Lewis Hamilton led the final practice session for the Australian Grand Prix with almost a full second in hand over team mate Nico Rosberg.
However Rosberg, who led both of yesterday’s sessions, reported a gearshift problem with his car during his final run on the soft tyres. The pair were split by Sebastian Vettel, the Ferrari driver getting within seven-tenths of a second of Hamilton’s time.
Hamilton’s lap of 1’27.867 was more than a tenth of a second off Rosberg’s best from yesterday. But late in the session he demonstrated he had more pace in hand by improving his first and second sector times.
Valtteri Bottas was fourth-quickest for Williams, a second off Hamilton’s time, followed by team mate Felipe Massa. Behind Raikkonen’s Ferrari, Williams’ fellow Mercedes customers Lotus were next, Romain Grosjean ahead of Pastor Maldonado.
Carlos Sainz Jnr and Felipe Nasr completed the top ten, the pair and 11th-placed Max Verstappen all covered by less than a tenth of a second. The other Sauber of Marcus Ericsson was 12th despite a spin at the exit of the high-speed turn 12.
It was another difficult session for Red Bull whose cars placed only 15th and 18th – Daniil Kvyat the slowest of the drivers who set times. Daniel Ricciardo’s car stopped at the pit lane exit but was pushed back in by the marshals and was later able to rejoin. The pair were split by the struggling McLarens.
However Manor’s chances of qualifying for the first race of the season remain slim as neither Will Stevens nor Roberto Merhi was able to participate in the session, having also missed all of yesterday’s running.
Pos. | No. | Driver | Car | Best lap | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’27.867 | 11 | |
2 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’28.563 | 0.696 | 13 |
3 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’28.821 | 0.954 | 14 |
4 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’28.912 | 1.045 | 14 |
5 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’28.988 | 1.121 | 18 |
6 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’29.017 | 1.150 | 13 |
7 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’29.481 | 1.614 | 12 |
8 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’29.864 | 1.997 | 15 |
9 | 55 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’29.869 | 2.002 | 19 |
10 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’29.934 | 2.067 | 24 |
11 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’29.952 | 2.085 | 16 |
12 | 9 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’30.613 | 2.746 | 21 |
13 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’30.741 | 2.874 | 14 |
14 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’30.993 | 3.126 | 17 |
15 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’31.185 | 3.318 | 10 |
16 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Honda | 1’31.391 | 3.524 | 14 |
17 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’31.666 | 3.799 | 13 |
18 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’32.830 | 4.963 | 6 |
Combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’29.557 | 1’27.697 | 1’28.821 | +1.124 | 62 |
2 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’29.586 | 1’27.797 | 1’27.867 | +0.07 | 55 |
3 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1’31.029 | 1’28.412 | 1’28.563 | +0.151 | 59 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1’31.310 | 1’28.842 | 1’29.017 | +0.175 | 60 |
5 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 1’30.748 | 1’29.265 | 1’28.912 | -0.353 | 66 |
6 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 1’31.188 | 1’28.988 | -2.2 | 37 | |
7 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Mercedes | 2’17.782 | 1’30.205 | 1’29.481 | -0.724 | 54 |
8 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Mercedes | 1’31.451 | 1’30.104 | 1’29.864 | -0.24 | 48 |
9 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’31.014 | 1’30.071 | 1’29.869 | -0.202 | 92 |
10 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’30.755 | 1’29.934 | -0.821 | 35 | |
11 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’31.067 | 1’31.395 | 1’29.952 | -1.115 | 53 |
12 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull-Renault | 1’32.073 | 1’30.016 | 1’32.830 | +2.814 | 51 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’32.261 | 1’30.473 | 1’30.741 | +0.268 | 63 |
14 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’32.303 | 1’30.613 | -1.69 | 35 | |
15 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’32.247 | 1’30.980 | 1’30.993 | +0.013 | 71 |
16 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull-Renault | 1’31.570 | 1’31.185 | -0.385 | 19 | |
17 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Honda | 1’34.542 | 1’31.387 | 1’31.666 | +0.279 | 40 |
18 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Honda | 1’34.785 | 1’33.289 | 1’31.391 | -1.898 | 25 |
2015 Australian Grand Prix
- Sponsor Watch: 2015 Australian and Malaysian GP
- Nasr wins Driver of the Weekend poll on debut
- F1 can only get better after lifeless Melbourne opener
- 2015 Australian Grand Prix team radio highlights
- 2015 Australian Grand Prix fans’ video gallery
Theo Parkinson (@theo-hrp)
14th March 2015, 4:07
Very exciting qualifying potentially. Mercedes drivers pushing hard, unpredictable between Williams and Ferrari and what’s going on with Red Bull and McLaren?
Kingshark (@kingshark)
14th March 2015, 4:11
Lotus have been quiet yet surprisingly solid; same can be said about Sauber. RBR struggling enormously, even slower than their own sister team. Nonetheless, it should be an exciting qualy.
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
14th March 2015, 4:13
Wait, what happened to Rosberg? Nowhere near Hamilton!
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
14th March 2015, 4:14
Ah, gear snag.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
14th March 2015, 4:15
No idea, his time in FP2 is still fastest of the weekend. Either he’s lost all his speed overnight, or he is sandbagging.
davej
14th March 2015, 5:24
Don’t forget, Hamilton was on course to go even quicker before aborting his final. That way in qualy there isn’t a second between Ham and ROS. In race pace Lewis has a couple of tenths as is evidenced by last year’s result. Should be an interesting qualy but i still believe Williams and Ferrari are too close to call.
evered7 (@evered7)
14th March 2015, 4:19
Out of the top 5, only Bottas improved on his times. Massa not considered since he didn’t run in P2.
Seems all of top3 teams have times on hand and have not revealed it yet.
Vettel showing great speed like he did in his WDC years, Kimi will play the waiting game I suppose with his impressive race pace.
Can’t wait for qualifying to start and kick off the season.
Theo Parkinson (@theo-hrp)
14th March 2015, 4:26
Hamilton was about to but pitted. He was a few tenths up I believe.
Key (@key75)
14th March 2015, 4:27
+1 Totally Agreed!
vet4
14th March 2015, 4:25
Please educate me. Why would Manor spend all this money to move their crew and equipment half way across the world only to have, what looks like, two of the world’s most expensive paperweights in the garage? Shouldn’t they save that money to figure out the software back at base instead? And not do their basic work at a venue? This is a team that earned points last year, I thought they’d know better..
Theo Parkinson (@theo-hrp)
14th March 2015, 4:27
It’s very difficult to run. They probably couldn’t afford to go through all the precautions before hand. What’s important is them entering every race this season. That’s key to survival.
evered7 (@evered7)
14th March 2015, 4:31
They had to make the trip to come to Malaysia anyway. If turning up in Aus makes them get the money, then it makes sense.
@HoHum (@hohum)
14th March 2015, 4:26
Are you people in the UK getting the coverage with Mark Webber commentating ? We are here in Oz and what a difference it makes to have someone who really knows what is happening with the drivers and cars out on track, keen sense of humour to. It really shows up how long it has been since the other driver-commentators were involved.
mickey18 (@mickey18)
14th March 2015, 5:53
It’s good to see! Always a fan of him and things like saying Ricciardo is sitting a bit lower this year and explaining that, or taking us around the RB garage is good to see.
Eggry (@eggry)
14th March 2015, 4:26
Surprise! Redbull-Renault is as bad as Mclaren-Honda! Wow.
tmax (@tmax)
14th March 2015, 5:20
Rumors are that Red Bull Racing purchased the IP of Renault engine to go their own way in 2016 !!!!
C.Honer is not denying it in the interview.
Leak: NBSSN Commentators !!!!!
tmax (@tmax)
14th March 2015, 5:18
1) McLaren Honda wanted to Pull a Red Bull Renault of 2014 in Australia and that looks remote.
2) Red Bull Renault 2015 looks like a Red Bull Renault of 2007 with Coulthard and Webber in it….
3) Mercedes 2015 looks like Mercedes 2014 !!!
Things might change in the next 2 hours. But unfortunately that is how it looks like now……
Solo (@solo)
11th April 2015, 1:38
I really don’t understand why F1 needs to have this back-markers teams like Red Bull and Mclaren. They are seconds behind and they offer nothing to the competition. They just fight with each other really.