Australian GP - A century on the first day
Albert Park, 15 March
That’s it, the first day of the 2013 Formula 1 season has now been and gone. At the end of the first three hours of free practice, despite track conditions that were very different to those encountered in the twelve days of testing in Spain, there were no major surprises on the Melbournian circuit.
For Scuderia Ferrari, it was a busy day, with a long job list to get through – the same for all the teams in fact. Friday in Australia provided the first opportunity to evaluate the Pirelli tyres in operating temperatures that are more or less the norm for the coming season. As expected, the degradation problems encountered in the cold in Barcelona were less of an issue in the warmer Australian autumn. Between them, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa completed a round century of laps; 51 for the Spaniard and 49 for the Brazilian, with the F138 running trouble-free throughout the day, apart from a minor KERS problem for Felipe this afternoon, which did not stop him getting through his programme.
The reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, dominated proceedings, topping the morning time sheet in the Red Bull ahead of the Prancing Horse duo of Felipe and Fernando and the afternoon classification ahead of his own team-mate Mark Webber and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. In between the German and the Spanish Ferrari man were the Lotus duo of fifth placed Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean in sixth. As expected, as a period of great stability in the technical regulations comes to an end, the competition at the front is very close, which makes tomorrow’s first 2013 qualifying a tantalising prospect. However, the much awaited single-lap shoot-out might not produce all the answers as the weather forecast is for a chance of a shower on Saturday afternoon, with wind and cooler climes for the rest of the weekend.
The first day of the season is always a time to work out who is driving where after the winter transfers and among the five rookies on the grid, the most we have seen in a few seasons, is a graduate of the Ferrari Driver Academy, as Jules Bianchi was at the wheel of a Marussia, posting the 19th fastest time this afternoon.
That’s it, the first day of the 2013 Formula 1 season has now been and gone. At the end of the first three hours of free practice, despite track conditions that were very different to those encountered in the twelve days of testing in Spain, there were no major surprises on the Melbournian circuit.
For Scuderia Ferrari, it was a busy day, with a long job list to get through – the same for all the teams in fact. Friday in Australia provided the first opportunity to evaluate the Pirelli tyres in operating temperatures that are more or less the norm for the coming season. As expected, the degradation problems encountered in the cold in Barcelona were less of an issue in the warmer Australian autumn. Between them, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa completed a round century of laps; 51 for the Spaniard and 49 for the Brazilian, with the F138 running trouble-free throughout the day, apart from a minor KERS problem for Felipe this afternoon, which did not stop him getting through his programme.
The reigning world champion, Sebastian Vettel, dominated proceedings, topping the morning time sheet in the Red Bull ahead of the Prancing Horse duo of Felipe and Fernando and the afternoon classification ahead of his own team-mate Mark Webber and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. In between the German and the Spanish Ferrari man were the Lotus duo of fifth placed Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean in sixth. As expected, as a period of great stability in the technical regulations comes to an end, the competition at the front is very close, which makes tomorrow’s first 2013 qualifying a tantalising prospect. However, the much awaited single-lap shoot-out might not produce all the answers as the weather forecast is for a chance of a shower on Saturday afternoon, with wind and cooler climes for the rest of the weekend.
The first day of the season is always a time to work out who is driving where after the winter transfers and among the five rookies on the grid, the most we have seen in a few seasons, is a graduate of the Ferrari Driver Academy, as Jules Bianchi was at the wheel of a Marussia, posting the 19th fastest time this afternoon.
History of "Menu dei Motori"
DESIGN PROJECT
UNIVERSITA' DI MODENA
Comments
Nessun commento presente
Add Comment