SHANGHAI, China — McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in both practice sessions Friday for the Chinese Grand Prix, showing the kind of speed that could clinch him the Formula One title this Sunday.
Hamilton, who leads the drivers’ championship by five points with two races remaining, set a best time of 1 minute, 35.630 seconds in morning practice at Shanghai International Circuit. He followed that with a time of 1:35.750 to top the timesheets in the second session.
“No matter what we changed on the car, it just kept getting better and better and the grip and balance kept improving,” Hamilton said. “This is the best possible way to kick off any weekend and has given me extra confidence for the next few days.”
Hamilton can clinch the title in China by finishing on the podium and scoring at least six more points in the race than Ferrari’s Felipe Massa. Otherwise, the title will be decided in the final race of the season in Brazil.
Massa had the second best time of the day in the morning session, 0.390 seconds off the pace. He was sixth in the afternoon session.
“In the first session, the car was a bit twitchy. But then, especially in the second part of the afternoon session, its handling improved,” Massa said. “We are working in the right direction in terms of car set-up.”
Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen were third and fourth quickest in the morning session. Fernando Alonso, the winner of the past two grand prix events, was second behind Hamilton in the afternoon, with his Renault teammate Nelson Piquet Jr. third.
“We need to work hard because we can improve the car a little bit in terms of set up,” said Alonso, who won the 2006 Chinese GP with Renault and finished second in last year’s race while driving for McLaren.
“The two top teams are very quick so we need to get in the middle of them and have a better qualifier to start from the front.”
BMW’s Robert Kubica, who is 12 points behind Hamilton in the standings and retains slim title hopes, was fifth quickest in the morning session but only 12th in the afternoon.
“We tried all kinds of different things, but I’m not happy with the balance of the car, and the overall level of grip is poor,” Kubica said. “There is still a lot of work to be done.”
Results from Friday’s practice for Sunday’s Chinese Formula One Grand Prix at the 5.541-kilometer (3.387-mile) Shanghai International Circuit:
First practice
1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1 minute, 35.630 seconds.
2. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:36.020.
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 1:36.052.
4. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren, 1:36.103.
5. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW, 1:36.507.
6. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 1:36.661.
7. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 1:37.040.
8. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 1:37.070.
9. Nelson Piquet Jnr., Brazil, Renault, 1:37.180.
10. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 1:37.278.
11. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:37.491.
12. Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, 1:37.619.
13. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 1:37.630.
14. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 1:37.638.
15. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 1:37.638.
16. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 1:37.664.
17. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 1:37.827.
18. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 1:38.219.
19. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 1:38.285.
20. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 1:38.479.
Second practice
1. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1:35.750 points.
2. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 1:36.024.
3. Nelson Piquet Jnr., Brazil, Renault, 1:36.094
4. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Toyota, 1:36.159.
5. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:36.375.
6. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:36.480.
7. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 1:36.529.
8. Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Ferrari, 1:36.542.
9. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 1:36.553.
10. Nico Rosberg, Germany, Williams, 1:36.556.
11. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 1:36.615.
12. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW, 1:36.775.
13. Heikki Kovalainen, Finland, McLaren, 1:36.797.
14. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 1:36.808.
15. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 1:36.925.
16. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 1:36.975.
17. Giancarlo Fisichella, Italy, Force India, 1:37.473.
18. Adrian Sutil, Germany, Force India, 1:37.617.
19. Jenson Button, Britain, Honda, 1:37.800.
20. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Honda, 1:37.904.
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