Australian Grand Prix test: Hamilton leads Mercedes 1 to 2 – F1

Lewis Hamilton dominated the second free practice before the Australian Grand Prix opening of the 2019 Formula 1 season for Mercedes.

Hamilton, using soft Pirellis, allowed Bottas to take second place in 0.08 seconds, a lap finished just past the end of the 90-minute session.

Hamilton's pace advantage was so great that he was quick enough to qualify for the average compound Pirellis at the start of the session, allowing him to secure first place.

Max Verstappen was the third fastest time for Red Bull-Honda, eight tenths slower than Hamilton, after choosing to postpone his performances until the close of the session.

Verstappen scored 15 minutes before the end of the session, having spent much more time on average speed than everyone else before taking a 0.042s lead over new teammate Pierre Gasly.

The pre-season leader, Ferrari, had a moderate session, using Pirellis very early, while Sebastian Vettel complained on the radio that something was wrong, in rounds 1 and 4.

Subsequently, Vettel took off and clocked a time of 1m23.473 to rank fifth, then describing the car as "still a little wobbly" on the radio.

Alfa Romeo's newcomer, Kimi Raikkonen, was sixth, placing tenth behind Vettel, just ahead of both teams of Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo.

Charles Leclerc took the ninth place, at 1.154 seconds, in the second Ferrari, with Romain Grosjean, Haas driver, in the top 10.

Leclerc also turned late in the session when he lost it on the sidewalk at the exit of the turn to the left of turn 4. He was able to continue.

Toro Rosso rider Daniil Kvyat was 11th ahead of Kevin Magnussen's second Haas, followed by Racing Point's Lance Stroll (13th).

McLaren rider Carlos Sainz Jr. was also slow to finish his performance run and was the last driver to set his time.

This allowed him to climb to 14th place, right in front of the driver of Alfa Romeo, Antonio Giovinazzi, who played a lap in the entry on lap 15 at the end of the session after touching the game. ;grbad.

Alex Albon was 17th, one place behind Sergio Perez's second Racing Point, and then continued his practice by making a descent into the gravel runway at the halfway point and then a rotation similar to that of Giovinazzi.

Lando Norris finished 18th in the second McLaren, 1.7 seconds behind Williams' fastest – rookie George Russell, who made a gravel run in Turn 3 in the final stages.

Robert Kubica was the slowest, two tenths of Russell, in another tough session for Williams.

Practice twice