Chinese Grand Prix: Stroll quickest in practice after small trackside fire, as Formula One returns to Shanghai
- Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll tops only practice session, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri second and championship leader Max Verstappen third
- China’s Zhou Guanyu gives local fans something to cheer about, posting 11th fastest time on Friday
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll was quickest in first and only practice for the Chinese Grand Prix on Friday, ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, with championship leader Max Verstappen third.
Canadian Stroll took advantage of a rapidly quickening track at the end of the 60-minute session and some upgrades to his car to record a blistering lap of 1 min 36.302 sec, beating Piastri by 0.327 sec, with the Red Bull of Verstappen 0.031 sec further back.
The second Red Bull of Sergio Perez was fourth in Shanghai followed by the much-improved Haas pair, Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who benefited from significant upgrades to their cars.
A big surprise was Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who could only finish 13th and 14th respectively in their Ferraris, almost two seconds off the pace.
Formula One is back in China for the first time in five years with a packed programme including a Saturday sprint race and the sport’s first Chinese driver on the grid in Zhou Guanyu.
It meant the morning’s practice session was the only preparation time ahead of sprint qualifying on Friday afternoon.