Lewis Hamilton was fastest in a rain-hit second free practice session for Sunday’s Australian grand prix.
Rain kept the drivers in their garages for more than an hour of the session and it was only in the last 15 minutes of the session where the Albert Park track in Melbourne was considered dry enough to set competitive lap times.
See all the pics from the Australian GP practice sessions
Hamilton swapped places with his McLaren team mate Jenson Button for top spot and eventually came out on top by more than a quarter of a second. Mark Webber (Red Bull) and Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) were just behind the two Brits after impressing with late runs.
Schumacher was faster than team mate Nico Rosberg, who could only manage the 10th fastest time of the session. Ferrari drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were 15th and 17th respectively having missed out on the dry window.
Lotus came out on top in the battle of the new teams: Heikki Kovalainen managed the 18th fastest time of the session and was faster than Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso. The two Virgin drivers Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi both struggled with problems, while HRT’s Karun Chandhok managed only 200 yards before his session ended with a gearbox failure.
His team mate Bruno Senna didn’t turn a wheel.
In the day’s first session, Renault’s Robert Kubica set the fastest time ahead of Rosberg and Button.
1. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:25.8012. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:26.076 +0.2753. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.248 +0.4474. Schumacher Mercedes 1:26.511 +0.7105. Petrov Renault 1:26.732 +0.9316. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:26.832 +1.0317. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:26.834 +1.0338. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:26.835 +1.0349. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:26.904 +1.10310. Rosberg Mercedes 1:26.956 +1.15511. Kubica Renault 1:27.108 +1.30712. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.108 +1.30713. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:27.455 +1.65414. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:27.545 +1.74415. Alonso Ferrari 1:29.025 +3.22416. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:29.134 +3.333 17. Massa Ferrari 1:29.591 +3.79018. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:29.860 +4.05919. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:30.510 +4.70920. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:30.695 +4.89421. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:32.117 +6.316 22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth23. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth24. Senna HRT-Cosworth
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Re: Hamilton tops Aus F1 practice
Just seen that bit of news... What great timing the media has!
Re: Hamilton tops Aus F1 practice
Try this:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Australia-F1-Driver-Lewis-Ha...
However, I've got to say that Hamilton has gone up a notch in my estimations of him. 12/10! He is something special, but Friday practice is meaningless, often giving sporadic results.
As for F1 being boring, unfortunately there are some track now that we know are going to be dull. Very dull. And quite frankly it's all the newly designed tracks. You've started off one of the most anticipated seasons of F1 with one of the most boring venues. Is that any way to treat us F1 fans? We give up our Sunday afternoons to F1, and in return we want to see a good race; to be entertained.
You just know that 25% of the tracks are going to be boring because every year they've hosted a race that's what they've done - produced boring races. Then there's the rest which sometimes entertain, and sometimes not. So right from the off you know that you're going to have about 10 weeks of boring races.
Qualifying is now designed to put the fastest car at the front of the grid. So don't be surprised if it's the quickest during the race too. Gone is the variable of having different fuel strategies. Narrower front tyres have also reduced grip for someone trying to overtake while in the dirty air of the car in front, so even that's more difficult!
Those are problems with the F1 format, not just the first race. It's not just myself who have said this (although I did before the start of the year) but all the F1 journalists too. They're struggling to produce an exciting read for their paper the next day! Universally with the exception of Ferrari everybody has said it was a dull boring race for an openner. Ferrari will change their mind once they don't win!
Contrast that to going to your local circuit and watching some minor formulas where you will see some genuine racing!
Re: Hamilton tops Aus F1 practice
Isn't this post supposed to be about how well Lewis is doing so far?
Enough of all the moaning about F1 being boring, there has only had one race! I say well done Lewis and keep up the good stuff. GB is behind you :)