F1 China: Ferrari flies in free, chasing the Mercedes – The Republic

SHANGHAI – The world turned upside down. The first two free practice sessions of China’s return to Formula 1 the image of a distorted grid. It ‘just the opposite than what we were used to. Ferrari stands in front of the Mercedes and the second pilots end up in front of the first: Raikkonen, Vettel, Rosberg, Hamilton. All we collected in just over two tenths. This order of things marked by the time sheet at the end of the day, an order that promises fans a spectacular Saturday. Of course, as usual, on Friday we must go easy. The teams have done their experiments, or even pre-tactical and place that were used like tires, remains the unknown factor of fuel loads.

The most worried of all has to be Lewis Hamilton. Not so much for the five penalty remedied grid positions for having replaced the accident change in Bahrain, those are recovered easily seen that this year behind the two lead the pack there is nothing technical and competitive (even the Williams seems to be evaporated). But for the fact that while Rosberg is one hundred percent, the world champion seems to struggle to find the perfect symbiosis with the car.
Wide smiles, however, at Ferrari. At least for now. Red, on whose performance we were never too many doubts, is proving very fast here in China, in spite of a still too cold asphalt for the tastes of Maranelli engineers. Expectations are therefore high, and this is confirmed by the presence, announced in recent days, the Presidentissimo Sergio Marchionne, who has decided to attend the live Grand Prix, to put his face.
Tomorrow, qualifications They will be held in the wet, if the weather does not lie, and the format of last season. The outcome is therefore unpredictable. If there should be no nasty surprises, Vettel and Raikkonen would have a good chance to bring home a good result.

AHEAD TO ALONSO – At free also he participated Fernando Alonso, who immediately after the first session he had the green light to take part in the race on Sunday. The FIA ​​Medical Commission gave the go-ahead to the Spanish McLaren driver. Yesterday Alonso had received a provisional go-ahead to take to the track this morning on the Chinese circuit. In the note spread the FIA ​​recommends to the former Ferrari driver “stop immediately if you experience some abnormal symptoms.” Alonso had been involved in a nasty crash during the first Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne, incident that forced him to skip the Grand Prix of Bahrain.

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Formula 1

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