Mercedes AMG again with fastest time on friday practices!!!
The first two free practice sessions in Malaysia were run in consistent conditions on a dry track and with ambient temperatures as high as 37 degrees Celsius. Generally high reliability enabled most teams to familiarise themselves with Pirelli's hard and medium tyres and to do race-simulation running. As in Australia, Mercedes led the way, but with a seemingly much reduced advantage.Heavy tyre degradation caused by the searing Sepang temperatures has limited Mercedes’ advantage over their Formula 1 rivals at the Malaysian Grand Prix, according to championship leader Nico Rosberg.
Jenson Button admits he is surprised by McLaren s lack of pace during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, saying the car is suffering in high-speed corners, but beleive McLaren can catch current F1 pacesetter Mercedes AMG as long as it maintains an aggressive development push.
Renault insists customer status is not hurting the Lotus and Caterham F1 teams, as problems with the reliability of their cars continued in Malaysia on Friday, especially E22.
Felipe Massa hopes to fight with Mercedes in the Malaysian Grand Prix but admits it won t be easy for Williams as the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull look strong:
"We completed our run plan and we had no technical issues, so today was a good opportunity to learn more about the performance of the car. It was pretty hot so we could also understand more about how the tyres are working in high temperatures. We managed to do long runs on different types of tyre which has been very useful and the car was performing solidly. There is still more performance to unlock from the car, so we need to work hard tonight analysing the data we have to make some improvements for qualifying and the race."Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says fuel-flow sensors must be improved and the FIA needs a "better solution and has acknowledged that the reigning champions could face a repeat of their fate in Australia due to another issue with a fuel flow rate sensor during practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix. But FIA has ruled out removing the fuel flow regulations, arguing it would lead to "very dangerous" closing speeds between cars. Sebastian Vettel, whose Red Bull set its fastest time on his second flying lap on medium rubber, suggests the RB10 is proving to be kind on its tyres in the heat of Malaysia.
"I think we had a good day, obviously Friday timings are not the most important thing in the world but it’s good to be up there and in range of the top guys. I think we had a decent day, not a completely smooth day for both of us, there are still some things to solve on the software side and the programming, but that’s the way it is. I think we have to learn a lot but all in all, I’m quite happy."
FIRST FREE PRACTICE
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME GAP LAPS
1. Luis Hamilton Merecdes AMG 1:40.691 19
2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:40.843 + 0.152 20
3. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:41.028 + 0.337 19
4. Jenson Button McLaren 1:41.111 + 0.420 20
5. Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:41.274 + 0.583 18
6. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:41.402 + 0.711 15
7. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:41.523 + 0.832 9
8. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:41.642 + 0.951 19
9. Felipe Massa Williams 1:41.686 + 0.995 23
10. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:41.830 + 1.139 22
11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:41.923 + 1.232 14
12. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:42.117 + 1.426 20
13. Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:42.365 + 1.674 21
14. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:42.869 + 2.178 21
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:42.904 + 2.213 23
16. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:43.825 + 3.134 18
17. Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:45.775 + 5.084 24
18. Max Chilton Marussia 1:46.911 + 6.220 10
19. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 1:51.180 + 10.489 5
20. Sergio Perez Force India no time set 2
21. Pastor Maldonado Lotus no time set 2
22. Romain Grosjean Lotus no time set 4
SECOND FREE PRACTICE
P. DRIVER TEAM TIME GAP LAPS
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG 1:39.909 30
2. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1:39.944 + 0.035 30
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 1:39.970 + 0.061 30
4. Luis Hamilton Merecdes AMG 1:40.051 + 0.142 32
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:40.103 + 0.194 29
6. Felipe Massa Williams 1:40.112 + 0.203 34
7. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:40.276 + 0.367 29
8. Jenson Button McLaren 1:40.628 + 0.719 28
9. Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:40.638 + 0.729 35
10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:40.691 + 0.782 34
11. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 1:40.777 + 0.868 33
12. Kevin Magnussen McLaren 1:41.014 + 1.105 20
13. Adrian Sutil Sauber 1:41.257 + 1.348 28
14. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 1:41.325 + 1.416 32
15. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 1:41.407 + 1.498 34
16. Sergio Perez Force India 1:41.671 + 1.762 25
17. Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:42.531 + 2.622 14
18. Max Chilton Marussia 1:43.638 + 3.729 20
19. Jules Bianchi Marussia 1:43.752 + 3.843 29
20. Marcus Ericsson Caterham 1:45.703 + 5.794 31
21. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham no time set 0
22. Pastor Maldonado Lotus no time set 0
