Australia – Free Practice 1 & 2: Hamilton and Mercedes Already Ahead of the Competition

It is under clear skies and summer-like temperatures that the 2018 Formula 1 season opens at Albert Park in Melbourne.

First of the season, this Australian Grand Prix is, of course, an opportunity for the 20 drivers on the grid to gauge each other and set their pace, even though, commonly, the opening race can hold a few surprises which won’t be lasting lessons in the long term.

In any case, both in free practice 1 and free practice 2, the same man is at the top of the time sheet, namely Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes. With a lap time of 1:24.026 in the first session followed by a 1:23.931 in the second session, the Briton already seemed to be above the rest.

At the top, the match remains open!

Behind him, it’s a free-for-all and the gaps are tighter. A three-way battle is emerging between Mercedes, Red Bull, and Ferrari. The Austrian team is even faster than the legendary Scuderia on this first day since Max Verstappen is the main rival to Hamilton with a third time in FP1 (1:24.771, admittedly more than 7 tenths behind the Mercedes) and a second time in FP2 (1:24.058), just over a tenth behind the Briton. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo is struggling a bit more. On a track where he has always lacked success, the local hero placed 6th and 7th, at a respectable distance from the top times.

Ferrari is therefore a bit more behind as Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen found themselves behind Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in every session. Is the Italian team hiding its game? In any case, its tire choices in FP1 were slightly different from the direct competition. The times got much closer in FP2 where Räikkönen, fourth fastest with 1:24.214, was only a few hundredths off Valtteri Bottas’s Mercedes.

Back to school season meant that many drivers pushed the limits and made mistakes, with no other consequence than a few trips into the gravel. Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, and Esteban Ocon all flirted with the track limits.

The beautiful promise of the Grosjean-Haas duo

The position of “best of the rest” behind the leading trio of Mercedes/Ferrari/Red Bull, which is already pulling ahead, is likely to be fiercely contested. Today, it is the Haas team, and more specifically Romain Grosjean, who have claimed this spot with 7th and 6th fastest times in the two sessions. The Frenchman even had the luxury of beating Ricciardo’s Red Bull in FP2 and found himself less than a second behind Hamilton’s fastest time.

A situation that the McLaren team might envy, once again entangled in exhaust problems, as during the winter tests in Barcelona. Fernando Alonso remained stationary at his stand for a long time during the first session and could only take to the track in the last quarter hour. Even if the times of the Spaniard and his Belgian teammate Stoffel Vandoorne are respectable, around a second at best, Eric Boullier and his team are certainly expecting more from their new partnership with Renault.

🚨 Alonso on track alert 🚨

The McLaren man heads out for his first timed lap of the session#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/HdlvfAlSbv

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2018

The Renault team, meanwhile, finds itself in the middle of the pack, fighting with Force India, which has clearly fallen in performance compared to last year. Sergio Pérez did no better than a modest 12th place in FP2. Esteban Ocon, on the other hand, is slightly further behind, finishing 14th in FP1 and 15th in FP2.

At the bottom of the standings, the battle is between Lance Stroll’s Williams, who had to stop his car on track at the end of FP2, and Sergey Sirotkin, against the two Toro Rosso cars of Brendon Hartley and Pierre Gasly, who completed numerous laps without any technical issues with their new Honda power unit. The Saubers of Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc are even further back and will struggle to shine in this inaugural race.

The classification of Free Practice 1:

INITIAL CLASSIFICATION – END OF FP1

Hamilton’s title defence begins with the top time in the first session 💪

It’s so good to be back!#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/ijpT1stlUy

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 23, 2018

The FP2 standings:

Final timing screen for #FP2 at the #AusGP:
Nico: P13, 1:25.463, 35 laps
Carlos: P11, 1:25.390, 35 laps#RSspirit pic.twitter.com/V7vGKZTHsk

— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) March 23, 2018