Norris Leads McLaren in Chinese Grand Prix Practice Session

Photo : Instagram / @mclaren

McLaren’s Lando Norris was the fastest driver in the only practice session for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix. He drove around the Shanghai International Circuit in 1 minute, 31.504 seconds on soft tyres. Norris was 0.454 seconds quicker than Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who had trouble with his front tyres wearing out on the long corners.

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Alpine’s Jack Doohan caused the session to stop for a while. His car lost power in the middle of a lap, forcing him to park on the grass between turns 10 and 11. This brought out the red flag with 13 minutes left.

After the session restarted, most drivers switched to soft tyres to check their one-lap speed. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was the third fastest, just over six-tenths of a second slower than Norris. Piastri ran off the track on his quickest lap but still showed good speed before qualifying for Saturday’s Sprint Race.

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who has won the Chinese GP six times, finished fourth. He struggled with mixed messages from his team over the radio. “I just got two different messages just now,” the British driver said during the session.

Mercedes’ George Russell, who was the quickest driver for most of the session, ended in fifth place. He did not switch to soft tyres after Doohan’s car stopped, which kept him out of the top four.

Sauber’s Nico Hülkenberg finished sixth, just ahead of his seventh-place finish in Melbourne last week. He was over a second slower than Norris but kept up his strong performance for the midfield team.

Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli struggled with tyre problems. His front left tyre developed blisters, making it hard to handle the car. He placed ninth, nearly half a second behind his teammate, Russell.

The Shanghai track, recently resurfaced, still caused problems with tyre grip. The long and sweeping corners dragged the rubber, making it harder for drivers to control their cars.

Both Ferrari drivers, Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, went off track a few times while pushing their cars hard. Their aggressive driving showed they were testing their limits before qualifying.