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Fernando Alonso brought some welcome cheer to Ferrari after a troubled week by setting the fastest time in first practice for the Chinese grand prix yesterday. |
However it was a mixed morning for the Italian giants and their new team principal Marco Mattiacci, who was installed after Stefano Domenicali dramatically quit on Monday, as Kimi Raikkonen was unable to complete a timed lap after mechanical problems.
Alonso clocked 1min 39.783sec with championship leader Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes second, 0.398sec behind, and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo third, 0.989sec behind the Ferrari.
On a chilly morning with temperatures in Shanghai hovering around the 13 degrees Celsius mark, many drivers suffered from lack of heat in their tyres and struggled with braking in the cool conditions.
In the first half-hour on the harder medium-compound tyres, Rosberg became the first driver to dip below 1min 41sec for the 5.451km lap of the Shanghai International circuit.
He was followed closely in the initial laps by Alonso, just 0.464sec behind and already showing good pace.
But at this stage the times were mere benchmarks as the teams sought to fine-tune their aerodynamic set-ups, tyres and brakes and gather valuable data in the coldest conditions of the season so far.
Raikkonen’s mechanical misfortune did, however, give him a chance to make the acquaintance of new boss Mattiacci, who finally made an appearance in Shanghai this week when he strolled into the Ferrari garage at the start of the session looking relaxed.
Mattiacci was due to meet the media later on Friday and face his first inquisition as chief of the struggling Formula One giants.
Raikkonen’s car spent most of the 90-minute session on jacks with mechanics frantically working on the front end of the car, which has a new chassis after cracks were discovered in the old one after Bahrain.
There were no such problems for Alonso, who soon became the only man under 1min 40sec, and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, who continued to outpace team-mate Sebastian Vettel by clocking the third fastest lap, albeit almost a second down on Alonso.
