2024 Chinese Grand Prix - Free Practice 1 Results & Summary

Lance Stroll set the fastest lap right at the end of the first and only practice session ahead of the sprint weekend at Shanghai International Circuit.

The first practice session ahead of the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix was probably the most hectic so far, as all F1 drivers rushed onto the track to complete their programs.

While they are normally used to having three practice sessions, FP1 is the only hour of on-track running that the teams get this weekend before we go into the sprint shootout.

F1 cars have not been at Shanghai International Circuit for five years, and it was also recently resurfaced, so there were many unknowns to explore in this one session before going into the Sprint Shootout.

Consequently, we've seen a mix of tire compounds on all cars as every team had to go through both qualifying and long-run simulations.

A red flag was raised 45 minutes before the end of the session when a bit of grass caught fire in turn number 7. Though it briefly interrupted the plans of all teams, it was put down in less than five minutes, and the session could continue.

An interesting moment came 32 minutes before the end of the session, as Lewis Hamilton went side by side with Nico Hulkenberg through the penultimate corner, pushing out the German driver on the outside.

He then caught up with Oscar Piastri, going into the last corner, locked up trying to go round the outside, and made it into pit lane entry, which meant he had to take an unplanned trip through the pit lane.

The seven-time World Champion received a black-and-white flag and was summoned to the stewards after the session ended.

We didn't really get proper qualifying laps until 10 minutes before the end of the session, but most drivers eventually got on the soft-compound tires to practice for qualifying.

While it is important to mention that everyone ran on different fuel loads and engine modes, McLaren drivers seemed very fast.

Although Lance Stroll put in the fastest lap of the session, Lando Norris was on an even faster one but decided to abort it and head into the pits.

As usual, Red Bull is expected to be strong, and Mercedes and Ferrari have yet to show what they've got, so we are in for an exciting sprint weekend.