F1-EL2: Vettel and Red Bull a tone above

The second free practice session for the Australian Grand Prix allowed drivers to test the super soft tires. The performances compared to the mediums are worrying since the red sidewall tires collapse after less than one covered lap, which risks complicating the strategy of the teams who noted a very significant deterioration after a few loops completed.

Sebastian Vettel dominated the first day of free practice at Albert Park with a best time of 1’25”908. His teammate Mark Webber is the closest, failing by two tenths. Mercedes AMG F1 is once again at the forefront with Nico Rosberg third ahead of the Lotuses of Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean. The German's W04, however, encountered a gearbox problem forcing the Brackley team resident to stop at the side of the track.

Fernando Alonso finished in eighth position, eight tenths off the reference time, the F138s seeming to be particularly struggling with the super soft tires. The Asturian is 24 thousandths ahead of the second Mercedes in Lewis Hamilton who finished his session in the gravel trap a few minutes from the checkered flag. Felipe Massa is the last driver less than a second behind the day's time while Adrian Sutil and Nico Hulkenberg complete the top ten, with the Sauber driver more than two seconds behind.

McLaren worried at the end of this first day since Jenson Button only took 11th place while his teammate Sergio Pérez was only in 13th place behind Paul di Resta. The MP4-28s were already behind in the first session. Daniel Ricciardo managed to climb to 14th place ahead of Esteban Gutiérrez and Pastor Maldonado while Jean-Eric Vergne finished in 17th place three seconds behind the reference time. Valtteri Bottas is 18th ahead of Jules Bianchi and Charles Pic, with the Caterham driver still more than four seconds behind. Max Chilton and Giedo van der Garde complete the list, the Dutchman having encountered a mechanical problem at the start of the session.

The last free practice session will be held tomorrow at 14 p.m. (4 a.m. French time). Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix will follow at 17 p.m. (7 a.m.) and can be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr. If the weather forecasts are less alarmist regarding the weather forecast for the race, the risk of showers is still present for tomorrow.