Antonio Felix Da Costa topped an intriguing FE FP1 session in Shanghai, with the competitive order for the weekend yet to reveal itself.
At the green light for FP1, a full-course yellow test was declared before the FE action got underway in Shanghai. A purpose-built race course, the track presents a different challenge to the regular temporary city circuits.
Jean Eric Vergne led the times after the first runs, before the two Maserati’s jumped to the top of the timesheets.
Oliver Rowland provided light comic relief by exchanging exclamations with his race engineer over the gap to the car in front.
The lap times tumbled immediately as the grid acclimatised to the Shanghai International Circuit. Lap times were already considerably faster compared to last season, courtesy of newly laid asphalt providing grip.
Dan Ticktum, buoyed by his podium finish in Tokyo, moved to the top of the times with 32 minutes to go, demonstrating he and Cupra Kiro could once again feature this weekend.
Mitch Evans failed to match Ticktum on his run, and also had to contend with a 20 place grid penalty ahead of the weekend.
The second Jaguar of Nick Cassidy briefly caused a yellow flag by spinning at Turn 1, as his and challenges looked set to continue unabated. Evans then went top of the standings by almost a full second, as the lap times started to tumble.
McLaren’s Taylor Barnard jumped to the top of the times with 20 minutes to go, as he looked to build up momentum after a tough weekend in Tokyo. Team-mate Sam Bird slotted into 4th, showcasing genuine pace at the papaya squad.
Drivers pushed the limits of the track, as Sebastien Buemi became one of several drivers who found the grass. All were able to continue.
An uncertain view of the competitive order
With the late afternoon impacting time and grip, and a varied powertrain modes in use by the drivers, the true competitive order remained a mystery.
Ticktum had dropped dramatically down the order and was now 15th. His next lap moved him up to sixth. The major surprise however was Oliver Rowland. He languished down in 16th, but Nato up in second indicated pace in the all conquering Nissan.
Lola once again looked to set to struggle. Di Grassi was vocally unhappy on the radio with the handling set up on his car.
Nick Cassidy moved to the top of the times by 0.004s, as drivers broke the 1:09 barrier as the track ramped up. Antonio Felix Da Costa replaced him minutes later by over four tenths of a second.
The spread of the field was vast, with multiple seconds covering the 22 cars. Di Grassi, in 21st demonstrated the issue, as his Attack Mode lap and could only improve to 11th. This was almost a full second away from Da Costa’s time.
Rowland delivered a blunt, expletive answer to feedback over his brakes. It became clear that Nissan had work to do ahead of practice and qualifying tomorrow. He moved into 12th.
Mahindra and Cupra Kiro added to the mystery, with Nyck de Vries moved into second place, while Ticktum only managed seventh.
Session Classification
- Antonio Felix Da Costa
- Nyck de Vries
- Jake Hughes
- Pascal Wehrlein
- Nick Cassidy
- Taylor Barnard
- Norman Nato
- Dan Ticktum
- Jake Dennis
- Stoffel Vandoorne
- Edoardo Mortara
- Nico Mueller
- Zane Maloney
- Sam Bird
- Oliver Rowland
- Robin Frijns
- David Beckmann
- Jean Eric Vergne
- Lucas Di Grassi
- Mitch Evans
- Sebastien Buemi
- Maxmilian Gunther
