Australia’s Mark Webber has outpaced Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel during a Mercedes-dominated opening practice session for the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix.
Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton set the fastest times in practice one on Friday, ahead of Webber in third and Vettel in fourth.
Rosberg, who won in China last year for his sole F1 victory, set a time of 1 minute 36.717 seconds around the Shanghai International Circuit, putting him almost half a second ahead of teammate Hamilton, who is the only two-time winner of this grand prix.
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were fifth and seventh, separated by the McLaren of Jenson Button.
Button’s teammate Sergio Perez was the only notable casualty of the session, failing to negotiate the sharp left turn entering the road to pitlane and going nose first into a tyre wall. He ended up in the same gravel trap that famously ended the championship challenge of his McLaren predecessor Hamilton in 2007.
Force India pair Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta were eighth and 10th fastest respectively, with Lotus’ Romain Grosjean between them. Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen, who won the season-opening Australian GP, was 11th.
The session was held in clear but cool conditions, with no rain forecast for the race weekend.