Australia GP: Rosberg tops final practice
A happy Nico Rosberg |
The Mercedes cars continue to dominate in Melbourne. Nico Rosberg topped the times in the final practice for the Australian GP. Jenson Button in the McLaren Mercedes was 2nd 1.4 seconds back.
So fast are the Mercedes that with 10 min to go in the session Rosberg got out of his car and dared anyone to beat him. No one came close.
Fernando Alonso was third for Ferrari ahead of Rosberg's Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton.
Daniel Ricciardo was a respectable 5th for Red Bull but his teammate Sebastian Vettel was way down in 12th complaining over the radio that his Renault powered car would not accelerate.
Three drivers – Bottas, Gutierrez and Grosjean never even completed a timed lap.
Results
Pos | Driver | Team/Car | Time | Behind | Laps |
1. | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1m29.375s | +0.000 | 15 |
2. | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m30.766s | +1.391s | 20 |
3. | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1m30.876s | +1.501s | 11 |
4. | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1m30.919s | +1.544s | 13 |
5. | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1m30.970s | +1.595s | 13 |
6. | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1m30.978s | +1.603s | 16 |
7. | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1m31.156s | +1.781s | 12 |
8. | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1m31.251s | +1.876s | 22 |
9. | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1m31.665s | +2.290s | 17 |
10. | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1m31.723s | +2.348s | 20 |
11. | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1m31.925s | +2.550s | 17 |
12. | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1m32.255s | +2.880s | 14 |
13. | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1m32.417s | +3.042s | 16 |
14. | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Ferrari | 1m34.184s | +4.809s | 15 |
15. | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1m34.188s | +4.813s | 16 |
16. | Kamui Kobayashi | Caterham-Renault | 1m34.413s | +5.038s | 19 |
17. | Max Chilton | Marussia-Ferrari | 1m34.717s | +5.342s | 15 |
18. | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1m34.754s | +5.379s | 15 |
19. | Marcus Ericsson | Caterham-Renault | 1m36.159s | +6.784s | 21 |
20. | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | No Time | No Time | 2 |
21. | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | No Time | No Time | 2 |
22. | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | No Time | No Time | 4 |