Lewis Hamilton doubles up on opening day of F1 2017; Hamilton half a second quicker than Bottas and Vettel; McLaren make progress
Thursday 30 March 2017 11:31, UK
Lewis Hamilton completed a dominant start to F1 2017's opening day as Mercedes threw off the shackles from winter testing in Practice for the Australian GP.
Despite protestations in the build-up to Melbourne that testing pacesetters Ferrari were favourites for the first race, Hamilton comfortably topped both Friday sessions with his pacesetting lap in Practice Two of 1:23.620 within one tenth of the quickest lap ever recorded at Albert Park.
"He's in a league of his own at the moment," admitted Mercedes chief Toto Wolff to Sky Sports F1.
In an added bonus for the title favourite, Hamilton outpaced new team-mate Valtteri Bottas by half a second, the same margin as Practice One. Bottas, who ran wide over the grass, was third ahead of countryman Kimi Raikkonen.
"It was 99 per cent perfect." Hamilton said. "After struggling with some issues in Barcelona, we didn't know if we'd have the same thing here. What's really encouraging is that we've arrived at the track just a week later and the car is exactly where it should be."
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel did manage to split the Mercedes drivers, with Red Bull slipping behind their Italian rivals in the second session after struggling on the ultrasoft tyre.
Max Verstappen missed out on the later long runs after damaging his RB13's floor when running over the gravel on the exit of the fast Turn 10-11 complex.
"I had a bit of understeer, so went off the track and damaged the floor," Verstappen told Sky F1. "We tried to find a better balance and we are just a bit too slow. We are where I expected us to be."
Conclusions from Australian GP Practice
There were several other drivers in the wars too.
After a transmission problem cost him track time in Practice One, Renault's Jolyon Palmer crashed at the final corner, with the Englishman's car sustaining major damage to both front and rear and ruling him out of the remainder of the session.
"The last thing you want as a team on the first day of this long, long season is some damage," said former technical chief and new Sky F1 analyst Pat Symonds.
Williams, meanwhile, lost Felipe Massa's car when an electrical problem stopped his FW40 on track.
Unreliability had dogged McLaren-Honda throughout winter testing but the beleaguered partnership made it through the opening day in Melbourne without any major stoppages.
Although the gap to the front remains large - 2.4 seconds on the Practice Two timesheet - Fernando Alonso finished in a respectable 12th place. However, there were a number of cars, including both Williams FW40s, which finished behind him which are likely to move forwards in time for qualifying.
"Compared with testing, it was a little bit better," said McLaren boss Eric Boullier.
Toro Rosso headed the midfield battle in Practice Two with Carlos Sainz in seventh three tenths ahead of Romain Grosjean's Haas and Nico Hulkenberg's Renault.
Australian GP Practice Two Timesheet
1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:23.620
2. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari + 0.547
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes + 0.556
4. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari + 0.905
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull +1.030
6. Max Verstappen, Red Bull +1.393
7. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso +1.464
8. Romain Grosjean, Haas +1.816
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Renault +1.858
10. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso +1.873
11. Sergio Perez, Force India +1.971
12. Fernando Alonso, McLaren +2.380
13. Esteban Ocon, Force India +2.525
14. Felipe Massa, Williams +2.711
15. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber +2.878
16. Lance Stroll, Williams +2.905
17. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren +2.988
18. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber +3.299
19. Kevin Magnussen, Haas +3.659
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault +3.929
All fastest laps set on ultrasofts except Verstappen, Massa, Magnussen, Palmer on supersofts
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