Lewis Hamilton praised his Mercedes car after topping both practice sessions for the opening grand prix of the 2017 season in Australia. The British driver was fastest in both sessions on Friday, with his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas second in the morning and third in the afternoon.
“It is a wonderful feeling coming into a new era of Formula One to have a car that is so strong and I’m super happy to be back, particularly after a first day like that,” he said. “It was 99% perfect.”
The Briton was half a second clear of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was second in free practice two. It is an early sign that the team have adapted well to the new regulations that have changed the formula this season. “Ferrari are still right there with us and Red Bull have picked up a lot of pace,” Hamilton said. “We have got to stay on our toes, but I think we are making the right steps in the right direction.”
The new rules were intended to make the cars faster and Hamilton’s lap in the first session of 1min 24.220sec, set on the ultra-soft tyres, was 5.5 seconds faster than during the same run last year. It was also five-tenths clear of his team-mate and six-tenths up on the nearest Red Bull, Daniel Ricciardo in third. The Australian set his time on the supersoft rubber and was in front of his team-mate Max Verstappen.
Ferrari had been quickest in testing, however they have played down their chances and in the morning both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were just over a second back from Hamilton’s time using the harder compound of tyre. Vettel improved in the second session but still could not match the Mercedes even when using the ultrasoft, while Raikkonen also improved to fourth. The team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, said his team had been sticking to their programme and focusing on the balance of their car through the day. Ricciardo did not gain from running the softer tyre and concluded the afternoon in fifth, with Verstappen in sixth.
Hamilton, however, will take huge confidence going into Friday’s qualifying. It was hoped the new regulations for 2017 would narrow the advantage Mercedes held but on this admittedly very early form, they are starting just where they left off last season. Not only was Hamilton nailing perfect, quick sectors on the softest rubber but he was also showing ominous pace on his long runs. “He’s in a league of his own at the moment,” said their director of motorsport, Toto Wolff. Hamilton’s time of 1.23.62 was less than a tenth slower than Vettel’s when he posted the fastest lap set at Melbourne, for pole in 2011.
“The car is exactly where it should be,” said Hamilton. “It’s feeling great out there and the guys have done a fantastic job. We’ve shown good form so far on both the long and short runs and we got every lap done that we wanted to. The tyres performed really well today too.”
Britain’s Jolyon Palmer had an inauspicious start to his second season in F1 when he lost the rear of his Renault on the entry to the final corner and put it in the wall during free practice two, ending his session.
McLaren’s engine struggles that so marred their testing had not greatly improved with the new season just beginning. The cars did run but were off the pace, with Fernando Alonso’s 14th their best in the first session and although he improved to 12th in the second, was still 2.3 seconds off the pace. His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne was 20th and 17th respectively.
Williams, Haas and Renault led the midfield in the first session, with Toro Rosso, Haas and Renault chasing the big three teams in the second.
