The Formula 1 World Championship could start to get more interesting this weekend during the Chinese Grand Prix, the third of the year, at least judging by today’s free practice, in which, after dominating the Mercedes during the morning, both Ferraris beat them in the afternoon.
Meanwhile, the two-time Spanish world champion Fernando Alonso (McLaren) also got behind the wheel of his MP4-31 for the first time today since his March accident in Australia, where he left with his ninth broken left rib and a neurothorax, which until yesterday it was feared that it might damage a lung from another impact.
The Asturian, who had missed Bahrain for that reason (although he traveled to try and was present in the pits), last night had received a provisional approval from the doctors of the Shanghai tournament by which they authorized him to run in the first free practice of this morning, on condition of being examined again later.
After doing so and also passing that second check-up, Alonso has finally received the green light to run the rest of the weekend, although with strict instructions to stop immediately in case of feeling any unusual symptoms, and to undergo a new one. medical examination if that is the case.
The Spaniard, who set the twelfth best time in the morning session and the eleventh in the afternoon, admitted that he was running with certain bearable pains: curb or something, I close my eyes a little, “he acknowledged.
In fact, the Shanghai circuit could seem designed to put its injury to the test, with its endless turns 2 and 3 to the right, which take about 9 seconds, so the inertia of the car pushes the driver to lean on the left side, just at the height of Alonso’s fracture.
«Once you are in the car, the adrenaline, the excitement and the desire to run make you forget a bit about the pain. I do not think there is any problem in that sense, “he said.
While Alonso was thus preparing to return to competition, after more than three weeks of impatient recovery, and his compatriot Carlos Sainz (Toro Rosso) was today the Ibero-American with the best results (seventh in the morning and eighth in the afternoon), a tight battle began to announce itself at the top of the table.
Indeed, during the first free session, the Mercedes of Rosberg, who has led the World Cup so far, and Hamilton, the current champion, also extended to China the usual superiority that they have been showing for several years over the rest of the grid, but in the afternoon their fears of being overtaken by Ferrari were fulfilled.
Both Räikkönen and Vettel, who were first and second, respectively, finished ahead of Rosberg (third) and Hamilton (fourth), raising the shadow of the Italian team over the, perhaps, no longer unquestionable technological supremacy of Mercedes.
“It seems that we are fast here again”, commented Rosberg, who in this circuit already lived in 2012 the first pole position and the first victory of his career in Formula 1. “In the afternoon we saw that the Ferraris are also very fast, as well. that of course we are aware of them and we will have homework to do tonight, “he warned.
Hamilton avoided mentioning his current direct rivals, and limited himself to saying that today “was not a bad day”, since although he was not very comfortable with the car in the morning (when he was second, after Rosberg), he saw himself ” much better ”in the afternoon, even if he finished fourth.
Despite his good result in the afternoon, Räikkönen was cautious. «It has been a pretty difficult day in general. It was difficult for me to get grip on the tires, probably due to the wind ”, quite strong in the flat area where the circuit is, very outside of Shanghai, near the Yangtze and the sea.
“When I put the super soft (tires) it seems that everything worked better, I had more grip and that helped me to do a very good lap”, but “we will see how the weather conditions are tomorrow,” he warned.
Vettel, for his part, said that today was simply “a decent day”, although “with room for improvement, especially in balance”, and recalled that “Friday is not so important for the position as for the sensations” that they are had with the car.
In the meantime, tomorrow it will also be clearer at what competitive level the teams that are struggling to open a place behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are, since both Toro Rosso and Williams, Force India and even McLaren seemed to show today that they could have options to qualify for Q3.
Ferrari catches up with Mercedes in China
