It will be competitive on Sunday between Mercedes, Ferrari and, if luck can give it, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.
SHANGHAI, China— April 12th—On Friday, Valtteri Bottas proved that he can be a contender in this year’s Formula 1 season. The Finn set a time of 1:33:330 for the fastest time of the day in preparation for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc finished second and third, respectively, in a test day at the Shanghai International circuit in China
Bottas set the best time in the afternoon after Vettel was the best in the morning session. Vettel timed the opening phase in 1:33:911, just six-tenths of a second slower than the Finn.
Vettel was quicker in the premier session than either Lewis Hamilton or Leclerc but improved his time later–only to be beaten by a faster Bottas in his Mercedes.
Having a double retirement in the last race in Bahrain, Renault have come into China with a brand-new power unit. Now it has done well with the assistance of Leclerc’s seventh and Pierre Gasly’s 10th place finishes in the second session. Because these two were not up to par with their times in the afternoon, Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo took 12th and sixth in the morning, and fifth and ninth in the afternoon, hoping now that the French engine can become more of a points finisher than a race winner.
Alfa Romeo could only get Kimi Raikkonen as high as 11th all day, but his Italian teammate, Antonio Giovinazzi, encountered a power unit problem in the first session–only to appear later with a car that could only do no better than 18th out of the 20 drivers. Russian Dani Kvyat had the same problem with his Toro Rosso Honda but was able to improve more than Giovanazzi by finishing no higher than 13th.
For the American Rich Energy Haas F1 Team, it was a horrible day. Romain Grosjean and teammate, Kevin Magnussen, finished 10th and 11th in the morning.
But the Frenchman had his front wing fail in the afternoon while driving over the bumps at turn one and finished the day in 17th. Magnussen, meanwhile, finished the afternoon session one position up from Grosjean in 16th.
With history being made for the 1,000th Grand Prix event this weekend, it will become competitive between Mercedes, Ferrari and, if luck can give it, Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing.
