F1 news: Australian GP Friday practice
It is important not to read too much into Friday practice. But we’re going to anyway.
Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in the afternoon session and so dominated the headlines, but it was Kimi Raikkonen who set the fastest time of the day (in the morning session.
Ferrari were strongest on the short runs in the cooler morning temperatures, but McLaren were stronger in the longer runs in the hot afternoon, as James Allen on ITV-F1 explains.
However, as Joe Saward at GrandPrix.com points out, most drivers were concentrating on race set-ups, so the jury is still out on exactly who is where. Headlines are important, especially at the start of the season - was Lewis trying to steal Ferrari’s thunder by running slightly lighter?
Whatever the situation, Kimi Raikkonen has expressed his disappointment at how the first day panned out.
One of the surprises of the day was from Red Bull, with Mark Webber nearly taking the top spot in the afternoon.
This time last year, a young rookie had a shambolic debut for Renault, as Heikki Kovalainen made a mess of things, embarrassing everyone concerned. Is Nelson Piquet Jnr about to repeat those mistakes this year? He finished the day at the wrong end of the pack - let’s hope he picks things up quickly.
Toyota looked good on paper with two top-ten finishes, but neither driver was happy with the cars’ balance.
On the positive side, Force India looked good, especially in the hands of Fisichella.
Stumble it!