Hamilton and Rosberg run 1-2 in 2nd practice in Australia

Lewis Hamilton in the superior Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton did not set a time in the morning session due to a mechanical issue but recovered to top the first day of practice for the Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix in his Mercedes. Teammate Nico Rosberg was 2nd ahead of the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso who was fastest in the morning session.

The surprise was Sebastian Vettel in 4th in the Red Bull Lemon. It appears the team may be turning the lemon to lemonade faster than anyone thought possible.

The reliability problems which have dogged Lotus since the team made its belated start to testing remained on the first day of the new season.

The teams’ two drivers only managed to participate in one session each as their E22 chassis were afflicted with a series of glitches.

“We were delayed getting Romain Grosjean’s car out in the first session due to a gearbox fluid leak," explained technical director Nick Chester. Grosjean did not leave the garage at all during the opening 90 minutes of running.

Team mate Pastor Maldonado covered two laps before being struck by an electrical problem.

“Part of Pastor’s issue was related to the wiring loom, which we needed to replace," said Chester. “The looms are so complex for the latest generation car that this meant Pastor missed the second session."

Lotus have replaced the energy store and control electronics for both motor generator units on Maldonado’s car.

Although Grosjean did make it onto the track in the second session he was visibly struggling with the E22 in some corners and eventually skidded off at turn six. He suspected a failure had occurred under braking.

Lewis Hamilton
It really was a day of two halves today. While it was disappointing to not get any track time this morning, these little hiccups are going to happen with the new cars and we'll have to get used to that. It felt like I was on the back foot from there but then we got up to pace quite quickly in P2 and found the balance relatively fast. I feel quite comfortable in the car so overall it's a positive start but we need to look at the data now and understand where we are. We got a nice foundation for the weekend in the second session today so hopefully we can build on that in P3 tomorrow afternoon and then see where we are in qualifying.

Nico Rosberg
It was so great to be back in the car today and I'm very pleased with the progress that we made. As always on a Friday, we don't really know where we are in terms of pace yet and how much fuel everyone else was running in comparison to our program. It's definitely going to be very tough on fuel here, as we expected. The screen on my steering wheel shows the fuel target for each lap and we're going to have to be very disciplined in the race. It's a pretty good start for us overall and I'm looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

Alonso

Fernando Alonso
"On the first Friday of the season, there’s always a bit more tension. It’s the start of a new championship and there is the feeling of general expectation to see how things we worked on during the winter are functioning. Overall, this was a positive day for us and even if there was an element of nervousness because of the complexity introduced by the new technical regulations, everything went well. The team did a super job and we had no problems. The track improved from the first session to the second, with more grip compared to the morning and there was also more wind. Running the soft tire certainly helped, as the extra grip meant the times came down, but it’s impossible to have a clear idea of how competitive we are, because as usual, Friday results don’t mean much. To know more, we must wait until everyone is running in the same trim."

Sebastian Vettel
"In a way it’s a relief today, the fact that we were running, we didn’t have any problems, the balance was good and the performance looked alright. In the end Friday times are not worth a lot, but it’s better to be close to the top rather than somewhere towards the back, so I’m very happy with that. We will do what we can to prepare for tomorrow and Sunday, but let’s see where we are then – the most important thing is that we finish."

Rob White, Renault deputy managing director (technical)
‘It was very good to see the V6 turbos at the first Grand Prix of the year after a long and anxious build up.’

The first thing to say is that it was very good to see the V6 turbos at the first Grand Prix of the year after a long and anxious build up. We came to Melbourne not as prepared as we would have liked, with some race weekend scenarios still needing to be practiced. Today we managed to get through the missing items with some teams. Our main aim has been to set up the parameters and get closer to the limit of each individual part and therefore make up for lost time. With some teams we are much closer to these limits and in others we still have some way to go, but we have made up ground on our recovery plan.

Remi Taffin, Renault head of track operations:
"Overall we have learned a great deal today and we will look at everything in detail to improve in all areas tomorrow, but the start has been generally encouraging.

"Our aim was to complete as much running as possible to add to our bank of information. We achieved this with some teams, but with others we fell short.

"We were clearly encouraged by Red Bull’s reliability and performance times in both sessions, with both Daniel competing more than a race distance over both sessions and Sebastian coming close. We are much closer to the performance envelope on the car too, and there is still more performance to come, which is very positive. Likewise Scuderia Toro Rosso was able to complete the highest number of laps of any team in FP1, and the relative pace was strong. In FP2 again they ran well and while we still have some way to go to improve the drivability and energy management, the start of the weekend has been good.

"Unfortunately Caterham and Lotus were not able to get many laps on the board. Kamui Kobayashi experienced a fuel system issue in FP1 and Marcus Ericsson an electrical problem, which required a change of battery and the MGU-K. Both issues took a long time to fix, such is the complexity of the 2014 Power Units, which cost us valuable track time. Then in the later session, Marcus had a hydraulic issue and again we lost laps. While it seems like cold comfort, every issue is relatively straightforward – it is just not straightforward to fix.

"Likewise Lotus experienced some problems that led to issues with the engine systems, with Pastor’s car having a battery change and both MGUs needing to be changed too. Given the lack of running over the winter this obviously wasn’t ideal and we will work with the team to make up for lost time tomorrow.

"Overall we have learned a great deal today and we will look at everything in detail to improve in all areas tomorrow, but the start has been generally encouraging."

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