It was a Friday of domination by Mercedes for the season opening Australian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton took the honors in both Friday practice sessions finishing top of the time sheets. It looked like Mercedes were unreachable after Free Practice 1, but things closed up a bit in Free Practice 2 and, as it stands, it looks like Red Bull could pose a threat to Mercedes come race day.
It’s believed that either Mercedes will qualify in pole position in tomorrows qualifying session. There is some rain forecast which may throw things for a bit. Red Bull will no doubt be hoping for rain. Ferrari on the other hand have not said much, only that there is more to come from the car and that they’re looking good for the rest of the weekend. Their long run pace puts them in contention but qualifying high on the grid is crucial.
Free Practice three should finally reveal who’s got the pace to challenge the mighty Mercedes.
Free Practice 1
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was the first one to venture out on to the Albert Park Circuit to kick the 2018 off. With the track being very green, it took a few laps before some representative times started coming through.
Mercedes were quick out the blocks and fastest times were being traded between Hamilton and Bottas almost immediately. The Red Bull’s of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen got in the mix as well but it was Hamilton who eventually set the session best time of 1:24.026. Bottas was second fastest 0.551s off the pace with a 1:24.577 with Verstappen a further 0.745s down.
While the Red Bulls and Mercedes drivers ran with the super soft tyres and the ultra soft tyres, both Ferrari drivers chose to limit their super soft running and ran almost exclusively on the soft compound tyres with Vettel having a short stint on the super softs.
McLaren were hoping that their bad run of luck would’ve ended in testing but that was not to be. Fernando Alonso sat out most of the session with an exhaust issue. Vandoorne didn’t escape the gremlins either. But McLaren were able to get the pair back out on track and Alonso jumped up the order and eventually finished 8th fastest with Vandoorne in 10th.
Haas were definitely the surprise of the session. They proved that their testing pace was not a one off with Romain Grosjean finishing 7th.
INITIAL CLASSIFICATION – END OF FP1
Hamilton’s title defence begins with the top time in the first session 💪
It’s so good to be back!#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ijpT1stlUy
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2018
Free Practice 2
With Mercedes utterly dominant in the first session it was expected they would just leave the rest of the field behind. But Red Bull and Ferrari had other ideas. In the end it was much closer than anyone had expected and it sets up a great qualifying and race.
Hamilton took the fastest time of the session with a 1:23.931. 2nd Fastest was Max Verstappen in the Red Bull just 0.127s off Hamilton’s time with a 1:24.058. Bottas in the second Mercedes was 3rd fastest 0.228s off Hamilton’s time.
The Ferrari’s were 4th and 5th with Raikkonen ahead of Vettel. The latter saying that he’s not entirely happy with the balance of the car, but he expects changes that will be made overnight to yield some results.
The second session was a more aggressive. With some rubber laid down in the first session, the drivers were getting stuck in and pushing to find the limits. There were off track excursions from Esteban Ocon in the Force India at Turn 3 and Carlos Sainz in the Renault at Turn 12.
Raikkonen and Bottas almost had a coming together when Raikkonen got muddled up at Turn 3. Bottas approaching, had to take to the gravel trap to avoid his fellow countryman. The pair were summoned to the stewards but it was judged that although Raikkonen had impeded Bottas he former did make the move to cede the apex to Bottas and that it was not intentional.
The mid-field battle is heating up as Haas emerged best of the rest again. The rest of the pack are all extremely close.
It’s setup to be a close race. Mercedes is expected to use their superior “quali” engine mode to steal pole. The race, however, is going to be an interesting prospect with rain expected in qualifying.
