The McLarens of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button finished at the top of the timing sheets after today’s first two practice sessions for Sunday’s Australian grand prix, the second of which was affected by a light drizzle which provided a harbinger of the rain forecast for tomorrow’s qualifying session and Sunday’s race.
Hamilton, the faster of the two by just over a fifth of a second, said that he would be aiming to improve on his third place in the season’s opening round in Bahrain a fortnight ago. “I feel relaxed with this car here and we’re happy with our pace,” he said. “We made some improvements and we feel we can attack tomorrow.” The Guardian
Red Bull’s Mark Webber was third fastest, ahead of Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov.
Lewis Hamilton Fastest in Second Practice at Albert Park
Renault’s Robert Kubica Fastest in First Practice at Albert Park
Formula 1: Australian Grand Prix - First Practice Results
Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were 15th and 17th on the time sheets, more than three seconds off the pace, as they instead concentrated on their race set-up.
Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi, Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi were separated by three-thousandths of a second in sixth to eighth places, the German leapfrogging his Force India team mate by a thousandth in the dying moments. Williams’ Rubens Barrichello and Mercedes’s Nico Rosberg completed the runners below 1m 27s, with 1m 26.904s and 1m 26.956s respectively.
Robert Kubica was 11th for Renault on 1m 27.108s, a time matched by Pedro de la Rosa as BMW Sauber enjoyed a more trouble-free session. The Spaniard got in Button’s way right at the end, however, which did not please the world champion. Kamui Kobayashi was 13th with 1m 27.455s, and managed not to lose a wing this time.
Heikki Kovalainen encouraged Lotus no end with 1m 29.860s for 18th.
Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari was 19th on 1m 30.510s and Jarno Trulli was further behind his Lotus team mate this time, with 1m 30.695s. Virgin’s Timo Glock was the final runner with a time of 1m 32.117s in the Virgin. His partner Lucas di Grassi did not get a timed lap, and neither did the two HRT drivers, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna. Chandhok at one stage came to a halt while exiting the pits. Auto Racing Daily
POS DRIVER ENTRANT TIME 1 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 01:25.8 2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 01:26.1 3 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 01:26.2 4 Michael SchumacherMercedes GP 01:26.5 5 Vitaly Petrov Renault 01:26.7 6 Sebastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 01:26.8 7 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 01:26.8 8 Vitantonio LiuzziForce India-Mercedes 01:26.8 9 Rubens BarrichelloWilliams-Cosworth 01:26.9 10 Nico Rosberg Mercedes GP 01:27.0 11 Robert Kubica Renault 01:27.1 12 Pedro de la RosaBMW Sauber-Ferrari 01:27.1 13 Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 01:27.5 14 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 01:27.5 15 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 01:29.0 16 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 01:29.1 17 Felipe Massa Ferrari 01:29.6 18 Heikki KovalainenLotus-Cosworth 01:29.9 19 Jaime AlguersuariToro Rosso-Ferrari 01:30.5 20 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 01:30.7 21 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 01:32.1 22 Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth No Time 23 Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth No Time 24 Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth No Time
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