Full results from Free Practice 2 for the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, round three of the 2019 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>Full results from Free Practice 1 for the Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit, round three of the 2019 Formula 1 season.<doc-sep>Formula 1 championship leader Valtteri Bottas edged out Sebastian Vettel to set the pace as Mercedes responded to Ferrari during second practice for the Chinese Grand Prix. Ferrari had held an advantage of around two-tenths as Vettel led the way on harder tyres in the opening session, but Bottas moved to the top of the timesheets in FP2 by setting a 1m33.330s on Pirelli’s softest compound as drivers completed their qualifying simulations. Vettel ended up just 0.027s behind the Finn on the same tyre compound, with Max Verstappen two tenths further back in third place in what was an encouraging showing for the Honda-powered Red Bull squad. The Dutchman posted the outright fastest first sector and a mistake at the final corner suggested there was more time to come from his RB15. Reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton ended up seven tenths adrift of his Mercedes teammate in fourth, after both he and Bottas had suffered early spins on their respective outlaps. Hamilton also had his second qualifying simulation run disrupted by debris caused by a front wing failure on Romain Grosjean's Haas. Renault enjoyed a strong session as Nico Hulkenberg set the fifth-fastest time to get within 0.059s of Hamilton’s effort, with the German outpacing McLaren’s Carlos Sainz and the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who wound up over eight-tenths off the pace after encountering traffic on his only flying run on the soft tyres. Leclerc was then restricted to the Ferrari garage for the rest of the session while the Italian squad carried out "cooling system checks" on the Monegasque’s SF90. Lando Norris was eighth fastest as McLaren looks to continue its promising start to the new season, with the Briton ending up quicker than new Renault signing Daniel Ricciardo in ninth and Pierre Gasly, who rounded out the top 10 in his Red Bull. Kimi Raikkonen ended the session 11th fastest and 1.221s seconds off the pace in his Alfa Romeo, ahead of the Toro Rosso duo headed by rookie Alexander Albon. A precautionary power unit change - Honda’s first of the year - left teammate Daniil Kvyat garage-bound for the first half of FP2, before he finally emerged with 40 minutes remaining on his way to posting the 13th-quickest time. A further tenth back came the Racing Point pair of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez in 14th and 15th respectively, while it was a disappointing showing from Haas as Kevin Magnusson and Grosjean ended up towards the bottom of the timesheets. Grosjean’s programme was disrupted by a bizarre front wing failure, while Magnussen was seen shedding bits from the undertray of his Haas early on. Antonio Giovinazzi finally got a laptime on the board for Alfa Romeo following his engine issues in FP1 as he finished over 2.5s off the pace in 18th, two tenths clear of the Williams pair of Robert Kubica and George Russell, with the British squad once again propping up the order.<doc-sep>The Mercedes driver was fourth fastest during the first runs when he used the hard-compound Pirellis, while teammate Lewis Hamilton was quickest using mediums – setting a time of 1m34.226s after a quick spin at Turn 3 on his out-lap. Ferrari driver Vettel was the first of the frontrunners to set a time on the soft Pirellis, initially going fastest with a lap of 1m33.357s to outpace Hamilton by 0.869s just after the half-hour mark. Bottas then put in his quick lap on softs, losing 0.144s in the first sector but outpacing Vettel by 0.176 in the middle sector. Bottas then almost matched Vettel in the final sector, losing only 0.005s, to set a time of 1m33.330s to secure top spot. Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, 0.221s down and almost half-a-second faster than Hamilton. Hamilton didn't put together a strong lap on the softs, ending up just half-a-tenth faster than the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg. Carlos Sainz continued McLaren's recent strong form with sixth fastest, eight tenths off the pace and 0.0017s ahead of the second Ferrari of Charles Leclerc. Leclerc was only able to improve by 0.113s on his medium-compound pace on the softs, meaning he ended up sandwiched between the two McLarens and just over a tenth ahead of Lando Norris. Leclerc's running in the session was curtailed after 13 laps as he returned to the garage for cooling checks "as a precaution to avoid any damage". Daniel Ricciardo, in the second Renault, was ninth and a second off the pace, with Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly one of the last to set a time on softs and ending up 10th. Alfa Romeo driver Kimi Raikkonen was briefly as high as fifth before being shuffled down to 11th place ahead of the lead Toro Rosso of Alex Albon. Racing Point duo Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez were 13th and 14th ahead of the Haas of Kevin Magnussen, with the trio separated by just 0.009s. Daniil Kvyat in the second Toro Rosso missed the first half of the session after a precautionary power unit change, which the team said was because of finding an "anomaly" in the first session. Haas driver Romain Grosjean was 17th after losing a front wing during the session after it appeared to break on the right side, apparently thanks to the loads created by the bumps on the approach to Turn 1. Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi, who missed most of the first session with an engine-related problem, was 18th ahead of the two Williams drivers, with Robert Kubica leading George Russell.<doc-sep>
China FP2: Bottas from Vettel and it’s close Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas topped the timing screens at the end of the first day of free practice of the Chinese Grand Prix weekend, Round 3 of the 2019 Formula 1 World Championship, at Shanghai International Circuit. Bottas set a best lap of 1:33.330 which was enough to keep him top of the timing screens at the end of FP2, a couple of hundredths faster than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen third quickest, two tenths down on the top time and suggesting a threeway team battle for top honours on Sunday. It was not all good news for Verstappen as late in the session he reported that “something is not right” while suggesting over the radio a problem with his clutch. Lewis Hamilton survived a spin to set the fourth fastest time, seven-tenths down on his teammate at the top of the timesheets. However, it should be noted the reigning F1 World Champion was baulked during his hot lap when Romain Grosjean’s Haas parted company with its front wing. It was an unhappy session for Charles Leclerc who only managed 13 laps during when drivers were doing around 30 or more laps during the 90-minutes. His team reported that the #16 Ferrari suffered “a cooling issue” which curtailed its running. He was seventh nevertheless. Renault found handy pace with all four cars using their PUs in the top ten, Nico Hulkenberg fastest of the quartet in fifth, followed by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz in sixth. Lando Norris was eighth in the other McLaren and Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo ninth, and Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly rounding out the top ten, the Frenchman an alarming nine-tenths shy of his teammate Verstappen. A mere three-tenths separated Hulkenberg in sixth and Gasly in tenth. Also, noteworthy was the fact that the gap between the Big Three and Best of the Rest was down to seven tenths.