The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Hamilton to fore ahead of season opener
Briton hails perfect start after setting pace in opening practice sessions ahead of Australian Grand Prix
Lewis Hamilton hailed the perfect start to his new Formula One season after he completed a dominant practice double and laid down an ominous marker to his rivals ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel exchanged verbal volleys in Melbourne on Thursday as they failed to agree on which driver-team combination should be considered the favourites heading into a new era following changes to the sport’s technical regulations.
The consensus in the paddock was that Ferrari, led by four-time champion Vettel and starved of championship glory for a decade, held the advantage following a promising eight days of pre-season testing in Barcelona.
However, Hamilton’s blistering pace around Albert Park would appear to point to the contrary.
Indeed Britain’s triple world champion, who is bidding to reclaim the crown he lost to bitter rival Nico Rosberg last year, finished both sessions an eyewatering half-a-second clear of his rivals.
Hamilton’s best effort of one minute 23.620 seconds was 0.547 faster than Vettel in the second session, with Valtteri Bottas, the Finnish driver hired to replace Rosberg following his shock retirement, marginally slower.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest, with the Red Bull duo of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen fifth and sixth.
“It is a wonderful feeling coming into a new era of Formula One to have a car that is so strong and I’m super happy to be back, particularly after a first day like that,” beamed Hamilton. “It was 99% perfect.”
McLaren arrived in Australia off the back of a catastrophic winter of testing plagued by a slow and unreliable Honda engine.
However, the British team will be mildly encouraged after the opening day of practice, with Fernando Alonso 12th in the order.
His new team-mate, Stoffel Vandoorne, was further back in 17th.
Briton Jolyon Palmer was the day’s biggest casualty after he spun his Renault and crashed into the wall at the final corner.
Palmer, now in his second season with Renault, damaged his pride and his car, with his team facing a major repair job to get his car ready for qualifying today.