Home » Sports » Motor Racing
Vettel leads Red Bull charge for Shanghai race
Source: Agencies |
April 16, 2011, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FORMULA One world champion Sebastian Vettel laid down a marker for his fifth win in a row by dominating both practice sessions for the Chinese Grand Prix yesterday.
The 23-year-old Red Bull driver, who will be chasing his third victory of the season tomorrow, lapped the monumental Shanghai International Circuit with a best time of one minute, 37.688 seconds on a smoggy afternoon with few spectators in attendance.
"We found a good rhythm and we're happy with the car," the German said. "There's still a lot to do and I think it will be tight tomorrow and on Sunday, so we'll look where we can improve. But today we had no big issues."
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was 0.166 adrift, a big improvement on the morning that saw him more than two seconds off the Red Bulls' pace. Vettel's Australian teammate Mark Webber had been second fastest in the morning but was only 10th after the break.
Both Red Bulls looked in a class of their own after the garages opened for first practice at the track in suburban Jiading District, with Hamilton third but a massive 2.106 seconds slower.
Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who won last year's race, was 2.201 off the pacesetting best in the morning after his McLaren suffered KERS problems but bounced back to end the day just 0.247 off Vettel's best.
Renault's Nick Heidfeld, third in Malaysia, crunched his car into the tire barriers in both sessions - wrecking the only version of his team's new front wing in the process.
"I have been around for a while but I can't remember crashing twice in one day," the experienced German told reporters. "It was not a good start. It was just my mistake."
Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa was sixth in both, with the team carrying out aerodynamic tests to try to get to the bottom of its lack of pace, while Spaniard Fernando Alonso was 12th and 14th after being sidelined by hydraulic problems.
Team principal Stefano Domenicali, back at the helm following a flying visit home to Maranello for a post-race inquest after Malaysia, will be hoping for a far better performance tomorrow.
Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher is returning to the scene of his last win and podium finish with Ferrari in 2006 and ended the day an encouraging fifth for Mercedes.
Force India's British rookie Paul di Resta sat out the second session after his Mercedes-powered car suffered a fuel pressure problem.
The 23-year-old Red Bull driver, who will be chasing his third victory of the season tomorrow, lapped the monumental Shanghai International Circuit with a best time of one minute, 37.688 seconds on a smoggy afternoon with few spectators in attendance.
"We found a good rhythm and we're happy with the car," the German said. "There's still a lot to do and I think it will be tight tomorrow and on Sunday, so we'll look where we can improve. But today we had no big issues."
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton was 0.166 adrift, a big improvement on the morning that saw him more than two seconds off the Red Bulls' pace. Vettel's Australian teammate Mark Webber had been second fastest in the morning but was only 10th after the break.
Both Red Bulls looked in a class of their own after the garages opened for first practice at the track in suburban Jiading District, with Hamilton third but a massive 2.106 seconds slower.
Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion who won last year's race, was 2.201 off the pacesetting best in the morning after his McLaren suffered KERS problems but bounced back to end the day just 0.247 off Vettel's best.
Renault's Nick Heidfeld, third in Malaysia, crunched his car into the tire barriers in both sessions - wrecking the only version of his team's new front wing in the process.
"I have been around for a while but I can't remember crashing twice in one day," the experienced German told reporters. "It was not a good start. It was just my mistake."
Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa was sixth in both, with the team carrying out aerodynamic tests to try to get to the bottom of its lack of pace, while Spaniard Fernando Alonso was 12th and 14th after being sidelined by hydraulic problems.
Team principal Stefano Domenicali, back at the helm following a flying visit home to Maranello for a post-race inquest after Malaysia, will be hoping for a far better performance tomorrow.
Seven-time champion Michael Schumacher is returning to the scene of his last win and podium finish with Ferrari in 2006 and ended the day an encouraging fifth for Mercedes.
Force India's British rookie Paul di Resta sat out the second session after his Mercedes-powered car suffered a fuel pressure problem.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
