Lewis Hamilton quickest in FP1 in China

This morning in Malaysia, Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel.

During FP1, we did also see many drivers pushing the limits of the track and in Massa's case spinning on the circuit such as Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen, Felipe Massa, Jolyon Palmer, Pastor Maldonado and Carlos Sainz but was able to continue in the session.

But it was Lewis Hamilton that topped the timesheets with a 1.39.033 ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg who finished the session in second place 0.541 seconds behind Hamilton but ahead of Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel in third place who was 1.124 seconds off Hamilton's pace.

Kimi Raikkonen finished the session in fourth place ahead of Felipe Nasr in fifth place, Daniel Ricciardo in sixth place ahead of his team mate Daniil Kvyat in seventh place. Carlos Sainz Jr ended the session in eighth place ahead of the Williams drivers of Valtteri Bottas in ninth place and Felipe Massa in tenth place who appear to be struggling at the moment.

Pastor Maldonado ended the session despite locking up a few times in eleventh place ahead of Max Verstappen in twelfth place, Jenson Button in thirteenth place and Marcus Ericsson who finished the session in fourteenth place.

As we head into the latter stages of the grid, Lotus debutee Jolyon Palmer ended the session in fifteenth place ahead of Sergio Perez in sixteenth place, Fernando Alonso in seventeenth place, Nico Hulkenberg in eighteenth place and the two Manor F1 drivers of Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi who ended the session in nineteenth and twentieth places.

The classification of FP1 of the Chinese GP is as follows:-

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1.39.033
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 0.541s
3. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1.124s
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1.628s
5. Felipe Nasr, Sauber-Ferrari, 1.979s
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull-Renault, 1.996s
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull-Renault, 2.064s
8. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 2.079s
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Mercedes, 2.270s
10. Felipe Massa, Williams-Mercedes, 2.271s
11. Pastor Maldonado, Lotus-Mercedes, 2.302s
12. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 2.542s
13. Jenson Button, McLaren-Honda, 2.812s
14. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber-Ferrari, 2.885s
15. Jolyon Palmer, Lotus-Mercedes, 2.934s
16. Sergio Perez, Force India-Mercedes, 3.108s
17. Fernando Alonso, McLaren-Honda, 3.128s
18. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India-Mercedes, 3.151s
19. Will Stevens, Manor-Marussia, 6.346s
20. Roberto Merhi, Manor-Marussia, 7.410s

Sarah Jones- @jonesy_laaa