Chinese F1 Grand Prix 2018 Qualifying: Results, Times from Friday's Practice
Lewis Hamilton led Kimi Raikkonen through both of Friday's practice sessions ahead of the 2018 Formula Oneย Chinese Grand Prix.
The drivers battled wet and windy conditions at the Shanghai International Circuit, but the Mercedes driver set a time of one minute, 33.482 seconds in FP2, while Ferrari's Raikkonen was 0.007 seconds behind.
In the first practice session, Hamilton topped the timesheets with a 1:33.999 on soft tyres, while Raikkonenโwho used the ultrasoft compoundโrecorded a 1:34.358.
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FP2 Recap
Here is the classification for FP2, per F1's official Twitter account:
A switch to the ultrasofts bore fruit for Hamilton in FP2. The compound helped him put to bed an early duel in the session for the quickest time between Raikkonen and Mercedes team-mate Valteri Bottas, and as in the morning he would remain on top throughout from that point on.
Tyre manufacturers Pirelli are eagerly awaiting Sunday's race:
Indeed, with just 0.108 seconds splitting the top four drivers, it looks set to be a close contest in Shanghaiโqualifying strongly on Saturday could play a big part.
Williams' Lanceย Stroll had a day to forget, though:
The teams moved onto long runs as the session wore on, while the rain arrived toward the end.
FP1 Recap
F1 provided the timesheet for the first practice session:
With the drivers eager to set times ahead of the forecast rain,ย Stroll set the pace after five minutes.
Fernando Alonso quickly succeeded him at the the top of the timesheet, before Raikkonen and then Daniel Ricciardoโwho each started the session with medium tyresโtraded places with him.
Around half an hour in, Hamilton assumed his position in first place, which he would not surrender for the remainder of the session.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen and Stoffel Vandoorne were among the drivers to have close calls because of the wind:
A successful session for Renault saw Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg finish eighth and 10th, respectively, despite neither using ultrasoft tyres.
