Tag: daniel kvyat

  • Hamilton fastest in final Australian GP practice

    Hamilton fastest in final Australian GP practice

    Lewis Hamilton finished on top of the timesheets for the final practice session ahead of qualifying for the for the Australian Grand Prix, almost a second ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg. Hamilton posted a 1.27.867 which is more than a tenth of a second off the best time posted by Rosberg yesterday. He did have more pace left in hand though, posting fastest first and second sector times before aborting his lap.

    Rosberg, who was fastest in both Friday practice sessions, did report a gearshift problem with his car during his final soft tyre run. The two were split by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who managed to get within 7 tenths of Hamilton’s time.

    Valtteri Bottas went fourth fastest for Williams, a second off Hamilton’s time and team mate Felipe Massa finished in fifth place. Raikkonen placed his Ferrari sixth with the Lotus duo of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado behind him.

    Carlos Sainz Jnr and Felipe Nasr put in impressive sessions to round out the top 10 with F1 youngster Max Verstappen completing his session in 11th place. Marcus Ericsson finished in 12th despite a spin at the exit of Turn 12.

    Red Bull had another dismal session with Ricciardo in 15th and Kvyat slowest of everyone who set times. Ricciardo, who compained about the driveability of his Red Bull on his first timed lap already, had his car stop at the exit of he pitlane and was pushed back by the marshals. He did manage to rejoin the session albeit a most unimpressive show. The two were split by the dismally struggling McLarens.

    Manor’s chances of qualifying remain slim as neither of their drivers were able to participage in the session, after also missing all of yesterday’s running.

    Here are the full results for FP3

    ausgp-fp3-results

  • Hamilton snatches Australian pole from Ricciardo in wet Qualifying

    Hamilton snatches Australian pole from Ricciardo in wet Qualifying

    Lewis Hamilton claimed the pole position, snatching it from home favourite Daniel Ricciardo, in the final moments of the season opening Australian qualifying session.

    The F1 weather gods thought it would be a good idea to spice things up a little – as if they weren’t already complicated enough with all the 2014 regulation changes. The session started in dry conditions but the heavens opened before the end of the first 18 minute phase of qualifying. The weather deteriorated to the point that full wet tyres were required in the final shootout.

    With very little wet running during the winter testing, it was a whole new challenge for the drivers. Despite it being his first time driving on the limit in the wet, Lewis Hamilton brought home the pole, snatching it by a solid 0.3s! Ricciardo so nearly had it in the bag, but the Australian will be more than happy with starting on his first ever front row on his first outing for the Red Bull team. Nico Rosberg rounded off the top 3.

    Ricciardo’s team mate, four time world champion Sebastian Vettel, did not make it through to the final part of qualifying – despite a valiant effort after his final lap was affected by Kimi Raikkonen crashing his Ferrari into the wall. A little too much throttle and the Finn’s Ferrari headed off the track, bringing out yellow flags in the first sector to compromise Vettel’s lap. Raikkonen will start from 11th, and Vettel from 12th.

    McLaren rookie Kevin Magnussen put in a very impressive performance and will be starting from 4th place. His team mate Jenson Button was another surprise casualty of the Q2 session and will only start in 10th place (promoted from 11th due to a grid penalty for Valterri Bottas).

    Fernando Alonso will start in 5th position, only just making it ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne. Toro Rosso team mate, rookie Daniel Kvyat, also made it through to Q1 and will be starting in 8th place.

    Here’s a look at your full time sheet for the session. Join us tomorrow morning on Twitter (@F1_Madness) for live coverage of the Australian Grand Prix! If the final stages of today’s qualifying session are anything to go by, we’re in for a VERY exciting race!

    Australian GP live timing qualifying