Stroll tops sole practice session ahead of Piastri and Verstappen at Chinese GP
19th April 2024Feature Image Credit: Aston Martin F1
Aston Martin F1’s Lance Stroll topped the only practice session of the Chinese Grand Prix, ahead of Sprint Qualifying, with a quick 1m 36.302s lap.
After 1,832 days since the last Chinese Grand Prix, on April 14, 2019, the Shanghai International Circuit returned to our eyes and screens.
The Chinese GP stands as the first sprint race weekend of the season, it meant Free Practice 1 would be the only hour of practice for the drivers as they tried to dial in their perfect set-ups.
However, it wasn’t without issue as there was an interruption to running. The session was red-flagged early on due to a small grass fire on the apex of turn seven which was quickly put out by the nearby track marshals.
The grass fire would be the only stoppage in a fairly routine FP1 session.
Who finished where?
As previously mentioned, Stroll topped the timing boards with a quick time on the board of 1m 36.302s which stood three-tenths faster than McLaren’s Oscar Piastri’s time (1m 36.629s). Red Bull’s defending world champion, Max Verstappen, topped out the session in third, three-tenths behind Stroll.
Verstappen’s teammate, Sergio Perez stood ‘best of the rest’ with the fourth-fastest lap time under his belt. Nico Hulkenberg, in his Haas, rounded out the top five, ahead of his teammate who occupied P6.
Alpine’s Esteban Ocon finished FP1 in seventh as Williams’ Alexander Albon, Daniel Ricciardo (RB) and Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10 in eighth, ninth and 10th respectively.
China’s home hero, Zhou Gunayu led the bottom 10 drivers in P11, 1.324s behind Stroll’s best time.
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda found himself out ahead of the two Ferraris, in P12, as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished the session in P13 and P14 respectively.
Despite holding onto a top-three time late on in the session, Williams’ Logan Sargeant rounded out the top 15.
McLaren’s Lando Norris led the bottom five drivers, in 16th, ahead of the two Mercedes of George Russell (17th) and Lewis Hamilton (18th).
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso finished FP1 with the second-slowest time on the board down in P19 as Pierre Gasly, Alpine, completed the grid as the slowest driver out on track.
Sprint qualifying is next, set to start at 3:30pm local time (8:30am BST).
Read more Formula 1 here:
- Into the first corner: An F1 return to China for the Chinese Grand Prix
- F1 announce 2025 calendar
- Fernando Alonso signs ‘multi-year’ contract at Aston Martin F1
- Who Finished Where: 2024 F1 Japanese GP
- Max Verstappen heads Red Bull 1-2 finish at Japanese Grand Prix
- Verstappen leads Red Bull 1-2 in qualifying ahead of Japanese GP
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
