Hamilton pips Raikkonen in China Practice

Lewis Hamilton has pipped Kimi Raikkonen in Friday practice for the Chinese Grand Prix as Daniel Ricciardo finished a second off the pace with an apparent braking issue.

Hamilton set what would ultimately be the day’s benchmark of 1:33.482s on the half-hour mark of Practice 2, with a ragged lap in his Mercedes despite running on ultrasoft tyres.

The Brit reported that there was “nothing left in these tyres” after the effort.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas moved from fourth to second shortly after at 0.033s off the pace, before Raikkonen split them just before 45 minutes into the 90-minute session.

The field then settled into longer runs before light rain towards the end prevented any late flyers and locked in the classification as it stood at halfway.

Championship leader Sebastian Vettel therefore remained fourth in his Ferrari, from Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen.

The Renaults of Nico Hulkenberg and Carlos Sainz Jnr split seventh-placed Haas driver Kevin Magnussen.

Ricciardo finished the session 1.075s away from Hamilton in ninth position, complaining first that he was “not too happy with the pedal map” and later about a long brake pedal specifically in the #3 RB14.

His best lap in Practice 2 of 1:34.557s was on fact two hundredths of a second slower than in Practice 1.

Fernando Alonso, who was one of a handful of drivers to take to the circuit on intermediate tyres during the drizzle, rounded out the top 10 in his McLaren.

His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was involved in one of the main talking points when he pulled his MCL33 off the circuit with a loose right-rear wheel on an out lap.

The incident is under investigation for an alleged unsafe release.

New Zealander Brendon Hartley ended up 15th fastest, three positions and 0.484s back from Scuderia Toro Rosso team-mate Pierre Gasly.

All except 20 drivers set their fastest laps on ultrasoft tyres except for Haas’ Romain Grosjean, who was 19th-fastest on the soft compound with no supersoft available this weekend.

Hamilton also set the pace in Practice 1 with a 1:33.999s.

Practice 3 starts tomorrow at 1300 AEST before Qualifying from 1500.

Results: Practice 2

Results: Practice 1