World champion Lewis Hamilton tops timesheets in practice sessions but durable Ferraris appear to have the edge over long runs
Tuesday 21 April 2015 15:13, UK
Ferrari are eminently capable of beating Mercedes in the Chinese GP despite the Silver Arrows’ outright pace advantage, the Sky F1 pundits have concluded after Friday Practice in Shanghai.
Although the headlines were claimed by Lewis Hamilton as the Mercedes driver topped the timesheets in both sessions, there was ominous devil in the detail for the world champions as Ferrari consistently set impressive lap times on the slower, but more durable, medium tyres on their race simulations.
Even if the W06 proves unbeatable in qualifying trim, the long-run pace of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel, deliciously encapsulated by the remarkable sight of both SF15-Ts duelling with Hamilton and Rosberg on track during Practice Two, offered up the tantalising prospect of Ferrari hunting down Mercedes in Sunday’s race. F1 may have a modern twist on the tortoise and the hare up its sleeve.
“What’s surprising is that Ferrari are carrying on what they did in Malaysia but without the heat,” former world champion Jacques Villeneuve told Sky Sports F1.
Vettel won in Malaysia after taking one fewer pit-stop than Hamilton and, despite predictions that Ferrari’s durability would be diluted in the relatively cool conditions of Shanghai, both SF15-Ts appeared once again better able to conserve their Pirelli rubber than the two Mercedes W06s.
“The scenario working out is that Mercedes have the out and out better pace, but Ferrari run longer on that soft compound tyre and average out faster, so when it comes to the race they might actually be there with five laps to go,” explained Sky F1 commentator David Croft.
According to Mercedes, while Hamilton’s average lap time on a 14-lap stint on soft tyres was 1:42.7, Vettel averaged 1:43.4 across 15 laps. On the mediums, Rosberg averaged 1:43.5 through 13 laps while Raikkonen ran at 1:43.6 on an elongated stint of 18 laps.
Were the race to unfold according to the narrative laid out in Friday practice, both Hamilton and Rosberg may have to yield the lead of the race, and track position, to the long-running Ferraris after shedding their soft rubber significantly earlier than both Vettel and Raikkonen.
“Can Ferrari do 20 laps on a set of softs? That’s the question,” mused Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz. “And if they grain can they get through the graining phase and carry on?"
Barring an unexpected dousing of rain, the battle for victory is set to be exclusively fought by Ferrari and Mercedes, with the Williams outfit once again enduring a troubled-filled day and Red Bull a second-and-a-half off the pace and dogged by fresh brake problems.
There was, however, modest encouragement for McLaren as the team continued to make small inroads on the midfield runners. Jenson Button was 10th fastest, two places ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, albeit two seconds down on Hamilton’s benchmark effort.
