Alonso fastest as Hamilton struggles after opening practice in Australia
Fernando Alonso has ended a frenetic opening practice session ahead of the Australian Grand Prix fastest for Ferrari, after Lewis Hamilton endured a frustrating premature end to his session when an oil pressure sensor alarm shut his engine down during the opening minutes. Alonso was followed at the top by the McLaren of Jenson Button and Williams of Valtteri Bottas.
The 2014 season got underway in a flurry of activity down in the pit-lane, with two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso taking to the track first in the Ferrari ahead of Adrian Sutil and Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen. As many other drivers followed the trio out onto the track to begin their preparations for the weekend ahead, Lewis Hamilton frustratingly ground to a halt on the exit of Turns 9 and 10 with what looked like a technical issue plaguing his machine. Although it was later confirmed that an oil pressure sensor alarm shut the engine down as a precaution, this stoppage signified a premature conclusion to the Briton’s opening practice session Down Under.
After the mechanics had retrieved the stricken Mercedes under double-waved yellow flag conditions, Daniel Ricciardo surprisingly managed to produce the first timed lap of the session with a 01:37.290 in the Red Bull. Whilst his team-mate Sebastian Vettel remained stuck in the confines of the pit-lane, local hero Ricciardo continued to lower the benchmark with a 01:34.600 as the Williams of former GP3 Champion Valtteri Bottas rose up into 2nd position. As more drivers eventually returned to the Albert Park Street Circuit, the times continued to tumble in traditional fashion, with Fernando Alonso and then Nico Rosberg rising to the top with the latter producing a 01:32.784.
As Nico Rosberg continued to improve at the top with a 01:32.604, Daniel Ricciardo ran extensively wide at Turn 12 whereas Sergio Perez performed a half-spin in his Force India at Turn 3 as the drivers slowly got to grips with their new machinery for 2014. Despite the surprising flurry of track activity during the early minutes of the practice session, both Caterham drivers had their running curtailed due to separate technical issues on their cars. Whilst Kamui Kobayashi was struck with a fuel system issue, Swedish rookie Marcus Ericsson suffered with an electrical issue on his CT05 machine.
Meanwhile Jenson Button stormed to the top of the timing sheets with a 01:32.357 in his Mercedes-powered McLaren, before reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel finally left the pit-lane in his Red Bull with only 38 minutes of the session remaining. The German only managed to complete on exploratory lap, before returning immediately to the pits. As the Red Bull mechanics carried out various checks on the RB10, reigning GP3 Champion Daniil Kvyat struggled greatly through Turns 1 and 2, with the Russian rookie skipping across the grass.
Eventually Fernando Alonso returned to the top for Ferrari with a 01:31.840, as Sebastian Vettel finally completed his first timed lap with a 01:34.593 to go 13th fastest. The German managed to improve on his second run by rising up to 8th, as the Lotus duo of Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean still remained stuck in the pits with their respective mechanics working tirelessly on the cars. Eventually Pastor Maldonado gingerly left the pit-lane, however it was soon clear that various issues were still plaguing his Renault-powered car as smoke was seen ominously emanating from the cockpit of his car. The Venezuelan driver ran extensively wide at Turn 13, before his engine completely cut-out on his return to the pits.
As the opening practice session of the weekend drew to a conclusion, Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat still struggled with the opening two corners, with the Toro Rosso driver in particular struggling with brake issues on his car. Max Chilton’s session was brought to a premature conclusion when the Briton came to a halt at the end of the pit-lane, whereas Sebastian Vettel was called into the weigh-bridge. Meanwhile the action continued out on track, with Jean-Eric Vergne seemingly also suffering from brake related issues as the Frenchman lost control of his car at Turn 3 and spun into the gravel. Miraculously Vergne managed to keep his car running, and eventually continued circulating.
Eventually the checkered flag was unfurled to signify an end to what was an incredibly frenetic opening 90 minutes of the Australian Grand Prix weekend, with Fernando Alonso fastest at Ferrari ahead of Jenson Button and Valtteri Bottas. Felipe Massa was a close 4th for Williams, with Daniel Ricciardo an impressive 5th for Red Bull. The drivers will return to the Albert Park Street Circuit later in the day, for the second practice session ahead of race on Sunday.
Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap Laps 1. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m31.840s 20 2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.357s +0.517s 23 3. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 1m32.403s +0.563s 27 4. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m32.431s +0.591s 19 5. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m32.599s +0.759s 26 6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m32.604s +0.764s 17 7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.793s +0.953s 10 8. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m32.847s +1.007s 28 9. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m32.977s +1.137s 18 10. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m33.446s +1.606s 30 11. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m33.533s +1.693s 23 12. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m33.855s +2.015s 24 13. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m34.272s +2.432s 27 14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 1m35.578s +3.738s 7 15. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m36.445s +4.605s 13 16. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m40.859s +9.019s 6 17. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m46.922s +15.082s 4 18. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1 19. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1 20. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1 21. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 2 22. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 2
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