Australian GP 2015

MARCH 13, 2015

Practice 2 Report - The First Hint

Nico Rosberg, Australian GP 2015
© Active Pictures

 

The first hint of the pecking order behind Mercedes was revealed in Free Practice 2 in Australia where the Ferraris were the next best, followed by a Williams and a Red Bull. The driver order was Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Valtteri Bottas and Daniil Kvyat.

The ambient temperature at the start of the 90-minute session was 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Centigrade) and the track temperature was 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Centigrade.)

Trouble? What trouble at Sauber? Sauber drivers Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were the first out on the track for FP2.

Meanwhile, at Manor Marussia, work continued on reinstalling all the software on the cars and computers.

The line-up for the session was: Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Red Bull Renault ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. Williams Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas. Ferrari ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren Honda ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button. Force India Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. Toro Rosso Renault ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz. Lotus Mercedes ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado. Marussia Ferrari ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi. Sauber ‘‚    ‚  ‚ Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr.

Grosjean set the first semi-serious lap time with 1:33.310, but Raikkonen quickly sliced that down to a 1:31.116 only to have his teammate Vettel beat that with a 1:30.451.

Grosjean then took to the gravel at Turn 4 and bounced back on track.

Ricciardo and Massa were stranded in the garage. The Red Bull needed an engine change, and the Williams had a water leak on the power unit.

Drama 16 minutes into the session when Magnussen slid off the track and sideways into the tire barriers a Turn 6. That brought out the red flags.

"The crash was my mistake," he said. "Just lost the rear on the entry and unfortunately hit the wall and damaged the left front. Another day tomorrow!"

23 minutes into the session, the green lights came on and the action resumed. Vettel had now lowered his time to a 1:29.801. Then Raikkonen turned a 1:28.842.

At the 30 minute mark the top six were: Raikkonen, Vettel, Hamilton, Bottas, Grosjean and Verstappen.

31 minutes into the session, Vettel was back on top with a time of 1: 28.412. Raikkonen, Rosberg and Hamilton rounded out the top four.

35 minutes into the session, Perez, on the soft Pirelli tires, moved into sixth place with a 1:30.985.

Ericsson tried limping back to the pits with the left rear suspension broken on the Sauber, and he made it.

With 47 minutes to go, the top six were: Vettel, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Hamilton, Maldonado and Kvyat.

But now Bottas was out there on a set of the soft compound slicks and so was Rosberg. The latter took first with a 1:27.697 and Bottas moved to fourth with a 1:29.265.

With 44 minutes remaining in the session, Hamilton was on a run with the softs. He set a time 0.100 slower than Rosberg's.

With 40 minutes remaining in the session, Ricciardo, Massa, Stevens and Merhi had still not gone out, and Hulkenberg was the only guy on the track. He had been in 12th place with a time of 1:32.269, but now he was out there on the soft Pirellis. He moved to 10th with a 1:30.473.

With 36 minutes remaining in the session, more drivers headed out on the softs.

With 30 minutes remaining in the session, the top 10 were: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Kvyat, Sainz, Maldonado, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.

With 26 minutes remaining in the session, Sainz had a quick spin at Turn 15.

In the final 20 minutes most drivers were now doing long runs on the soft and medium compound Pirellis, so their lap times were tapering off.

The top 10 remained: Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Bottas, Kvyat, Sainz, Maldonado, Grosjean and Hulkenberg.

Ricciardo, Massa, Stevens and Merhi did no laps at all.