Mercedes AMG had productive Friday
FIRST PRACTICE
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.560 11
2. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.805 + 0.245 14
3. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.235 + 0.675 17
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:28.360 + 0.800 21
5. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:28.467 + 0.907 21
6. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:28.683 + 1.123 22
7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:28.908 + 1.348 23
8. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:29.415 + 1.855 16
9. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:29.565 + 2.005 8
10. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.722 + 2.162 26
11. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:29.790 + 2.230 21
12. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:29.865 + 2.305 17
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:29.881 + 2.321 18
14. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:29.953 + 2.393 21
15. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.124 + 2.564 22
16. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:30.515 + 2.955 16
17. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:30.586 + 3.026 16
18. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:30.743 + 3.183 11
19. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:31.178 + 3.618 17
20. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:31.983 + 4.423 8
21. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:34.730 + 7.170 8
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:40.256 + 12.696 11
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth no time 3
24. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth no time 0
SECOND PRACTICE
Michael Schumacher set the fastest time of a wet/dry second practice for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Schumacher set the fastest time in the last lap of the session to pip Nico Hulkenberg's Force India as Mercedes showed some of the pace that is gained from the legal F-Duct system it has pioneered. The drying track meant times were tumbling throughout the final 15 minutes as drivers went out on slick tyres and exploited the improving track conditions. Sergio Perez was third in the Sauber, a full second slower than Schumacher and 0.1s ahead of Fernando Alonso, with Ferrari the first to go out on intermediate tyres in the middle of the session.
A torrential downpour left the track soaking wet with a lot of standing water, and only a few tentative laps from both Saubers and Toro Rossos were possible in the opening 20 minutes. After some intermediate lap times, there was a break while all the teams waited for the track to dry out a little more before the hectic ending to the session as many ventured out on slicks. Not to much to be read from wet Friday... Waiting for Sunny Saturday...
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:29.183 16
2. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:29.292 + 0.109 19
3. Sergio Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.199 + 1.016 23
4. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:30.341 + 1.158 13
5. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:30.709 + 1.526 14
6. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1:31.466 + 2.283 13
7. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:31.505 + 2.322 14
8. Heikki Kovalainen Caterham-Renault 1:31.932 + 2.749 16
9. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:32.184 + 3.001 17
10. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:32.194 + 3.011 19
11. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:32.296 + 3.113 20
12. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1:32.632 + 3.449 17
13. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1:32.767 + 3.584 15
14. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1:32.822 + 3.639 11
15. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.039 + 3.856 18
16. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:33.252 + 4.069 11
17. Pastor Maldonado Williams-Renault 1:34.108 + 4.925 21
18. Kimi Raikkonen Lotus-Renault 1:34.275 + 5.092 7
19. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1:34.312 + 5.129 17
20. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.485 + 5.302 29
21. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:34.604 + 5.421 31
22. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1:34.770 + 5.587 13
23. Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth 1:42.627 + 13.444 16
24. Pedro de la Rosa HRT-Cosworth 1
