2016 F1 Round 3 Chinese Grand Prix FP1 – Rosberg leads amid two red flags

First practice for the Chinese Grand Prix took place at the Shanghai International Circuit on April 15. Rosberg led with a 1:38.037, with Hamilton 0.146 seconds behind and Vettel third, 0.628 seconds off the pace. The Mercedes pair and Vettel were the only three drivers to lap below 1:39.

Archive photo – Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel together during the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix (photographed in Bahrain).

Around 25 minutes into practice, Massa suffered a left-rear wheel failure near Turn 6 and spun, scattering debris across the circuit and bringing out the first red flag. He suffered another left-rear wheel problem after returning to the track, after which the team brought his car back in.

Magnussen’s Renault also suffered a left-rear wheel failure and stopped on the circuit, triggering the second red flag. The two stoppages disrupted normal running, leaving the drivers to complete most of their final timed laps after practice resumed.

Only around eight minutes remained for a final push after the two interruptions, with most drivers switching to soft tyres. Hamilton had initially led on mediums before Rosberg improved to a 1:38.037. Hamilton’s soft-tyre lap was a 1:38.183.

Red Bull’s Ricciardo and Kvyat finished fourth and sixth, with Ferrari’s Räikkönen between them. Sainz, Button, Hülkenberg and Verstappen filled the remaining top-ten positions, while Pérez was eleventh.

Hamilton spun twice during the session, while Rosberg encountered a suspected power-unit problem towards the end of practice. Massa and Gutiérrez failed to set a time. Gutiérrez completed just two laps before an electrical fault ended his running early.

Alonso completed 11 laps and was twelfth with a 1:40.538. As he remained under observation during his recovery from the Australian Grand Prix accident, the FIA medical delegate required him to undergo another examination before taking part in subsequent sessions.

Pirelli said after the session that both of Massa’s left-rear wheel failures were related to technical issues, while the cause of the problem on Magnussen’s car remained under investigation. Button set his fastest lap on supersoft tyres in the closing stages to finish eighth. Most drivers switched to softs during the brief final period.