Formula 1 General Chat & Discussion

feels3 wrote:PP for Rosberg, but today's fastest driver is Hamilton ;)

Yes he is for sure the best in kick down ! Nobody denies that !

PP for Rosberg, but today's fastest driver is Hamilton ;)

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kyke50 wrote:What has happened for this result?
I have not seen the qualification. Have all madmen turned?
Tomorrow any thing can happen; this time I do not know what to put in the Top 3.

No problem Kyke the experts talked about rain tomorrow ! If that will happen - Ok time to forget this quali !
The cars of Sauber-team my secret bookmark if it will rain ! A japanese boy winner in china But why not !!!
I do not know about Top 3 as well !

What has happened for this result?
I have not seen the qualification. Have all madmen turned?
Tomorrow any thing can happen; this time I do not know what to put in the Top 3.

Interesting tomorrow will be racing! All will depend - as the leaders of the (Button Hamilton Alonso Schumacher) will overtake the people caught up in front of more or less by accident! And of course to start Webber!

Here is the result of the qualification :

1. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes GP : 1:35.121 -
2. Lewis Hamilton: McLaren : 1:35.626 + 0.505
3. Michael Schumacher: Mercedes GP: 1:35.691 + 0.570
4. Kamui Kobayashi :Sauber: 1:35.784 + 0.663
5. Kimi Räikkönen: Lotus :1:35.898 + 0.777
6. Jenson Button: McLaren :1:36.191 + 1.070
7. Mark Webber: Red Bull Racing :1:36.290 + 1.169
8. Sergio Perez: Sauber :1:36.524 + 1.403
9. Fernando Alonso :Ferrari :1:36.622 + 1.501
10. Romain Grosjean: Lotus :no time -
Q2
11. Sebastian Vettel: Red Bull Racing : 1:36.031 + 0.910
12. Felipe Massa: Ferrari: 1:36.255 + 1.134
13. Pastor Maldonado: Williams : 1:36.283 + 1.162
14. Bruno Senna: Williams : 1:36.289 + 1.168
15. Paul di Resta: Force India: 1:36.317 + 1.196
16. Nico Hulkenberg: Force India: 1:36.745 + 1.624
17. Daniel Ricciardo: Toro Rosso : 1:36.956 + 1.835
Q1
18. Jean-Eric Vergne: Toro Rosso: 1:37.714 -
19. Heikki Kovalainen: Caterham: 1:38.463 + 3.342
20. Vitaly Petrov: Caterham: 1:38.677 + 3.556
21. Timo Glock: Marussia F1 Team: 1:38.282 + 3.161
22. Charles Pic: Marussia F1 Team: 1:39.717 + 4.596
23. Pedro de la: Rosa HRT F1 Team : 1:40.411 + 5.290
24. Narain Karthikeyan: HRT F1 Team: 1:41.000 + 5.879

Rain : no

Comment of qualifying :
Nico Rosberg claimed a maiden Formula 1 pole position for himself and the current version of the Mercedes team with a commanding performance in Chinese Grand Prix qualifying at Shanghai. The German was a full half a second quicker than second-fastest Lewis Hamilton, as predictions of a spectacular Mercedes qualifying performance came true. Michael Schumacher will make it an all-Mercedes front row having qualified third fastest, for Hamilton's gearbox change penalty will drop his McLaren to seventh. While one German celebrated a first ever pole, another had a disastrous result, as reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel could only manage 11th on the grid for Red Bull.
Rosberg had led a Mercedes one-two in Q2, and then blitzed his rivals early in Q3 with an unbeatable 1m35.121s. So confident was Rosberg that the time would hold for pole, he got out of his car and walked off to the weighing area while the rest of the top 10 pack tried in vain to improve their times and catch him.
Hamilton managed to get between the Mercedes in the times, even if he cannot do so on the grid.
His penalty will also move Kamui Kobayashi up to an amazing third place, as the Japanese driver emphasised Sauber's progress by setting the fourth quickest time. On current form, Vettel had always seemed a long shot for a fourth consecutive Shanghai pole, but to fail to make the top 10 on the grid for the first time since Brazil 2009 was a major shock.
The double champion, running a different exhaust specification on his Red Bull to Mark Webber, was only 0.3s slower than his pacesetting team-mate in Q2, but that was the difference between first and 11th in the extraordinarily close session. Vettel had been gradually edged down the top 10 and ultimately pushed out by Romain Grosjean's Lotus, and though he was still on his final flying lap at the time, it was not quick enough to get Vettel back inside the cut.
A low-key session for Jenson Button and Webber saw the McLaren and Red Bull back in sixth and seventh in the times, behind Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus.
Malaysia combatants Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) were together again as they led the way in Q1 after going for softs tyres, and qualified in close company once more in eighth and ninth, ahead of the second Lotus of Romain Grosjean. Felipe Massa was closer to Alonso's pace than of late, but will start 12th.
The second half of the grid will line up in neat team formation. The two Williams share row seven ahead of the two Force Indias, and while Jean-Eric Vergne did not get beyond Q1, he will still start alongside Toro Rosso team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. It was business as usual at the back, as Caterham led Marussia and HRT, with everyone now comfortably inside the 107 per cent margin.

Remember that Lewis Hamilton has a 5 places penalty grid, so this means that the positions /starting grid on race day tomorrow at the top 10 will be :
1. Nico Rosberg
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Kamui Kobayashi
4 .Kimi Räikkönen
5. Jenson Button
6. Mark Webber
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Sergio Perez
9. Fernando Alonso
10.Romain Grosjean

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Fantastic! Both Mercedes In the first row! Vettel 11!

pole position

Rosberg 1:35:121
no rain

Here are the results of the 3rd free practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren-Mercedes : 1m35.940s laps 13
2. Jenson Button : McLaren-Mercedes : 1m36.093s + 0.123 laps 12
3. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes : 1m36.389s + 0.449 laps 16
4. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes : 1m36.512s + 0.572 laps 17
5. Mark Webber : Red Bull-Renault : 1m36.635s + 0.695 laps 16
6. Pastor Maldonado : Williams-Renault : 1m36.765s + 0.825 laps 17
7. Sergio Perez : Sauber-Ferrari : 1m36.781s + 0.841 laps 19
8. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber-Ferrari : 1m36.880s + 0.940 laps 17
9. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull-Renault : 1m37.039s + 1.099 laps 15
10. Kimi Raikkonen : Lotus-Renault : 1m37.061s + 1.121 laps 17
11. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India-Mercedes : 1m37.237s + 1.297 laps 16
12. Romain Grosjean : Lotus-Renault : 1m37.274s + 1.334 laps 19
13. Paul di Resta : Force India-Mercedes : 1m37.288s + 1.348 laps 16
14. Bruno Senna : Williams-Renault : 1m37.425s + 1.485 laps 14
15. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1m37.465s + 1.525 laps 12
16. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso-Ferrari : 1m37.493s + 1.553 laps 13
17. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso-Ferrari : 1m37.628s + 1.688 laps 14
18. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1m37.831s + 1.891 laps 14
19. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham-Renault : 1m38.701s + 2.761 laps 19
20. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham-Renault : 1m39.198s + 3.258 laps 19
21. Timo Glock : Marussia-Cosworth : 1m39.796s + 3.856 laps 18
22. Charles Pic : Marussia-Cosworth : 1m40.048s + 4.108 laps 17
23. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT-Cosworth : 1m41.263s + 5.323 laps 14
24. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT-Cosworth : 1m41.499s + 5.559 laps 18

Comment of the 3rd session :

Lewis Hamilton set himself up perfectly for a strong qualifying run at the Chinese Grand Prix by topping the final free practice session at Shanghai. The McLaren driver must serve a five-place grid penalty because of a gearbox change, but confirmed his status as qualifying favourite as he bids to limit the damage caused and secure what would become sixth place on the grid. Hamilton's fastest time came during a qualifying simulation on the soft Pirelli rubber late in the session, the 2008 world champion eclipsing his team-mate Jenson Button by just over a tenth of a second.
After a quiet start to the session, with the first timed lap not being completed until almost 15 minutes had elapsed, the teams and drivers set about their run plans on prime rubber. As well as evaluating overnight setup changes, teams also needed to use the running to understand how the increased track temperature, which was almost 15C higher than on Friday, affected tyre characteristics and grip levels, the latter reckoned to have reduced. Red Bull's Mark Webber emerged with the fastest lap from those completing their initial prime runs in the first half-hour. He set a mark of 1m36.879s to shade Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg by 0.1s. But Hamilton also showed his pace on with fuel by lapping 0.375s off Webber's pace with a time set on his first flying lap. A subsequent run on mediums suggested that he could easily have gone quicker, even though he didn't complete what would have been a faster lap.
Sebastian Vettel also turned in a decent lap on his first proper prime run, which came later than most, lapping 0.160s off his team-mate. Vettel opted to use the Red Bull exhaust setup used in the first part of pre-season testing, which although it produces less downforce appears to offer him a more consistent and well-balanced car, while Webber stuck with the latest-specification.
Mercedes pairing Michael Schumacher and Rosberg were the first of the frontrunners to complete a qualifying simulation on soft rubber with around 20 minutes to go. Rosberg took top spot with a lap of 1m36.389s, shading his 43-year-old team-mate by 0.123s. Button jumped ahead of both on his qualifying simulation with 10 minutes remaining, setting his best time on the third lap of his run.
In the flurry of qualifying simulations that followed in the final five minutes, Hamilton made his move and put together the fastest times in all three sectors to take top spot despite a lock-up at Turn 14.
Neither Red Bull driver appeared to show their full qualifying hand, with Webber ending up fifth and Vettel ninth, but Williams man Pastor Maldonado and Sauber duo Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi both did times good enough for the top 10.
The top 18, propped up by Ferrari's Felipe Massa, were covered by just 1.891s, suggesting that today's qualifying session will be a very competitive one for the leading nine teams.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Short News : ..starting with a with a Headline !!!!


FIA: The Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead !!!!!!!!!!
The FIA claims that it is ‘satisfied’ with levels of security in Bahrain and that next weekend’s Grand Prix will be going ahead. The Paris-based body issued a statement early on Friday morning. Prior to this, all Formula 1 teams had awaited a final call on the matter from the federation headed up by Jean Todt.As a result of the decision, the race can no longer be skipped by any team without facing hefty financial implications. Last year, the event was officially called off when Bahraini authorities informed the FIA that the country was in a state of emergency. This time, the country is facing a series of negative press reports as some protestors continue to fight against F1’s visit.
‘The 2012 calendar, as presented by the CRH (Commercial Rights Holder – Bernie Ecclestone’s Formula One Management/FOM), was ratified by the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in September 2011,’ the FIA statement reads.
‘Since then no request from the F1 Commission or the CRH has been made to the WMSC to either postpone or cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix.Based on the current information the FIA has at this stage, it is satisfied that all the proper security measures are in place for the running of a Formula One World Championship event in Bahrain.Therefore, the FIA confirms that the 2012 Gulf Air F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain will go ahead as scheduled.’
First practice will take place in Bahrain one week today. Feeder series GP2 will also be in action, then staying on in Bahrain for two more races on the following weekend

Full FIA statement on Bahrain ( this comes from the interview they have given and from there website !)

The full FIA statements reads as follows:
‘The FIA is the governing body of motor sport and therefore of Formula One. As such, it sets the season’s calendars following the proposal of the Commercial Rights Holder (CRH) in accordance with the local national authorities in all matters relating to safety.Within that context, the FIA ensures that any event forming part of an FIA World Championship is organised in compliance with the FIA Statutes and the relevant Sporting and Technical Regulations and that the safety of the public, officials, drivers and teams is secured at all times during an event.The FIA must make rational decisions based on the information provided to us by the Bahraini authorities and by the Commercial Rights Holder. In addition we have endeavoured to assess the ongoing situation in Bahrain.
President Jean Todt led a fact-finding mission to the Kingdom in November 2011, meeting a large number of decision-makers and opinion formers, including elected Shia members of parliament, the president of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, ambassadors from the European Union countries, the Crown Prince, the Interior Minister and many members of the business community.All expressed their wish for the Grand Prix to go ahead in 2012, and since then, the FIA has kept in close touch with all these stakeholders. Away from the public eye, the FIA has received regular security briefings from the most senior diplomatic officials based in the Kingdom as well as from other independent experts.
The 2012 calendar, as presented by the CRH, was ratified by the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in September 2011. Since then no request from the F1 Commission or the CRH has been made to the WMSC to either postpone or cancel the Bahrain Grand Prix.Based on the current information the FIA has at this stage, it is satisfied that all the proper security measures are in place for the running of a Formula One World Championship event in Bahrain.
Therefore, the FIA confirms that the 2012 Gulf Air F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain will go ahead as scheduled.’

Ecclestone: No problems at all with Bahrain
An annoyed Bernie Ecclestone has categorically denied that the Bahrain Grand Prix will face boycotts or other threats. The head of Formula One Management (FOM, commercial rights holder for the sport) met with Team Principals in Shanghai between the two practice sessions on Friday.Although many attending the meeting denied that Bahrain would be mentioned, with F1 governing body the FIA having already confirmed the race this morning, Ecclestone was quizzed by a number of reporters as he emerged back into the paddock.
“Everybody’s happy and we haven’t got any problems,” he said firmly. “It’s just a problem being discussed by the media – they have no idea about what’s going on, that’s the problem. The race is on the calendar and it has been for a long time. So is Barcelona, so is Korea…we’re going to all of them and we’re happy to go.
“There’s been enough speculation and things said now, so I suppose it was good to put something out about it. It was the right thing to do to stop the speculation…we’ll deal with any matters when they arise.”
When asked if he would be travelling to Bahrain personally, Ecclestone responded:
“What a stupid question. And you’ll get a stupid answer. What do you think?”

Bahrain International Circuit praises FIA’s decision
The Bahrain International Circuit, home of next weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix, has responded to the FIA’s decision for Formula 1 to return to the country this year. This follows a series of recent protests near to Manama, but ones which the Sakhir track and FOM head Bernie Ecclestone have continued to say are blown out of proportion.
A decision from the FIA came early on Friday, in which the Jean Todt-led federation expressed its confidence in both the Bahraini authorities and safety of the country.
reads the BIC statement, sent out later on Friday.
‘The BIC has been clear throughout recent weeks and months that the security situation in Bahrain is suitable for the staging of a major sporting event. This assessment has been provided by experienced figures, from both inside and outside the Bahraini government, to motor racing entities which have travelled to Bahrain to do their own research.
The certainty of those assessments have meant that the BIC has been able to prepare as usual for the staging of the F1 Grand Prix and is therefore wholly confident that the event will be organised with the efficiency that has been the hallmark of the BIC in the past.We hugely look forward both to an exciting sporting occasion and to extending the traditional warm Bahraini welcome to Formula 1 teams, administrators and fans visiting our country next week.’
Following last year’s ‘Day of Rage’ on 14 February, the season-opening F1 race was called off as the country was in a state of emergency. This year’s fixture is Round 4.

Ferrari says Chinese Grand Prix upgrades a step forward
Ferrari technical director Pat Fry says the upgrades the team has brought to Shanghai are a step forward - but that this will not be apparent in the Chinese Grand Prix as the circuit characteristics do not suit the F2012.
Although Fernando Alonso leads the world championship thanks to his surprise Malaysian GP victory, Ferrari has struggled for pace in dry conditions all year.It accelerated its upgrade programme to fit new parts for China, but Fry warned that the team was still unlikely to qualify above the lower part of the top 10.
"We have brought some updates here for the F2012 which should provide an improvement in terms of performance, compared to the first two races," he said.
"The first evaluation that we can make after these three hours of free practice is a positive one, but clearly we have hours of work ahead of us this afternoon and tonight to complete an in-depth analysis. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact that the characteristics of this track seem to be less suited to our car than Malaysia.
"Taking these two factors into consideration, I am not expecting anything new in terms of our positions on the grid. At the moment, our realistic expectation is somewhere between seventh and 12th place, as indeed we were in Sepang.
Fry called for patience from Ferrari's fans as it tries to pull itself out of its current troubles.
"To those who ask me when we will see a Ferrari fighting for pole position, I can only reply there is no magic button we can press to improve the situation in one go," he said.
Alonso and Felipe Massa were 10th and 17th in practice on Friday, with the latter saying he would have been closer to his team-mate had he not been disrupted by Marussia driver Timo Glock's crash.

Marussia investigating front wing issue following Timo Glock's accident
Marussia is still investigating the cause of Timo Glock's accident in practice to work out if his front wing failed before he went off the track.Television footage of the incident at Turn 1 in second practice showed the front wing was off his car before he hit the barriers - but neither the team nor driver are sure if the wing came off after he had gone off the track.
The team was still looking into the data on Friday evening to try and work out what happened, while Glock said he was unsure about the case.
"I just know that the car went straight," he said when asked about the incident. "When the front wing dropped off I have no idea. I didn't see any video footage so far, so we are looking into it."We have a bit of a direction and we just have to wait until we have the whole analysing done and see what the problem was."
Although Glock said over the team radio that he had hurt his hand in the crash, he made it clear that the matter was not serious."In the first moment it felt like I had hurt it. I was so slow in the end [of the crash], and I thought I would just touch the tyre barrier, so I kept my hands on the steering wheel," he explained.
"I didn't have much speed, but it felt like I ran against a wall and not a tyre barrier. We pulled 8G, and I got a bit of a hit on my hand. But it is all okay now."

Damon Hill now fully behind FIA's Bahrain Grand Prix decision
Damon Hill says he is now 100 per cent behind the decision by the FIA to let the Bahrain Grand Prix go ahead.
The former world champion had initially supported the event, but then changed his mind and asked the governing body for a rethink, saying Formula 1 could not 'be indifferent' to what is happening in the country.
On Friday, however, Hill said he now fully supports the FIA decision to give the race the green light and show that the country can host the event peacefully.
"I am now 100 per cent behind the FIA decision to race in Bahrain," said Hill. "All the arguments have been made for and against. Human rights organisations have had their cases heard. No one is under any illusions about the situation.
"But the less vocal majority of Bahrainis also have a right to get on with their lives and we also have a responsibility to our F1 fans in the region.
"I hope that F1 can be seen as a symbol of all that is possible if we can work together peacefully."

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Tomorrow morning at 05.00u-06.00u will be the 3rd practice session ,followed at 08.00u with the qualification !

And ofcourse the times of the 2nd free practice session :

1. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes : 1m35.973 laps 32
2. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren-Mercedes : 1m36.145s + 0.172 laps 29
3. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull-Renault : 1m36.160s + 0.187 laps 26
4. Mark Webber : Red Bull-Renault : 1m36.433s + 0.460 laps 23
5. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes : 1m36.617s + 0.644 laps 30
6. Jenson Button : McLaren-Mercedes : 1m36.711s + 0.738 laps 27
7. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber-Ferrari : 1m36.956s + 0.983 laps 28
8. Paul di Resta : Force India-Mercedes : 1m36.966s + 0.993 laps 30
9. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India-Mercedes : 1m37.191s + 1.218 laps 30
10. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1m37.316s + 1.343 laps 32
11. Sergio Perez : Sauber-Ferrari : 1m37.417s + 1.444 laps 22
12. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso-Ferrari : 1m37.616s + 1.643 laps 33
13. Kimi Raikkonen : Lotus-Renault : 1m37.836s + 1.863 laps 30
14. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso-Ferrari : 1m37.930s + 1.957 laps 31
15. Romain Grosjean : Lotus-Renault : 1m37.972s + 1.999 laps 25
16. Pastor Maldonado : Williams-Renault : 1m38.176s + 2.203 laps 34
17. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1m38.293s + 2.320 laps 30
18. Bruno Senna : Williams-Renault : 1m38.783s + 2.810 laps 37
19. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham-Renault : 1m38.990s + 3.017 laps 36
20. Vitaly Petrov : Caterham-Renault : 1m39.346s + 3.373 laps 19
21. Timo Glock : Marussia-Cosworth : 1m39.651s + 3.678 laps 15
22. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT-Cosworth : 1m40.343s + 4.370 laps 24
23. Charles Pic : Marussia-Cosworth : 1m40.753s + 4.780 laps 30
24. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT-Cosworth : 1m41.125s + 5.162 laps 26

Comment of the 2nd session :

Michael Schumacher ended the first day of practice for the Chinese Grand Prix on top of the timesheets.
After rain restricted the number of laps completed in the morning, every team opted for an intense schedule during the second 90-minute. Morning pacesetter Lewis Hamilton picked up where he left off early on, hitting top spot after just eight minutes while on a six-lap run on medium Pirellis.With everyone opting for primes for their first serious runs, Hamilton's time was 0.134s faster than Schumacher, with Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel two-tenths further back.
Hamilton and the Mercedes driver continued on mediums on their second run, while Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi jumped up to third place with a lap within a tenth-and-a-half off Hamilton on the half-hour mark. A few minutes later, the Japanese survived a lurid slide off the track after being caught out while pushing too hard.
Vettel was the first of the frontrunners to set a time on the soft compound tyre, lapping a quarter-of-a-second quicker than Hamilton on the first flier of his second run and subsequently improving by another four tenths of a second.
Team-mate Mark Webber, running the latest-spec exhaust compared to the early specification used in the first part of pre-season testing that Vettel ran, slotted in just under three-tenths behind his team-mate not long before the halfway point of the session.While the Red Bulls had taken three laps to get the peak performance out of their soft tyres, both Schumacher and Hamilton, who shortly after headed out on their fresh soft rubber, extracted the performance from their tyres immediately. Schumacher posted his best time, a 1m35.973s, on his first flier, but Hamilton looked set to outpace him after setting the best time of all in sectors one and two before losing his advantage, and another 0.172s, in the final sector.Neither Nico Rosberg in the second Mercedes, nor Jenson Button in the second McLaren, were able to match the pace of their team-mates, ending up fifth and sixth ahead of Kobayashi, whose earlier lap on prime rubber was enough for seventh overall.Force India driver Paul di Resta ended up eighth fastest, within a second of the outright pace and a couple of tenths ahead of team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, with Alonso, who couldn't get the maximum out of his soft tyres on his first flying lap, just behind.Several drivers had offs during the session. Both di Resta and Caterham driver Vitaly Petrov suffered spins at the final corner after running wide at the exit and losing it on the damp runoff, but the biggest moment of the day was provided by Marussia driver Timo Glock.The German appeared to lose his front wing under braking for Turn 1, locking up and clattering through the gravel trap and ending up against the barrier. The team was uncertain as to the cause of the off, but Glock's initial concern that he had hurt his hands soon abated.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

Here are the results of the 1st practice session :

1. Lewis Hamilton : McLaren-Mercedes : 1m37.106 laps 7
2. Nico Rosberg : Mercedes : 1m38.116s + 1.010 laps 14
3. Michael Schumacher : Mercedes : 1m38.316s + 1.210 laps 14
4. Sergio Perez : Sauber-Ferrari : 1m38.584s + 1.478 laps 13
5. Kamui Kobayashi : Sauber-Ferrari : 1m38.911s + 1.805 laps 12
6. Mark Webber : Red Bull-Renault : 1m38.977s + 1.871 laps 15
7. Sebastian Vettel : Red Bull-Renault : 1m39.198s + 2.092 laps 12
8. Jenson Button : McLaren-Mercedes : 1m39.199s + 2.093 laps 6
9. Daniel Ricciardo : Toro Rosso-Ferrari : 1m39.748s + 2.642 laps 16
10. Jean-Eric Vergne : Toro Rosso-Ferrari : 1m39.768s + 2.662 laps 14
11. Fernando Alonso : Ferrari : 1m40.056s + 2.950 laps 14
12. Felipe Massa : Ferrari : 1m40.153s + 3.047 laps 14
13. Valtteri Bottas : Williams-Renault : 1m40.298s + 3.192 laps 8
14. Nico Hulkenberg : Force India-Mercedes : 1m40.328s + 3.222 laps 13
15. Pastor Maldonado : Williams-Renault : 1m40.540s + 3.434 laps 12
16. Heikki Kovalainen : Caterham-Renault : 1m41.071s + 3.965 laps 14
17. Romain Grosjean : Lotus-Renault : 1m41.204s + 4.098 laps 14
18. Timo Glock : Marussia-Cosworth : 1m42.330s + 5.224 laps 14
19. Giedo van der Garde : Caterham-Renault : 1m42.521s + 5.415 laps 11
20. Jules Bianchi : Force India-Mercedes : 1m44.118s + 7.012 laps 8
21. Pedro de la Rosa : HRT-Cosworth : 1m44.227s + 7.121 laps 10
22. Charles Pic : Marussia-Cosworth : 1m44.500s + 7.394 laps 15
23. Narain Karthikeyan : HRT-Cosworth : 1m47.204s + 10.098 laps 12
24. Kimi Raikkonen : Lotus-Renault : 1m50.465s + 13.359 laps 11

Comment about the 1st session :

Lewis Hamilton topped the rain-hit opening free practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.The McLaren driver set two fast laps at the end of the session to head Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg by a second at the top of the timesheets as a flurry of drivers set their best laps in the dying minutes of practice. Hamilton, like team-mate Jenson Button, ran an upgrade package on his McLaren including modified front and rear wings and a new floor during the session - the team taking advantage of new-for-2012 regulations allowing sensor rigs to be run during Friday practice to measure the wake off the rear of the car.
Overnight rain meant that the 90-minute session started in damp conditions and during the half-an-hour most teams focused on installation laps and aerodynamic test runs.
Red Bull Racing's Mark Webber was the first driver to set a serious laptime, getting down to a 1m39.558s on the third flying lap of a six-lap run on Pirelli's medium compound rubber.That lap was good enough to top the timesheets for much of the session as shortly after he had completed it, light rain made track conditions worse. By this stage, only nine drivers had completed serious runs and their laptimes were largely unchallenged until the track dried up enough for slicks to be run effectively in the final 10 minutes of the session.
Michael Schumacher had been in contention to top the timesheets after swapping fastest times with Webber with a few minutes to go, but he ended up third two-tenths behind his team-mate.
Behind him, the two Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi both improved at the eleventh hour as the track conditions rapidly improved, demoting Webber to sixth.The Australian was running Red Bull's latest-specification exhaust setup, while team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who ended up one place and two-tenths behind him, used the exhaust setup the team ran early in testing to compare the performance of the two designs.
Button ended up eight fastest, complaining of traffic late on, with Scuderia Toro Rosso pairing Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne rounding out the top 10, like most of the field setting their fastest times in the final few minutes on prime rubber.All of the top 16 drivers improved late on, with Lotus driver Romain Grosjean down in 17th place the best of the drivers whose laps in the early dry phase of the session were not improved upon.
Force India reserve driver Jules Bianchi made his grand prix weekend debut as third driver at Force India, ending the morning in 20th place, setting his best time on intermediates unlike team-mate Nico Hulkenberg, who used medium slicks.
His opposite number at Caterham, Dutchman Giedo van der Garde, also made his first appearance, lapping around 1.5s off Heikki Kovalainen's pace.

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi

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Sorry for a little offtopic, but I can't get enough of this:

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The Times for his weekend China GP :

Friday 13th :
1st free practice session : 04.00u - 05.30u
2nd free practice session : 08.00u - 09.30u

Saturday 14th :
3rd free practice session : 05.00u - 06.00u
Qulification : 08.00u - 09.00u

Sunday 15th :
Race : 09.00u

Kind Regards
Shaky-Schumi