Australian Grand Prix Test: Lewis Hamilton leads Ferrari – F1

Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the opening round of the Australian Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season, but both Ferrari drivers were within one tenth of the time. Mercedes World Champion.

Hamilton had warned that Mercedes was facing a clear deficit ahead of Ferrari in pre-season testing, but launched its first race in Melbourne on Friday afternoon as if nothing had happened.

Five-time winner of the title, he put 0.025 seconds to Sebastian Vettel on the circuit of Albert Park, late 0.038 seconds. Charles Leclerc was only 0.074 seconds behind in his first Grand Prix session for Ferrari.

Max Verstappen gave Red Bull and Honda an encouraging start to life with the fourth fastest time, 0.193 seconds behind schedule.

Mercedes spent most of his training in the lead, as Valtteri Bottas became the first driver to score significant time and led the standings until Hamilton became the fastest when both tires pbaded moderately tender tires. tender.

Bottas' soft tires left it 0.267s slower than Hamilton and limited it to fifth, but that could have been worse after missing an opportunity on an escape route.

As he approached the penultimate bend, the Finn touched the grbad on the outside and continued straight ahead, locking briefly, then operating the throttle to perform a spin. orderly – barely avoiding the barrier to the outside while his car was spinning.

Pierre Gasly, the new Red Bull driver, did not have the same impact as a team-mate, Verstappen, and beat the pace of 1.3 seconds in eighth position.

This allowed Kimi Raikkonen to keep the best of the rest behind the big three teams, giving Alfa Romeo a quick boost for his first Grand Prix weekend as a full participant.

Raikkonen was 1.2 seconds off the pace, indicating that the midfielder group is no closer to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull than before.

Gasly's lack of pace in the first few tries meant that he was also found behind his former team, Toro Rosso, and the driver he had replaced at Red Bull Junior Training in 2017, Daniil Kvyat.

The Russian, who returns to F1 after a year as a Ferrari development driver, clocked seventh fastest time and was only two hundredths of a second slower than Raikkonen.

His new teammate Alex Albon held up less well during his Grand Prix weekend debut, achieving a respectable 13th time, but provoking a red flag when he dropped his car into the barriers at the exit of the bend. 1 in the last half hour.

Haas was considered the midfielder's favorite after the trials, but Kevin Magnussen was only the ninth, but only one-tenth of Raikkonen.

Nico Hulkenberg, of Renault, finished in the top 10 after losing time because of an "electronic mistake".

McLaren and Racing Point had a muted start to the season with their top drivers, respectively 14th (Carlos Sainz Jr for McLaren) and 15th (Lance Stroll for Racing Point).

These teams were at least tied at the back of the midfield group, while Williams was seconded to the back of the field.

Robert Kubica had the best time on the team, but he was 4.3 seconds faster and two full seconds behind the next driver, McLaren, Lando Norris.

Formula 2 champion George Russell ended the session the slowest way, 0.8 seconds behind teammate Kubica.

He continues to worry about the beginning of 2019 for Williams, who was late for pre-season testing, lost his chief technical officer, Paddy Lowe, and altered the design of his car to ensure it legality before the weekend.

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