Chinese Grand Prix Practice 3 Live Blog

Posted on

| Written by

Review the Chinese Grand Prix practice 3 live blog below.

Jenson Button was fastest of all in yesterday’s two practice sessions. Although Lewis Hamilton was quickest in the first session with a new diffuser and front wing on the McLaren he slumped to 13th in the second.

Once again it looks as though Toyota, Williams and Red Bull will be Brawn’s closest challengers. Will that change in the final practice session before qualifying? Follow the session below.

Change to live blogging

In a break from the norm we’re not using CoverItLive this weekend because the live blogs have been so busy that it’s become very difficult to moderate them. You can join in the live blog by posting comments below.

Sadly, this will mean having fewer features to play with, But it should also mean far fewer comments being missed. I haven’t set the page to refresh automatically as it may cause a problem when you are typing a new comment. Click refresh on your browser (or press F5) to see new comments.

I have been looking for alternative live blogging solutions without much success. If you know of a good one please post a comment below or drop me a line.

Useful links

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

143 comments on “Chinese Grand Prix Practice 3 Live Blog”

    1. Hi Alianora!

  1. We’re less than five minutes away from the start of the final F1 practice session for the Chinese Grand Prix.

  2. BBC saying Kubica has ditched KERS and Alonso now has a new diffuser on his Renault.

  3. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 3:58

    KERS out of the Renaults. DD Diffuser on Alonso’s car.
    KERS out of Kubica’s car.

    1. So just the McLarens plus Heidfeld using KERS?

  4. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 3:58

    New engine for Hamilton

  5. Cars streaming out onto the track as the session gets started.

  6. hi keith, everyone..any live feeds today?

    1. Hi Alvin, I’ve embedded one at the top of the page.

  7. Track temperature is 33C which is about as hot as it got during running yesterday.

  8. Rosberg in the barrier.

  9. I turn on the video feed to see Nico in the wall. That was a short session for him…

  10. yesterday’s live feed was good..

  11. Wow Rosberg is in Lewis Hamilton’s gravel trap from 2007!

  12. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 4:03

    Rosberg’s done a Hamilton!

  13. i cant find the live feed

    1. It’s at the top of the page if you refresh it, or it’s here: http://www.justin.tv/vip_racing

  14. Very strange. Disaster for him too, that’s the end of his session.

    1. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:06

      It is strange. Hamilton at least had the excuse of worn tyres and the pressure to get into the pit quick. What’s Rosberg’s excuse?
      Even if it was caused by cold tyres he had no need to rush!

  15. why is it the end of his session?

    1. Well he can’t get the car out of the gravel.

  16. nico’s car has to be cleaned and checked..so will waste time..this session short 1 hour

    1. Looks like Rosberg’s now taking an unusual detour with his car back to the Williams garage through the paddock access roads!

  17. Looks like Nico can continue … amazing

  18. is the live feed for UK users only? i can’t see it.
    thanks to advise

    1. Can you not see the one oat the top of this page?

  19. how funny is that driving at 1km/h

  20. Anyone know whether kubica is running kers today?

    1. No he’s not.

  21. i can, but i cant see a thing if i press play.

    1. Does the other link under ‘useful links’ work better?

  22. Meanwhile Timo Glock is doing the first timed lap of the session.

  23. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 4:15

    Massa’s mirror has come off (just the glass but though)

    1. Ah that’s why they were showing us the replay!

    2. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:16

      *bit

    3. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:18

      Glockdog has some gear problems.

  24. massa flying now…

  25. Massa goes fastest with a 1’37.926. Still a little way of yesterday’s times but improving quickly:

    2009:

    FP1 1’37.334 (Hamilton)
    FP2 1’35.679 (Button)

    2008:

    FP1 1’35.630 (Hamilton)
    FP2 1’35.750 (Hamilton)
    FP3 1’36.061 (Heidfeld)
    Q1 1’35.566 (Hamilton)
    Q2 1’34.947 (Hamilton)
    Q3 1’36.303 (Hamilton)
    R 1’36.325 (Hamilton)

  26. Keirh are you goung to keep a database of the prediction contest?
    How will you display the result after each race?

    1. I’ll do a post after the race with everyone’s positions.

  27. Alonso becomes the fourth driver to set a time with almost one third of the session done. Massa improves again to a 1’37.4 – his best so far this weekend was a 1’36.8.

  28. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 4:20

    Glockdog has gearbox problems. When he shifted up (to 4th I think) it didn’t engage properly.

    1. Trulli was complaining about his up-shift too.

    2. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:22

      Trulli had some problems yesterday as well didn’t he?

  29. 20 minutes gone, 40 to go, and only seven drivers have set times so far.

    1. But right now we’ve got 16 cars on track.

  30. Morning all

    1. Hi Alex.

  31. Speed is showing malyasia highlights instead of the friday practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. speed only shows second practice on Saturday… they run “debrief” which is a show all about the last race…

      Its a pretty good show I just wish they would show it at a decent time instead of midnight before qualifying.

  32. are ferrari running any DD or new bodywork?

    1. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:24

      Don’t think so.

    2. No I think Ferrari are bringing a new solution for Spain.

  33. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 4:24

    Looks like Glock is getting a gearbox change. Therefore a 5 place grid penalty.

  34. Ferrari is looking better this morning.

  35. Interesting rankings so far – Ferrari quickest, then Hamilton. Looks more like what we might have seen last year.

    And now Raikkonen’s had a spin at turn three – regains the track though.

  36. What is Kimi doing pointing the wrong way at that point?

    1. Just got away from him under power. Have seen quite a few spins and wide moments from the Ferrari pair thisd weekend.

  37. Has anyone got any indication of how much fuel the cars are using here per lap?

  38. Raikkonen stays fastest on a 1’37.0 as we reach the half-way point in the session but we’re still 1.4s off the best times from yesterday.

  39. did hamilton change engines?

    1. Yep he has – no penalty for that though.

    2. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:30

      According to the BBC, yes.

  40. never seen track so busy during fp1, fp2, fp3..hahaha..

    1. It’s about the only chance they have to get any testing done.

  41. So against my expectations Rosberg has made it back on the track!

    1. …and he’s back at the top of the times where he has been so often in practice this year!

  42. Is Kovi using the new diffuser and front wing?

    1. Yes and no, as I understand. They were saying he has the option of running either but isn’t using the new front wing.

    2. I dont think so. Have yet to see Lewis’ car…

  43. Keith, according to Formula 1 Yearbook 2008-2009:

    Shanghai fuel consumption – 2.57kg/lap
    Shanghai fuel effect – 0.44 seconds/10kg

    1. Thanks Alianora – will try to make a better job of my pit stop predictions this weekend!

  44. Can I add my voice to the bring coveritlive back catcall …

    1. I know CiL was a nicer solution for everyone than this but we’ve had trouble getting enough people to run it and also we had so many people commenting, it kept freezing up. If we could find a similarly good solution that runs better and doesn’t require people manually approving thousands of comments that would be ideal. I’m open to suggestions. But I’ve been spending too much of the recent F1 weekends trying to get the live blogs running when I’d rather be following what’s going on at the circuit – which affects the quality of the rest of the site.

  45. I’m surprised Kovalainen only got 3rd with that one. I’d half-expected that to go straight to P1. Still, it is a considerable improvement.

  46. Look at all that carbon fiber…..amazing

  47. kova looks good..i don’t think he’s using the new wing or dd,maybe he’s comfortable with the setup..

  48. Happy birthday, Anthony Davidson!

    1. For he’s a jolly good fellow.

      How many candles?

    2. It’s the big 3-0, would you believe?

  49. not quite sure if I like this format for the ‘live blog’ – do you need more live blogging help to use the other version, Keith?

    1. Yep – just posted an explanation on the previous page – but even with the help we were getting the software kept freezing up and not running properly.

    2. no kidding…rather liked it. Testament to how popular this is becoming though!

  50. I get the CIL overhead. Let’s try to hunt round for the right solution

  51. Even as the action goes on on the circuit it seems you can’t stop the political rot. Flavio Briatore is having a go at Brawn yet again, trying to block them from receiving FOM revenue money: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74562

    1. Seriously? This is going to rip FOTA apart…Briatore needs to let it go and get back to racing. FOTA is the best thing to come along for the teams in a long time…

    2. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:51

      Does he think that the Brawn car came from thin air or something? Honda ploughed plenty of money into it to make it so good, now the other teams have to plough a bit more money into their own cars to catch up.
      If he can’t handle participating in an expensive form of motorsport then he should quit instead of bitching and moaning.

    3. Technically, Brawn can’t receive FOM money until 2011 because it was classified as a new entry, but that was a silly judgement in the first place. Was this anticipated when the FIA made that decision?

  52. Commentators talking about the lower revs on the engine… Question: can they do full rebuilds of a used engine and still have it quaify? Or are they basically not able to perform any overhaul/maintenance on the engine to use the for multiple races?

    1. They have seals on the engines which can’t be broken without FIA approval which prevents them from doing certain things. I think they can carry out internal inspections but not take them apart.

  53. Would be interesting to hear McLaren’s reasons for keeping KERS – everyone else bar Heidfeld having ditched it – especially when we thought this track would suit the technology.

    1. For sure….especially with Massa talking about Ferrari being even slower without it.

  54. Has HAM put in a lap yet?

    1. Yeah he’s eighth.

  55. Woah nice catch by Hamilton!

    1. Really! It looks as if he’s back to the dual plane front wing too, anyone have a shot to confirm?

    2. Yep he’s running it, Kovalainen isn’t.

  56. More technical problems for Webber at Red Bull.

  57. tabloids are claiming anthony hamilton saying ron dennis is “prickly and arrogant”..saw flavio’s face and just realised after all his comments this weekend plus the crap he’s spewing out as keith pointed out just now, flavio is more like that..

  58. Most of the cars in the pits at the moment with ten minutes left to go in the session. Are we about to see some qualifying-style runs on the super-soft tyre?

  59. Looks as if HAM clipped too much kerb and went off at the end…good thing for China’s run off areas.

  60. Red Bull’s bad luck continues…….

    1. You mean Webber’s!

    2. Correct that – sounds like Vettel’s got driveshaft problems too!

  61. I rather like Anthony Davidson’s commentary here. Very good job with the driver’s insight.

    1. He is very good – but as we always say, he’s a better driver and should be in one of the cars.

    2. yeah…kind of sad he only raced for a short time since I have been tuning in. I hear good things about him and Sato also. never really got to see them in a good car.

  62. yep…sounds like they are Keith

  63. Trulli quickest on a 1’36.7 but still 0.5s off his bet from yesterday.

    1. Now he’s matched it with a 1’36.2.

  64. hitchcockm00
    18th April 2009, 4:54

    Problem with the driveshafts on both Red Bulls.

    1. hitchcockm00
      18th April 2009, 4:55

      It’s a problem with some sort of seal on the driveshafts. They’ve had this problem a few times already this year.

  65. MacademiaNut
    18th April 2009, 4:55

    KOV to 2nd!

  66. Button on track on the super-softs and the Brawn look so calm, so planted on the track, and very quick on the times sheets. Fastest time coming up here surely?

    1. Not quite – 1’36.4 for second.

  67. Not much fight from the Williams’ so far eh? 5th and 12th? Rosberg needs to get on it!

    1. and just as I post, he goes purple in S1.

    2. Wouldn’t hurt them to have a bit less performance in practice for once and a bit more in the race instead.

    3. Aaaaaaand to P1. Great drive!

  68. That said, Rosberg goes quickest of all on a 1’36.1…

  69. Rosberg does it again……

  70. Chequered flag out but several drivers are still on laps.

  71. HAM gets the final corner right and pulls in P3. awesome.

    1. Where did he com from!

  72. Barrichello was on course for a good time there but lost time in the final sector. Having difficulty keeping life in the tyres for a full lap?

  73. Piquet fifth!!!!!!!!!!!!

    1. And Alonso 19th? I don’t thin that’s really reflective of their performance gap, unless Alonso’s new diffuser is doing more harm than good. Strangely Alonso’s only done six laps.

  74. In the final rankings we have Rosberg top – no surprise there, six times out of nine in practice now – then Trulli and Hamilton.

  75. Think HAM can go for pole?

    1. I think he has a shot at getting in Q3, after that I don’t think his best strategy would be to run light on fuel, so I guess not.

  76. trulli qualy king..rosberg fp king?

  77. Keith, when I submit a commnet, its number is appending with the URL and I am unable to come bck to the previous place…
    Anybody facing the same problem?

    1. That’s normal except that it usually puts you back into the flow of comments. Not sure why it wouldn’t be working for you?

  78. button pole king for now..but i say go lewis!

  79. u have to reload the page everytime..

  80. Thanks keith and mods…see ya at qualifying.

  81. Qualifying coming up next in a little under two hours’ time, with the build-up under way before then.

  82. Thanks again to all who put this on. Might just catch the Quali on Twitter later this evening, but great job with all you do! I am having my first F1 party tomorrow night!

Comments are closed.