HAMILTON TOPS FREE PRACTICE AT AUSTRALIAN GP

Hamilton clocks fastest time in Australian Grand Prix practice

MELBOURNE: Lewis Hamilton delivered the faster speeds that Formula One rule changes had promised, going under the racing lap record in the second practice session for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The three-time world champion had the fastest time in morning practice and his afternoon time of 1 minute, 23.620 seconds was quicker than the racing lap mark Michael Schumacher set in winning the 2004 title at the Albert Park Circuit.

It was only one-tenth slower than the best ever lap of Albert Park, which Sebastien Vettel set to take pole position in 2011.

“I’m super happy to be back in the car – particularly after a first day like that. It was 99% perfect,” Hamilton said. “We’ve shown good form so far on both the long and short runs and we got every lap done that we wanted to.”

Ferrari driver Vettel split the Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who posted the fastest two times in the opening practice earlier yesterday, with his 1:24.167 in the afternoon session.

Kimi Raikkonen’s afternoon run meant the Ferraris were second and fourth – a reflection of their positive pre-season testing in Barcelona – and pushed the Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen back from third and fourth in the morning session to fifth and sixth in the afternoon.

Vettel was less than one-tenth of a second in front of Bottas, who replaced Nico Rosberg at Mercedes after the reigning world champion retired.

Hamilton, who won back-to-back world championships in 2014 and 2015 and narrowly lost to Rosberg last season, completed 22 laps in the morning session and 34 in the afternoon and used three tyre compounds across the day.

The first practice was almost processional with the Mercedes cars followed by the two Red Bulls and the Ferraris.

Hamilton predicted ahead of the Australian GP that Ferrari would be the team to beat. He said yesterday was indicative of how his rivals have improved and said qualifying today would be the first genuine test.

“We knew from FP1 that the Ferraris weren’t at their maximum. Of course, in FP2 all of a sudden they were quick,” Hamilton said. “We’ll see tomorrow how it really stands.” Four-time world champion Vettel completed only 10 laps in the morning session but had 35 in the second session.

“We had a mixed day, this morning wasn’t so good but then we had a better afternoon,” Vettel said. “I think the balance of the car is not yet where we want it to be, but I’m sure we can take a step forward on that.”

Ricciardo and Verstappen, who only ran eight laps in the afternoon, were followed by Carlos Sainz of Toro Rosso, Romain Grosjean – who drove his Haas through the gravel during the second session – and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg.

The new regulations for 2017 allowed for wider tyres with more grip and durability, greater aerodynamics, bigger fuel loads and increased downforce and were designed to increase speed. The first two sessions have confirmed that is the case among the top contenders.

Williams rookie Lance Stroll set the first time of the season, the 18-year-old Canadian momentarily on top of the time sheets after his first flying lap in an F1 Grand Prix event. He was 13th in the opening session and dropped to 16th in the second, almost three seconds off the pace.

His team-mate Felipe Massa was seventh-quickest in the morning but slipped to 14th in the afternoon, reporting mechanical problems as he slid off and stopped on the grass at Turn 10. Massa completed six laps in the second session, which was staged in sunny, mild conditions and was only 10 minutes old when Jolyon Palmer spun his Renault rear-first into the barrier.

McLaren had problems in testing in the off-season and former world champion Fernando Alonso’s 12th in the second session was the team’s best of the day. — AP