PRACTICE TWO
Report – Nico Rosberg was fastest in the second free practice session just ended at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit, home to the first round of the Formula 1 World Championship. Behind the German Mercedes driver, who posted a 1.27.697, came his team-mate Lewis Hamilton (1.27.797) and the two SF15-T of Sebastian Vettel (1.28.412) and Kimi Raikkonen (1.28.842.) Both Scuderia Ferrari drivers worked on set-up, running different aero downforce levels and comparing the Medium and Soft compounds chosen by Pirelli for this track. Raikkonen, just over seven tenths slower than his team-mate, admitted over the radio that it was “not a very good lap”. FP2 Times:
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m27.697s | – | 29 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m27.797s | 0.100s | 25 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m28.412s | 0.715s | 33 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m28.842s | 1.145s | 33 |
5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m29.265s | 1.568s | 32 |
6 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 1m30.016s | 2.319s | 27 |
7 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m30.071s | 2.374s | 41 |
8 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m30.104s | 2.407s | 11 |
9 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m30.205s | 2.508s | 37 |
10 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m30.473s | 2.776s | 30 |
11 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m30.755s | 3.058s | 33 |
12 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m30.980s | 3.283s | 32 |
13 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m31.387s | 3.690s | 21 |
14 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m31.395s | 3.698s | 6 |
15 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber/Ferrari | 1m32.303s | 4.606s | 14 |
16 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren/Honda | 1m33.289s | 5.592s | 4 |
#FP2 long runs average lap time #Raikkonen 1:32.353 #Vettel 1:32.850 #Rosberg 1:32.228 #Hamilton 1:32.484 #Bottas 1:33.016 #Kvyat 1:33.987 — Lorenzo De Luca (@LorenzoDL83) March 13, 2015
Not bad RT @FulvioVigilante: Kimi 2014 vs Kimi 2015 #AusGP #FP2 #SkyMotori pic.twitter.com/rQUfYM0pOO — KimiRäikkönenSpace (@EvenstarSaima) March 13, 2015
Kimi about the radio 😂 RT @f1fanatic_co_uk: Team radio highlights from #AusGP weekend: http://t.co/Uu1DJOmd7J pic.twitter.com/yh1aLPp2ot
— KimiRäikkönenSpace (@EvenstarSaima) March 20, 2015
PRACTICE ONE
Report – The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finished the opening free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix in fifth and eighth places respectively, to get the 2015 season underway. Vettel completed 13 laps in his SF15-T with a best of 1.31.029, while Raikkonen did 14, the fastest being a 1.31.310. Both drivers used the Medium tyres, working on a programme featuring aero testing and set-up work to suit the car to the semi-permanent Albert Park circuit, which was still too dirty for any more in depth work. FP1 Times:
Pos | Driver | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m29.557s | – | 19 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m29.586s | 0.029s | 19 |
3 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams/Mercedes | 1m30.748s | 1.191s | 20 |
4 | Carlos Sainz Jr. | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m31.014s | 1.457s | 32 |
5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1m31.029s | 1.472s | 13 |
6 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso/Renault | 1m31.067s | 1.510s | 31 |
7 | Felipe Massa | Williams/Mercedes | 1m31.188s | 1.631s | 19 |
8 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1m31.310s | 1.753s | 14 |
9 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus/Mercedes | 1m31.451s | 1.894s | 22 |
10 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull/Renault | 1m31.570s | 2.013s | 9 |
11 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull/Renault | 1m32.073s | 2.516s | 18 |
12 | Sergio Perez | Force India/Mercedes | 1m32.247s | 2.690s | 22 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India/Mercedes | 1m32.261s | 2.704s | 19 |
14 | Jenson Button | McLaren/Honda | 1m34.542s | 4.985s | 6 |
15 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren/Honda | 1m34.785s | 5.228s | 7 |
16 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus/Mercedes | 2m17.782s | 48.225s | 5 |
GALLERY
QUOTES
Kimi Raikkonen: “It was a typical Friday of free practice. In the first session I could not drive very well and it was difficult to put a good lap together. So, for the second session, we made some changes to the car before the long-runs and, in the end, the feeling was better. Now if we can put everything together and find a good lap, we should be OK. It was a positive day overall, and the feeling hasn’t changed since winter testing: I think the whole package has improved. On the other hand, it’s only Friday, and we know we still have a lot of work to do”.
Kimi spoke of a ‘pecking order’ on Thursday. Well, these practice sessions answer the question. Both Mercs will be 1 & 2 on Sunday, unless reliability gets the better of them.
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