Rain doesn't make it easy to learn Porsche

If Mark Webber knows the Shanghai circuit well having taken it with Red Bull Racing during his years F1, several of his teammates at Porsche discovered the Chinese route. But the rain which fell on the track during the second session, even forcing the officials to wave the red flag 17 minutes before the end of the session, reduced the time on track for the residents of the German brand.

“The rain really disrupted our adjustment program, admits Timo Bernhard. It started to fall, just as I was leaving the garage on new tires during the second session. I've never been here and this track is very demanding and has little grip. I remain satisfied to have at least been able to do a few laps in the dry. » Even more “delicate” situation on the No. 919 14 Hybrid, slowed down in EL1 by a battery problem, which required changing the latter. “My mileage was quite limited today, as I only did seven laps during the first free practice session, declares Frenchman Romain Dumas. A battery change cost us quite a bit of track time, but the guys did an incredible job. Normally it takes two hours and we managed to do it in an hour. It's my first time on this circuit and it's obviously not the easiest start. »

As a reminder, this is the Toyota n°8 of the duo Anthony Davidson and Sébastien Buemi who achieved the best time during the two sessions this Friday.