, which meant I only did an installation lap. Once that was sorted out, in the afternoon, we tried to make up for lost time, concentrating mainly on getting the set-up suited to this track, sacrificing some of our race simulation. It’s difficult to give an overall assessment and I definitely missed out a bit because of the lack of track time. This evening we will concentrate on analysing the data we have gathered and tomorrow, we will try and make the very most of the final free practice session to get the car as well prepared as possible for qualifying and the race.”
Pat Fry: “It’s been a particularly demanding Friday, both for the drivers on track and for the guys in the garage. In the first session, Kimi’s car stayed in the garage throughout the session after completing his installation lap. With Fernando we managed to complete several aerodynamic tests and carry out some checks on the power unit. The afternoon ran more smoothly and with both cars we worked on balance and power delivery. Even if we are making progress on all fronts, we are well aware that it’s always hard to know where you stand on a Friday. Today’s low temperatures affected tyre performance and even if we can expect the track surface to be in better condition tomorrow, the rain expected for qualifying could turn the session into a real lottery. But more important than making predictions is to stay concentrated on our work.”
PRACTICE ONE
Report: Mixed fortunes for Ferrari in the first practice for the Chinese Grand Prix, as Fernando Alonso was fastest in 1.39.783, the only man under the 1m 40s barrier, beating Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes by four tenths. Third was Daniel Ricciardo in the Red Bull, in a session where several teams seemed to be playing their cards close to their chest.
In the other F14 T, Kimi Raikkonen failed to set a timed lap, only managing one installation lap before having to spend the rest of the 90 minutes in the garage with a technical problem.
Alonso managed 20 laps working on set-up and tyre evaluation. Towards the end, he also did a first long run on a morning when air and track temperatures were particularly low.
FP1 Times
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps
1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m39.783s 20
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m40.181s +0.398s 16
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m40.772s +0.989s 23
4. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m40.970s +1.187s 23
5. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m41.175s +1.392s 16
6. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m41.366s +1.583s 20
7. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m41.505s +1.722s 26
8. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m41.560s +1.777s 9
9. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m41.629s +1.846s 19
10. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m41.699s +1.916s 14
11. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m41.977s +2.194s 23
12. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m42.090s +2.307s 24
13. Felipe Nasr Williams-Mercedes 1m42.265s +2.482s 13
14. Giedo van der Garde Sauber-Ferrari 1m42.615s +2.832s 16
15. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m42.733s +2.950s 13
16. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m43.731s +3.948s 22
17. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m44.038s +4.255s 16
18. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m44.162s +4.379s 17
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m44.270s +4.487s 7
20. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m44.782s +4.999s 20
21. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m44.835s +5.052s 22
22. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1
KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN SPACE 
Alonso have been very lucky this year: rain in Malaysia and Kimi’s bad start in Bahrain.
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