In just over 2600 days, we return to Sanya. This tight street circuit can be demanding for even the best drivers, so with experience playing favour to a select few, this session will be about understanding the limits.

A Welcomed Return for Some

This weekend will be a first for the majority of the grid, with only a few having raced here seven years ago, such as Oliver Rowland and Mitch Evans. The weekend gets underway and most drivers don’t hesitate to head straight into the circuit. Being an incredibly tight street circuit, much like Monaco, it’s imperative that the drivers learn their way around the circuit.

Qualifying will be vital to ensuring a good result, with overtaking being difficult on this narrow circuit. The two Porsche drivers were the first to attack the circuit. Nico Müller does not carry the same advantage that his teammate does this weekend. Pascal Wehrlein among the group who raced here back in 2019.

Lucas Di Grassi of Lola Yamaha was not as quick as the rest of the grid to enter then circuit. Among the drives who raced here before, Di Grassi waited until about 7 minutes into the session to say hi to the track. As the times came in after the first 10 minutes, it was Taylor Barnard setting the pace initially with a 1:08.321. 

Rear Grip the Talk of the Day

Picking up attack mode, the cars came alive in Sanya. Dan ticktum made his way once again to the top of the timesheet. He is no stranger to pole, with he securing pole during both races in Monaco. He faced two difficult races and was eventually hit with post race penalties which saw him demoted outside the points. With the similarities between here and Monaco, he will hope to perform well.

“One-lap pace has never been a problem, it’s more how we approach the races, making sure we’re keeping our race pace at the top of our priorities”– Cupra Kiro Team Principal Russell O’Hagan 

Traction seemed to be a concern from a lot of drivers, with drivers finding a lack of rear stability around the circuit. Taylor Barnard and Jean Eric Vergne both coming onto the radio to ask the team for more support on their stability. 

“Yeah, I need BIG BIG help for entry stability. That’s It. It’s mainly four sector that l struggle with that. The rest Is good.” – Taylor Barnard

A Red Flag Haults The Session

Antonio Felix Da Costa was first to take the runoff into turn 8, seeming that he simply missed where his turn was. A quick spin got him out very quickly. Norman Nato later became the next victim to head off the circuit. Approaching the hairpin at turn 8, misjudging the breaking approach.

Not moments later, Sebastian Buemi stopped his car down that same runway towards turn 8. Buemi struggled to get his Envision car restarted and so the session was Red Flagged. From the onboards, it seemed as though the car simply cut off power as it went over the bumps of turn 7. He was quickly towed to the rescue point at the end of the straight, clearing the circuit. 

With about 14 minutes on the clock, the session was green flagged once again. 5 minutes was added to the timesheet to compensate for time lost during the red flag period. Despite this, the drivers wasted no time heading out onto push laps. The two Mahindra drivers Mortara and De Vries climbed to the top spot for the time being. 1:05.949. Mortara despite being the fastest at the time, complained in the radio about his lack of traction, having admitted to nearly crashing into the final corner. 

Mortara The Fastest on Friday

In the final stages of free practice 1, the circuit became very busy. No driver was able to get a clean run without having to be mindful of traffic. The traffic wasn’t made by the Nissan drivers however, with both Oliver Rowland and Norman Nato being held in the pitlane until the final two minutes, much to Rowland’s displeasure.

At the chequered flag, Edo Mortara remained unbeaten, setting a new track record with 1:05.616. Behind him, Jake Dennis split the two Mahindra drivers. Pascal Wehrlein and Norman Nato took the final spots in the top 5, about 3 tenths off the top spot. 

Taylor Barnard had numerous close calls all session, but kept the car in tact to finish FP1 6th fastest, just ahead of both Jaguar TCS drivers. Dan ticktum looked promising earlier in the session, but found himself only 12th fastest, his teammate 14th