Australia – Free Practice 2: Vettel Holds Steady in Melbourne

Bright sun and clear blue skies for this second free practice session of the 2013 Australian Grand Prix (23°C in the air and 37°C on the track), even though the sun will gradually set during the hour and a half it will last.

The session is underway and the first driver to set off is Kimi Räikkönen, at the wheel of his Lotus. The Finn immediately clocks a timed lap: 1:32.967, which will obviously be quickly beaten, with a 1:29.012. Everyone is on track, with the notable exception of the Red Bulls and Ferraris. Lewis Hamilton takes the lead with 1:27.882, while ahead of him, Nico Rosberg misses the first corner and goes straight on. Räikkönen doesn’t let himself be outdone and regains the top of the timesheets with 1:27.606.

After 10 minutes into this session, Räikkönen leads Hamilton, Hülkenberg, Button, and Di Resta. But Vettel grabs the top spot with a time of 1:26.604, which is already faster than during FP1. On the Mercedes side, it’s full attack for Hamilton, who takes second place, and for Rosberg, who often explores the sidelines, perhaps due to the graining. Vettel continues to improve, with a 1:26.274, more than a second ahead of Rosberg, his closest pursuer, who clocked a 1:27.348. Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari finally leaves its garage after a quarter of an hour of inactivity; his teammate follows suit. The Spaniard takes provisional fifth place, and Hamilton takes second place, closing up to five-tenths from Vettel.

After 20 minutes, Vettel leads ahead of Hamilton, Webber, Rosberg, and Alonso. Valtteri Bottas has put on the super-soft tires (red), being the first to test these compounds (1:29.386), followed by Pastor Maldonado. This tire does not seem very durable and begins to lose performance by the end of the first flying lap. Jean-Eric Vergne also tries the softest tires brought by Pirelli. Massa sets the third-fastest provisional time, seven-tenths behind Vettel. The Ferrari team informs Alonso that he is experiencing a KERS issue. Vettel and Webber head back out.

After half an hour, the top five drivers are Vettel, Hamilton, Massa, Webber, and Rosberg. Giedo van der Garde stops in the gravel after the third turn. It seems that the Dutchman has suffered a technical problem, and the crane is busy getting him out of the trap. The presence of the yellow flag does not allow the drivers to improve during these moments. Max Chilton, on super soft tires, is on the attack, and his tires already seem quite worn after one flying lap. He solidifies his twentieth place.

**After forty minutes**, Vettel is still the leader, ahead of Hamilton, Massa, Webber, and Rosberg. The quintet remains unchanged, as the drivers are either on longer stints or not on track. The conditions are expected to be similar to those on Sunday during the Grand Prix, making it the perfect time to test tires and setups. Alonso, on supersoft tires, records the two best first sectors before losing nearly half a second in the final sector, placing second, less than five-tenths behind Vettel. Webber, on the other hand, takes the lead on supersofts with a 1:26.172, one-tenth ahead of his teammate, who was on medium tires. Räikkönen takes provisional third place, less than two-tenths behind Vettel, on soft tires.

Thirty minutes before the end, Vettel is ahead of Webber, Rosberg, Räikkönen, and Grosjean. Almost all the drivers are currently testing the super soft tires. The degradation seems very significant, around 4 to 6 seconds over four laps if we are to believe the times set by Alonso, which Webber and Grosjean’s performances seem to confirm.

Twenty minutes before the checkered flag, Vettel is at the top of the timing sheets, followed by Webber, Rosberg, Räikkönen, and Grosjean. Most of the stints are endurance tests. Massa almost collides with Gutiérrez, who exited the pits carelessly. The Brazilian shows his displeasure with a gesture. South America is well represented this season, even though there are no representatives from Argentina or Colombia, like the new Pope Francis or Juan-Pablo Montoya. As for the tires, graining seems to be a real problem for the drivers. Everyone is on the track, except for Giedo van der Garde, who had to stop early in the session.

With ten minutes remaining in this first day, the top 5 is still the same: Vettel, Webber, Rosberg, Räikkönen, and Grosjean. The yellow flag is shown to the competitors as Lewis Hamilton has gone straight at “Marina” and has to stop, just like Nico Rosberg, who seems to have suffered a mechanical problem and comes to a halt further down, just before “Clark.” The Mercedes team informed him it was a gearbox issue. Meanwhile, Mark Webber makes a mistake and spins in the short straight between “Ascari” and “Stewart.” The Australian didn’t hit anything and can continue.

The checkered flag is lowered, and once again it’s Sebastian Vettel who dominates this session, ahead of Mark Webber in the other Red Bull and Nico Rosberg.

Results of Free Practice 2 of the 2013 Australian Grand Prix: