McLaren’s Lando Norris set the quickest time in the practice session for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix on Friday. Alpine’s Jack Doohan caused a temporary halt to the session when his car lost power during a lap.
Norris completed a lap of the Shanghai International Circuit in 1 minute, 31.504 seconds using soft tyres. This was 0.454 seconds faster than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Several drivers reported issues with tyre graining on the front tyres in the circuit’s long, sweeping corners.
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was third fastest, just over six tenths of a second behind his teammate. He ran wide on his fastest lap, showing strong potential for the qualifying session later for Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has won the Chinese Grand Prix six times, finished fourth. He was ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell, who had been fastest for much of the session. Russell didn’t switch to soft tyres after Doohan’s stoppage like the top four drivers.
Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg finished in sixth, improving on his seventh-place finish in Melbourne the previous week. He was just over a second off the fastest pace, continuing a good run for his team.
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli complained about tyre blistering on his front left tyre and finished ninth, nearly half a second behind his teammate, Russell.
The Shanghai circuit has been resurfaced before the race. However, its long and sweeping corners still challenge tyres, causing wear as drivers navigate them.
Alpine’s Jack Doohan stopped the session with less than 13 minutes remaining. He reported a power loss around turn nine and parked his car on the grass between turns 10 and 11, leading to a red flag.
The session restarted with seven minutes left. Most drivers chose to use soft tyres to test their speed for a single lap.
Both Ferrari drivers pushed hard and made errors, running wide or off the track. Communication issues continued for Lewis Hamilton with his new team. Despite this, Hamilton is the most successful driver at this circuit.
‘I just received two different messages,’ Hamilton mentioned over the radio around halfway through the session.
Dominic Ashworth