China – FP1: Rosberg in the lead, a flood of blown tires
The first practice session in Shanghai was marked by numerous punctures, including two for Felipe Massa alone. The timesheet was once again dominated by Mercedes, with Nico Rosberg ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
It was an advertisement that Pirelli would have gladly done without, especially during a race where it is the title sponsor and its Chinese shareholders are necessarily present. Indeed, two red flags interrupted the first session of the day due to three punctures on a left rear tire.
Felipe Massa experienced the same problem twice during the session. Each time his left rear tire exploded, without the preliminary investigation conducted by Pirelli showing that his tire had punctured beforehand. Both parties simply stated that it was a technical issue with the Brazilian’s car.
> .[@MassaFelipe19](https://twitter.com/MassaFelipe19)’s puncture damaged the floor. Team working fast to fix it & get back on track asap [#ChineseGP](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChineseGP?src=hash) [#FP1](https://twitter.com/hashtag/FP1?src=hash) [pic.twitter.com/wnTrgMGlcj](https://t.co/wnTrgMGlcj)
>
> — WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) [15 avril 2016](https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/720802933571457024)
The second red flag of the session was also the result of a blown tire. This time, it was on Kevin Magnussen’s Renault. The Dane was only able to complete six laps, two more than the Brazilian from Williams. A third driver was unable to register his name on the timesheet: Esteban Gutierrez. The Mexican was stuck in the pits after two laps due to electronic issues on his Haas.
From a performance standpoint, the hierarchy was respected, with Nico Rosberg achieving the best time, one-tenth ahead of his teammate, Lewis Hamilton. The two Ferraris and the two Red Bulls followed in the subsequent positions, but more than half a second behind the Mercedes drivers.
The battle is also tight between Toro Rosso, McLaren, and Sahara Force India. While Jenson Button made it into the top 10 (8th), Fernando Alonso recorded the 12th fastest time of the session upon his return to competition. The Spanish driver still needs to undergo medical examinations before being certain to participate in the rest of the weekend.
