Sebastian Vettel fastest for Red Bull in China practice
Page last updated at 03:37 GMT, Friday, 15 April 2011 04:37 UK
CHINESE GRAND PRIX
- Venue: Shanghai
- Date: 15-17 April
- Start: 0800 BST
- Coverage: Practice on red button, online and 5 live sports extra (Friday 0655-0835, Saturday 0355-0505). Qualifying live on BBC One, HD & 5 live sports extra (Saturday 0600-0830). Sunday: Race live on BBC One, HD, online and 5 live from 0700.
Red Bull held sway in Shanghai as Sebastian Vettel set the pace, half a second clear of team-mate Mark Webber.
McLaren were again their closest rivals. Lewis Hamilton was third but more than two seconds behind Vettel, with team-mate Jenson Button fourth.
Former world champions, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Mercedes' Michael Schumacher, finished 12th and 18th.
Scot Paul di Resta finished 15th for Force India as he took part in first practice for the first time in 2011.
The Formula 1 field returned to action just five days after 16 of the 24 cars crossed the line in Malaysia.
Senior staff at Ferrari, McLaren and Williams were in China after making a flying visit back to their factories in Europe to check on the progress of upgrades for their cars.
But following Vettel's clean sweep in Australia and Malaysia, Red Bull boss Christian Horner and chief technical officer Adrian Newey stayed out in Malaysia.
Nick Heidfeld - RenaultI'm surprised to have been in fifth position with just a few laps as the car didn't feel that good
"It's been a great start, particularly for Sebastian," Horner told BBC Sport during first practice. "We are coming to China off the back of those results and we will try and build on them."
Vettel showed no signs of losing momentum as he took over from Webber at the top of the timesheets in first practice and then improved to set a fastest time of one minute 38.739 seconds - 0.615secs faster than Webber.
Red Bull investigated a slight problem with Vettel's car after smoke was seen spiralling from his car towards the end of the session but the world champion soon returned to the track.
After the first two races, the only obvious gremlin on the pace-setting Red Bull was the Kers energy recovery and power-boost system which worked only sporadically at Sepang.
Both Vettel and Webber ran Kers in Friday practice and Horner added: "I have every confidence it will be in good working order this weekend.
"It's less of a factor here but it's still free lap time and it's something we're keen to have working efficiently and effectively."
McLaren spent first practice trying out the new exhaust system and floor that they abandoned in Malaysia, as well as a new front wing.
Hamilton and Button briefly set the pace before being overhauled by rivals Red Bull but the session was not without its problems for the British pairing.
There were two excursions and a lock-up in the pits for Hamilton, who appeared to be struggling for balance, while Button later complained his Kers was overheating.
McLaren had been confident they could close the gap on Red Bull but Hamilton was 2.106secs behind Vettel with Button a further 0.095secs off the pace.
Ferrari brought a front wing and new front brake ducts from their Maranello headquarters but Alonso warned he was expecting another "difficult weekend".
BBC F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz explained: "Ferrari are testing some new aerodynamic bits on and around the rear wing as they try and work out what's going wrong with their car.
"They have some new tower barge boards, deflecting the air back there, as well as some new brake ducts."
Massa set the sixth fastest time while Alonso focused on assessing the team's aerodynamic updates and left it late to set a fast lap, finishing 12th and 2.695secs off the pace.
Heidfeld, who drove to third in Malaysia, had his session cut short after he lost control of his Renault and ploughed into the barriers.
"It was just a mistake," Heidfeld told BBC Radio 5 live. "I'm surprised to have been in fifth position with just a few laps as the car didn't feel that good."
Vitaly Petrov finished ninth in the second Renault.
Di Resta kept his car on the track after losing the rear and taking a slide and spin but others were not so lucky.
Pastor Maldonado beached his Williams in the gravel while Lotus reserve Luis Razzia saw his session end when a suspension failure damaged his front wing.
The teams return to action at 0700 BST for second practice.
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