Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Hamilton struggling as Leclerc sets early pace
FERRARI’S Charles Leclerc saw off Max Verstappen in practice for the Australian Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton claimed “something was wrong” with his Mercedes after he finished only 18th.
Verstappen is bidding to match his record of ten consecutive wins at this weekend’s race in Melbourne – but Leclerc could pose a threat to the all-conquering Dutchman, following an impressive practice lap that put him nearly four-tenths clear.
Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz – back in his cockpit following British teenager Ollie Bearman’s stand-in drive in Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago – ended the running in third, with Aston Martin pair Lance
Stroll and Fernando Alonso fourth and fifth, respectively.
George Russell took sixth for Mercedes, 0.674 seconds behind Leclerc, but team-mate Hamilton finished ahead of only Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon – the latter not setting a time – on a bad day for the seven-time world champion.
Hamilton, 39, ran off the road in the first running at a sun-cooked Albert Park, and his struggles went on into the day’s concluding session, with a best lap that put him 1.5 sec off the pace and nearly a second behind Russell.
“What times are people doing?” Hamilton asked over the radio. After he was informed of leader Leclerc’s pace, he replied, “Yeah, something is wrong.”
Later, Hamilton said: “It didn’t feel great out there. We began the day on the front foot and in first practice, the car generally felt good. The first run was actually the best the car has felt so far this year. To continue our learning, we made some big changes into FP2 and unfortunately, that made the car worse. We will be working hard overnight to make improvements.”
Albon did not take part in FP2 after a high-speed crash in the opening session. The London-born Thai driver lost control of his Williams on the exit of Turn 6 before smashing into the wall and then rebounding across the circuit.
He came to a standstill and was able to get out of his cockpit. “Sorry,” he said over the radio before he was taken away in the medical car.
Albon, 27, was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks as the session was redflagged to clear his destroyed machine. Following irreparable damage, Williams said Albon would take over team-mate Logan Sargeant’s machine, sidelining the American for the rest of the event.