2012 Australian Grand Prix - FP1 & 2 analysis

Friday Free Practice Summary – March 16th 2012; Albert Park, Melbourne

Free Practice 1

The start of the official F1 calendar season got underway this morning at Albert Park, Melbourne as the track opened for Free Practice sessions 1 and 2. This would be the first time the F1 teams would put their cars on a circuit under racing conditions, and the first time since winter testing came to a close two weeks ago.

The opening day was one that would test the teams in a way they would not expect. The rain that started on Thursday afternoon continued overnight and into the morning, meaning by the time Practice 1 started early in the afternoon on Friday, the track would still be damp.

The result of the damp to wet conditions at the start of the day meant there were very little serious test laps put in by each of the teams. Ultimately though, it would be the McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton who would end the first practice session locking out the top times on the time sheets.

Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso would enjoy the top slot for much of the first practice session having opted to be the first car on track, but would have to settle for a final position of nineteenth overall as the first practice came to an end.

Other points of note across the first practice would be Ferrari and the apparent and obvious lack of handling of the car. Fernando Alonso, although finishing the first session in fourth overall and 21 laps complete, struggled to keep the car in check and narrowly escaped a massive slide out on track. His teammate, Felipe Massa, would not be so lucky, and after clipping the grass at Turn 9 and spinning the car, would end up in the gravel pit. This would bring yet another premature end to Massa’s time in the car.

Lotus F1 team had a difficult start to the day, once again having to work on the steering column of Kimi Raikkonen’s E20 – a problem that plagued the team throughout testing. The work once again restricted Raikkonen’s running time throughout the first session.

HRT also experienced a somewhat ‘standard for the team’ start to the season with neither of their two cars completing a flying lap. De La Rosa’s car was not ready to be started as it was still be completed by the team, and Karthikeyan’s car engine would cut out on track thanks to a lack of oil pressure.

Jenson Button summed up his first practice session stating; “Even though it doesn’t mean too much, it’s always nice to start the season with the quickest time of the day. Our car feels very different compared with the last test – the circuit is different and the average corner speed is a lot lower, but the car is still working well for me.”

Free Practice 2

In the second rain-affected practice of the day, a somewhat different result was achieved, with seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher topping the time sheets in his Mercedes AMG F1 W03.

The session would get off to a somewhat slow start thanks to heavy rain in the break, and with ‘reservoirs’ forming on the track, teams were once again reluctant to take to the track early in the session. Overall, free practice two would be pretty un-useful for any of the teams as proper runs could not be completed in full. However, the teams would get the opportunity to try the Pirelli Intermediate and Full Wet compounds out on a racing circuit.

The session would remain reasonably uneventful as the afternoon came to a close, with some minor slips and spills throughout the session due to the lack of grip on track. It was also very much apparent that the teams were not wishing to risk their cars and drivers ending up in a wall with the entire race weekend still ahead.

Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg exchanged places at the top of the time sheets over the course of their runs, but as the track dried up a little as rain eased and the cars dispersed the on track water, the final thirty minutes of practice would be filled with cars running slick tyres and looking for their fastest pace.

Hulkenberg would ultimately be denied his first place on the time sheets as Michael Schumacher clocked a 1:27.560 on the final lap of the entire practice session, 0.245 seconds ahead of his fellow countryman.

Once again Fernando Alonso would finish with his Ferrari in fourth overall, ahead of Kamui Kobayashi who had a hair rising experience on the final turn of his last lap of the day.

Heikki Kovalainen, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel would also finish within the top ten for the final run of the afternoon. However, in stark contrast to the first practice, both McLaren drivers would run relatively little, finishing fifteenth and sixteenth.

HRT would finally manage to sort out both of their cars, and Karthikeyan would finally post a timed lap towards the end of the session, albeit over thirteen seconds off the time set by Schumacher. Lotus F1 also overcame their steering column problems, but Raikkonen would only complete seven laps throughout the afternoon.

Free Practice 1 and 2 times and total laps can be seen below. Free Practice 3 commences tomorrow at 14:00 local time.

Free Practice 1 Results: