Motor racing-McLaren's Norris tops practice for Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Ferrari's Leclerc

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - McLaren's Lando Norris topped the time sheet during the only practice session for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix on Friday, with Alpine's Jack Doohan bringing the session to a halt for several minutes after the rookie driver lost power midway through a lap.

Norris lapped the Shanghai International Circuit in one minute, 31.504 seconds on soft tyres, 0.454 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, with several drivers complaining of graining on their front tyres as they made their way around the track's long and sweeping corners.

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was third fastest, just over six tenths of a second slower than his teammate, but running wide on his fastest lap and looking ominous ahead of qualifying later in the day for Saturday's Sprint Race.

Seven-time world champion and six-time Chinese Grand Prix winner Lewis Hamilton finished fourth, ahead of Mercedes' George Russell, who had been quickest for much of the session but did not join the top four in changing to the soft compound tyre after Doohan's stoppage brought out a red flag.

Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg ended the practice one position up on his unexpected points-scoring seventh-place finish in Melbourne last week, just over a second off the pace but continuing a strong run of form for the mid-field team.

Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli complained of blistering on his front left tyre and was only able to manage ninth position, just under half a second behind his teammate, Russell.

The Shanghai circuit has been resurfaced ahead of the race, but its long and sweeping first, twelfth and thirteenth corners typically challenge tyres regardless, with the rubber compounds getting dragged across the asphalt as the drivers turn in.

Alpine's Jack Doohan stopped the session with just under 13 minutes left on the clock after complaining of a loss of power around turn nine and parking his car on the grass between turns 10 and 11, bringing out a red flag.

The session got back under way with seven minutes remaining, and most drivers elected to switch to the soft compound tyre to test their one-lap pace.

Both Ferrari drivers were pushing hard and ran wide or came off the track at points, with communication issues with his new team continuing to trouble Lewis Hamilton, who has won around this circuit more times than any other driver.

"I just got two different messages just now," the 40 year-old British driver said over the radio, just after halfway through the session.

(Reporting by Joe Cash. Editing by Gerry Doyle)