Hamilton fastest in Chinese GP first practice

McLaren's British driver Lewis Hamilton clocked a fastest lap time in the first practice session of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix here on Friday.

The 27-year-old Hamilton only ran seven laps on Friday morning and clocked one minute 37.106 seconds in the sixth lap to put McLaren on top of the timesheets as this weekend's Chinese event got underway in Shanghai.

A little rain dropped on the circuit as the session went halfway, and Mercedes' Nico Rosberg finished over one second down behind Hamliton in the mixed condition, with his teammate and countryman Michael Schumacher ranked third.

After a surprising second placement claimed in Malaysia three weeks ago, Sauber's Mexican Sergio Perez once again proved he will be a serious contender in Shanghai as he finished fourth ahead of teammate Kamui Kobayashi as well as the Red Bull duo Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, the current leader of the drivers' standings was only 11th while the come-back champion Kimi Raikkonen finished at bottom.