Prac Two: Hamilton leads Merc 1-2

Editor

A swap to soft tyres saw Lewis Hamilton come to the fore in Melbourne while Nico Rosberg was FP2’s early pace-setter.

In keeping with Practice Two tradition, the drivers began on the medium tyres during which time Rosberg was the pace-setter ahead of Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel.

Rosberg retained that P1 slot when the field switched to the soft Pirelli tyres, however, that changed when Hamilton came through with a 1:29.625.

The British driver edged his team-mate by 0.157s while Fernando Alonso put his Ferrari up into third. The Spaniard, though, was half a second off the pace.

Vettel completed the session in fourth place and with 41 laps to his tally, a definite sign that Red Bull are getting it right while Jenson Button was fifth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo. The Aussie managed 38 laps.

Kimi Raikkonen was seventh for Ferrari despite a minor gearbox issue with Valtteri Bottas eighth quickest. The Williams driver, though, was quickest through the speed trap.

Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg, who ended his day in the gravel at Turn 8, completed the top ten.

It was another difficult session for Lotus with an ERS problem keeping Pastor Maldonado in the garage while Romain Grosjean managed 12 laps and finished down in 18th place.

Times
01 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:29.625 37 laps
02 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:29.782 31 laps
03 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:30.132 28 laps
04 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:30.381 41 laps
05 Jenson Button McLaren 1:30.510 33 laps
06 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:30.538 38 laps
07 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:30.898 32 laps
08 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:30.920 38 laps
09 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:31.031 34 laps
10 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:31.054 33 laps
11 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:31.060 35 laps
12 Felipe Massa Williams 1:31.119 31 laps
13 Sergio Perez Force India 1:31.283 36 laps
14 Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:32.355 36 laps
15 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:32.468 26 laps
16 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:32.495 36 laps
17 Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:33.486 29 laps
18 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:33.646 12 laps
19 Max Chilton Marussia 1:34.757 29 laps
Marcus Ericsson Caterham No time 1 lap
Kamui Kobayashi Caterham No time 0 laps
Pastor Maldonado Lotus No time 0 laps

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