Sebastian Vettel has opened his campaign for a fourth successive world title in the best possible fashion, topping the time sheets in Practice 1 at Albert Park.
After a typically quiet start to the 90 minute session, Vettel turned up the pace in the final half hour.
The German left the benchmark at 1:27.21s, just 0.01s clear of Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.
Fernando Alonso was third in the second of the Scuederi’s entries, with Lewis Hamilton and local hope Mark Webber completing the top five.
Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean filled sixth through 10th.
The session ran green for its duration, despite several testing the grass verges.
Paul di Resta endured the wildest moment, spinning his Force India into the Turrn 6 gravel after touching the grass on entry.
West Australian Daniel Ricciardo was the first to complete a flying lap in the session, but was just 18th by the chequered flag.
See below for the full Practice 1 result
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Time/Retired |
Gap |
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:27.211 | |
| 2 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:27.289 | 0.078 |
| 3 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1:27.547 | 0.336 |
| 4 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:27.552 | 0.341 |
| 5 | Mark Webber | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 1:27.668 | 0.457 |
| 6 | Kimi Räikkönen | Lotus-Renault | 1:27.877 | 0.666 |
| 7 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:28.013 | 0.802 |
| 8 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.426 | 1.215 |
| 9 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.440 | 1.229 |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1:28.520 | 1.309 |
| 11 | Sergio Perez | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:28.597 | 1.386 |
| 12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:28.786 | 1.575 |
| 13 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1:28.910 | 1.699 |
| 14 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1:29.443 | 2.232 |
| 15 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1:29.928 | 2.717 |
| 16 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1:30.203 | 2.992 |
| 17 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Ferrari | 1:30.729 | 3.518 |
| 18 | Daniel Ricciardo | STR-Ferrari | 1:30.969 | 3.758 |
| 19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:31.263 | 4.052 |
| 20 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1:32.176 | 4.965 |
| 21 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1:32.274 | 5.063 |
| 22 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1:32.388 | 5.177 |
