F1 GP China, Free Practice 1: Rosberg signs the first outing of the weekend

A morning characterized by two red flags and the best time of Nico Rosberg, 1:38.037, achieved on the new yellow compound in the final minutes of the session. The German of Mercedes he snatched the reference time from his teammate, who finished second ahead of Ferrari di Sebastian Vettel. Interruptions caused by runway exits Williams e Renault they limited the work of the teams, busy in the morning on the set up of the cars and dealing with a track that was not exactly clean.
The top ten ended with Ricciardo, Raikkonen, Kvyat, Sainz, Button, Hulkenberg and Verstappen. No time trial for Magnussen, Gutierrez and Massa.

News – Sebastian Vettel doesn't waste a second and is the first to test the asphalt in China. Haryanto, Grosjean, Nasr, Magnussen, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Kvyat, Wehrlein, Bottas, Ericsson, Rosberg and Gutierrez gradually follow the German for the usual installation laps.

The first time of the morning was given by Rosberg's Mercedes with the medium tyre, 1:52.850. Hamilton avoids him from the top, then the German does the same but then it is the reigning world champion who lifts himself to the top with the best time of 1:38.802.
Ericsson joins the leading pair with the third fastest time, while Massa's Williams ends up in the gravel with a punctured tyre. The virtual safety car comes into play almost thirty minutes before the start, to clear the track of the debris left by the Brazilian who in the meantime dragged himself to the pits.
At the end of the first half hour, while waiting for the green light, Hamilton leads the group followed by Rosberg, Ricciardo, Wehrlein, Haryanto, Ericsson, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Perez and Verstappen.

At the restart the McLarens were the first to mount the supersofts. Vettel with the soft compound enters third position ahead of Button, Hulkenberg and Alonso.
Halfway through the session Magnussen, Gutierrez and Massa still had to stop the clock, with the Haas stopped in the pits due to electrical problems.
Massa returns to the pits again complaining of the same problem he had when he went off the track at the beginning of the session. The Brazilian suffers another puncture. The red flag waves again on the track: Magnussen's Renault also trudges towards the pits with the left rear dangling from the rim and the suspension bent.
The marshals are back at work to clean up the track, while Hamilton maintains first place ahead of Rosberg, Vettel, Button, Hulkenberg, Perez, Alonso, Ricciardo, Bottas and Raikkonen. Vettel, Ricciardo and Bottas ride on the softs, the supersoft McLarens and the rest on mediums.

While a scrupulous inspection of the track is underway, Pirelli confirms that in both cases no tire puncture was found on Massa's Williams. The loss of pressure would in fact be due to contact between the cover and some part of the car. For Magnussen, however, it would have been a suspension failure.
Eight minutes from the end of the 90 minutes available we start shooting again. The two Mercedes lead the group which immediately launches onto the track, while others are engaged in starting tests.
Hamilton improves but Rosberg overtakes him in 1:38.037. Vettel moves in behind them followed by Ricciardo and Raikkonen, half a second behind his teammate.

The checkered flag marked the end of the first test session, with Rosberg being called back to the pits after a possible technical problem was detected on his car.

F1 GP China – Times and results Free Practice 1
1. Nico Rosberg GER Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 38.037s
2. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes-Mercedes 1m 38.183s
3. Sebastian Vettel GER Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 38.665s
4. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1m 39.061s
5. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Ferrari-Ferrari 1m 39.155s
6. Daniil Kvyat RUS Red Bull-TAG Heuer 1m 39.625s
7. Carlos Sainz Jr ESP Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 39.676s
8. Jenson Button GBR McLaren-Honda 1m 39.974s
9. Nico Hulkenberg GER Force India-Mercedes 1m 40.169s
10. Max Verstappen NED Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m 40.232s
11. Sergio Perez MEX Force India-Mercedes 1m 40.347s
12. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren-Honda 1m 40.538s
13. Valtteri Bottas FIN Williams-Mercedes 1m 40.828s
14. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas-Ferrari 1m 41.358s
15. Marcus Ericsson SWE Sauber-Ferrari 1m 41.393s
16. Rio Haryanto INA MRT-Mercedes 1m 41.614s
17. Jolyon Palmer GBR Renault-Renault 1m 41.816s
18. Pascal Wehrlein GER MRT-Mercedes 1m 42.908s
19. Felipe Nasr BRZ Sauber-Ferrari 1m 42.980s
20. Kevin Magnussen DEN Renault-Renault No time
21. Esteban Gutierrez MEX Haas-Ferrari No time
22. Felipe Massa BRZ Williams-Mercedes No time