formula 1 racing

Shanghai christened
09-24-2004

(GMM - Shanghai) Formula One christened China's spectacular grand prix circuit on Friday with two one-hour practice sessions.

Friday-only BAR driver Anthony Davidson, and a striking blue livery, was quickest of all in the morning session, with F1 returnee Ralf Schumacher not far off the pace for second.

Davidson, 24, then went quickest again in the afternoon, this time with BAR team-mate Jenson Button second and a couple of McLaren cars not far in their wake.

World champion Michael Schumacher's wings were clipped near the close of the first session when his normally bullet-proof Ferrari ground to a halt.

The German, 35, helped a marshal push the scarlet racer up pit lane to the garage, and he recovered to just eighth quickest in the afternoon.

Jacques Villeneuve, who has not raced in grands prix since late September last year, had a quiet first session and a little spin in a left hand bend.

The Canadian, who did a lot of laps (25), was fifteenth at the end of the day, but - importantly - only a couple of tenths slower than highly-rated Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso.

Jaguar's Mark Webber also spun it round.

''Obviously the track is still building up its grip,'' said the Australian, ''and we were chasing that to an extent.''

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