domingo, 17 de marzo de 2019
QUALIFYING: Hamilton beats Bottas to Australia pole as Mercedes dominate
Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton have struck the first major blow in 2019, Hamilton taking pole for the Australian Grand Prix from team mate Valtteri Bottas, a full 0.7s up from the third-placed Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.
Hamilton clocked the lap record of Albert Park with a 1m 20.486s to snatch the initiative away from Bottas and record his sixth consecutive pole at the circuit, and a record-equalling eighth at the Australian Grand Prix.
With many having believed that Mercedes and Ferrari were nip-and-tuck going into the session, it was a tough showing for the Scuderia, with Vettel’s team mate Charles Leclerc ending up P5 for the team having been pipped by Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the death.
Romain Grosjean was a strong sixth, the Frenchman within 0.4s of Leclerc’s time and one place ahead of his team mate Kevin Magnussen as Haas capitalised on their strong pre-season showing.
McLaren rookie Lando Norris was another star of Saturday, making it through to Q3 in his first ever F1 qualifying session – in contrast to his team mate Carlos Sainz, who dropped out in Q1 – and winding up P8 in his MCL34.
Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point's Sergio Perez completed the top 10.
Local favourite Daniel Ricciardo was unable to make it into Q3 on his first quali outing for Renault, finishing up in P12, one place down on his team mate Nico Hulkenberg, while Pierre Gasly had a terrible start to his Red Bull career proper, failing to make it out of Q1 in his RB15.
Hamilton clocked the lap record of Albert Park with a 1m 20.486s to snatch the initiative away from Bottas and record his sixth consecutive pole at the circuit, and a record-equalling eighth at the Australian Grand Prix.
With many having believed that Mercedes and Ferrari were nip-and-tuck going into the session, it was a tough showing for the Scuderia, with Vettel’s team mate Charles Leclerc ending up P5 for the team having been pipped by Red Bull's Max Verstappen at the death.
Romain Grosjean was a strong sixth, the Frenchman within 0.4s of Leclerc’s time and one place ahead of his team mate Kevin Magnussen as Haas capitalised on their strong pre-season showing.
McLaren rookie Lando Norris was another star of Saturday, making it through to Q3 in his first ever F1 qualifying session – in contrast to his team mate Carlos Sainz, who dropped out in Q1 – and winding up P8 in his MCL34.
Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen and Racing Point's Sergio Perez completed the top 10.
Local favourite Daniel Ricciardo was unable to make it into Q3 on his first quali outing for Renault, finishing up in P12, one place down on his team mate Nico Hulkenberg, while Pierre Gasly had a terrible start to his Red Bull career proper, failing to make it out of Q1 in his RB15.
F1.COM
QUALIFYING 1, 2 AND 3 F1 AUSTRALIA SOON (ENGLISH)
IN INSTANCES A REPORT OF THE THREE TASKS OF CLASSIFICATION OF THE GRAND PRIX OF AUSTRALIA. CARRERA 00.00 PERÚ, 05.00 GMT.
sábado, 16 de marzo de 2019
FP3: Advantage Mercedes as Hamilton heads Vettel ahead of qualifying
In the final running in Melbourne before we get down to the first qualifying session of the 2019 season, Lewis Hamilton continued his run of heading every session so far this weekend, going 0.264s faster than Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in Free Practice 3 at Albert Park.
Hamilton posted the fastest lap of the weekend so far ahead of qualifying with a 1m 22.292s, some six-tenths faster than his pole time from last year.
With Ferrari having seemed to sandbag during Friday’s running, the Scuderia appeared to be slightly shy of Mercedes’ pace when the wicks were turned up on Vettel and Charles Leclerc’s SF90s for the first time on Saturday – although it probably won’t be until Q3 that we have a true read of the top teams’ ultimate prowess for 2019.
Friday Pace Analysis – Australia
Behind Hamilton and the two Ferraris, Haas came from nowhere to dominate the midfield battle, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finishing fourth and fifth, ahead of both Red Bulls and the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who had a scrappy session, twice getting on the grass at Albert Park’s penultimate Turn 15.
Meanwhile, Daniil Kvyat continued to demonstrate the latent pace in the Toro Rosso STR14, going P8 behind Pierre Gasly and Bottas, and ahead of Max Verstappen, the man who replaced him at Red Bull in 2016.
Williams’ lap times haven’t made for happy reading so far this weekend. And Robert Kubica added to the team’s woes by clattering the pit-lane entry wall mid-way through the session and appearing to take some bodywork off the FW42. Kubica ended the session in P20, one place behind team mate George Russell, the team's best lap some 3.6s off the ultimate pace.
So, some eye-raising lap times on the board – and while it looks tight between Mercedes and Ferrari, let’s see how things pan out during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix before we make any big pronouncements for 2019.
Hamilton posted the fastest lap of the weekend so far ahead of qualifying with a 1m 22.292s, some six-tenths faster than his pole time from last year.
With Ferrari having seemed to sandbag during Friday’s running, the Scuderia appeared to be slightly shy of Mercedes’ pace when the wicks were turned up on Vettel and Charles Leclerc’s SF90s for the first time on Saturday – although it probably won’t be until Q3 that we have a true read of the top teams’ ultimate prowess for 2019.
Friday Pace Analysis – Australia
Behind Hamilton and the two Ferraris, Haas came from nowhere to dominate the midfield battle, Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen finishing fourth and fifth, ahead of both Red Bulls and the second Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas, who had a scrappy session, twice getting on the grass at Albert Park’s penultimate Turn 15.
Meanwhile, Daniil Kvyat continued to demonstrate the latent pace in the Toro Rosso STR14, going P8 behind Pierre Gasly and Bottas, and ahead of Max Verstappen, the man who replaced him at Red Bull in 2016.
Williams’ lap times haven’t made for happy reading so far this weekend. And Robert Kubica added to the team’s woes by clattering the pit-lane entry wall mid-way through the session and appearing to take some bodywork off the FW42. Kubica ended the session in P20, one place behind team mate George Russell, the team's best lap some 3.6s off the ultimate pace.
So, some eye-raising lap times on the board – and while it looks tight between Mercedes and Ferrari, let’s see how things pan out during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix before we make any big pronouncements for 2019.
viernes, 15 de marzo de 2019
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