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Sebastian Vettel once again clocked the fastest time in second practice for the Australian Grand Prix with a 1:25.908s lap.
The current world champion spent most of the afternoon ahead of his competitors and finally finished the day 0.264 seconds ahead of Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, despite the Australian topping the time sheets briefly during the super soft runs.
Nico Rosberg once again underlined the impressive pace of the Mercedes by finishing the session in third, whilst Hamilton wound up the day in seventh. However, towards the end of the session, both cars suffered mechanical issues that saw the 2008 world champion finish his day in the gravel and Rosberg by the side of the road.
McLaren continued to struggle with its new MP4/28 and the Woking team endured a poor afternoon with Button and Perez finishing down in 11th and 13th respectively. The team's main competitors, Lotus and Ferrari finished in the top 10 with Raikkonen and Grosjean finishing fourth and fifth, and Massa and Alonso occupying sixth and eighth.
The question of tire longevity was also answered when the teams ran with higher fuel loads. This resulted - most notably on the super soft tire - in lap times dramatically decreasing after the initial flying laps, and long run pace slowing progressively. Before tomorrow's qualifying, engineers will have to figure out how much the drivers can push in the session, and how much of a bearing it will have on race pace.
The heavy fuel and worn tire combination saw Webber spin on worn tires in the final minutes after a long run.
Other spinners were Caterham's Giedo Van der Garde who dropped his car in the gravel at turn six and ended up at the bottom of the time sheets, and Jean-Eric Vergne who took full advantage of the run off area just after turn four in his Toro Rosso.
Further down the grid, Jules Bianchi impressed in the Marussia, finishing once again ahead of both Caterhams and his team-mate.
Australian Grand Prix
Friday March 15, 2013
First Practice session 2 - Results*
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'25"908 - 33 laps
2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'26"172 - 31
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"322 - 26
4 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'26"361 - 38
5 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'26"680 - 32
6 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"748 - 35
7 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"772 - 28
8 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"855 - 32
9 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'27"435 - 35
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"187 - 34
11 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 1'28"294 - 30
12 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'28"311 - 37
13 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 1'28"566 - 33
14 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'28"627 - 31
15 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"772 - 33
16 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'28"852 - 36
17 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'28"968 - 36
18 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'29"386 - 39
19 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'29"696 - 32
20 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'30"165 - 37
21 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'30"600 - 36
22 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"450 - 11
*Unofficial results
The current world champion spent most of the afternoon ahead of his competitors and finally finished the day 0.264 seconds ahead of Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber, despite the Australian topping the time sheets briefly during the super soft runs.
 |
| Sebastian Vettel, the quickest of the day. (Photo: Red Bull Racing) |
Nico Rosberg once again underlined the impressive pace of the Mercedes by finishing the session in third, whilst Hamilton wound up the day in seventh. However, towards the end of the session, both cars suffered mechanical issues that saw the 2008 world champion finish his day in the gravel and Rosberg by the side of the road.
McLaren continued to struggle with its new MP4/28 and the Woking team endured a poor afternoon with Button and Perez finishing down in 11th and 13th respectively. The team's main competitors, Lotus and Ferrari finished in the top 10 with Raikkonen and Grosjean finishing fourth and fifth, and Massa and Alonso occupying sixth and eighth.
 |
| Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne. (Photo: Mercedes AMG F1 Team) |
The question of tire longevity was also answered when the teams ran with higher fuel loads. This resulted - most notably on the super soft tire - in lap times dramatically decreasing after the initial flying laps, and long run pace slowing progressively. Before tomorrow's qualifying, engineers will have to figure out how much the drivers can push in the session, and how much of a bearing it will have on race pace.
The heavy fuel and worn tire combination saw Webber spin on worn tires in the final minutes after a long run.
Other spinners were Caterham's Giedo Van der Garde who dropped his car in the gravel at turn six and ended up at the bottom of the time sheets, and Jean-Eric Vergne who took full advantage of the run off area just after turn four in his Toro Rosso.
Further down the grid, Jules Bianchi impressed in the Marussia, finishing once again ahead of both Caterhams and his team-mate.
 |
| Jules Bianchi, impressed in the Marussia MR02. (Photo: Marussia F1 Team) |
Australian Grand Prix
Friday March 15, 2013
First Practice session 2 - Results*
1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'25"908 - 33 laps
2 - Mark Webber (Red Bull RB9-Renault) - 1'26"172 - 31
3 - Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"322 - 26
4 - Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'26"361 - 38
5 - Romain Grosjean (Lotus E21-Renault) - 1'26"680 - 32
6 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"748 - 35
7 - Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W04) - 1'26"772 - 28
8 - Felipe Massa (Ferrari F138) - 1'26"855 - 32
9 - Adrian Sutil (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'27"435 - 35
10 - Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"187 - 34
11 - Jenson Button (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 1'28"294 - 30
12 - Paul Di Resta (Force India VJM06-Mercedes) - 1'28"311 - 37
13 - Sergio Perez (McLaren MP4-28-Mercedes) - 1'28"566 - 33
14 - Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'28"627 - 31
15 - Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C32-Ferrari) - 1'28"772 - 33
16 - Pastor Maldonado (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'28"852 - 36
17 - Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR8-Ferrari) - 1'28"968 - 36
18 - Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW35-Renault) - 1'29"386 - 39
19 - Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'29"696 - 32
20 - Charles Pic (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'30"165 - 37
21 - Max Chilton (Marussia MR02-Cosworth) - 1'30"600 - 36
22 - Giedo Van der Garde (Caterham CT03-Renault) - 1'32"450 - 11
*Unofficial results