After first practice marked a relatively quiet start to the 2017 Formula 1 Season, many watched on with eager eyes in second practice with the hope of seeing more action out on track and to see if either Red Bull Racing or Ferrari had managed to close the gap to Mercedes over the winter.
Lewis Hamilton Fastest in Australian Grand Prix Second Practice
Unlike first practice, second practice had a considerable amount of action on track, with teams gradually starting to push their cars and beginning to reveal their true performance in relation to others.
Lewis Hamilton’s pace from first practice continued into practice two, with the Mercedes driver once again finishing the session as the fastest driver on track, setting a 1:23.620 – the fastest time of the race weekend so far. Hamilton’s nearest challenger was Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari who was second fastest, although 0.5 seconds slower than his potential championship rival.
Vettel split the two Mercedes drivers, with Hamilton’s team mate, Valtteri Bottas, third fastest. Following Bottas in fourth place was the second Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen, who was 0.4 seconds slower than his fellow countryman on the same tyre compound.
The two Red Bull drivers of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were fifth and sixth fastest, slipping down the order slightly since practice 1 where they finished third and fourth. The gap between Red Bull Racing and Ferrari looks to be very small at the moment, with 0.1 seconds separating Raikkonen and Ricciardo. Verstappen had limited running in practice 2 after running wide in turn 11 which caused damage to the front wing and the floor.
Carlos Sainz Jr was seventh fastest for Toro Rosso, followed by Romain Grosjean, who once again finished the session in eighth place for Haas F1. Closely following Grosjean was Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault in ninth and Daniil Kvyat for Toro Rosso in tenth, with only 0.057 seconds covering the three drivers. Due to such a small margin covering eighth to tenth place, the close proximity of the battle in the midfield in 2017 is clear, with many expecting the midfield battle to be the true fight of the 2017 season.
Sergio Perez finished the session in 11th place for Force India and was just over 0.4 second faster than Fernando Alonso who was 12th fastest for McLaren. Alonso set a best lap time of a 1:26.000 – a very encouraging lap time considering the issues that McLaren experienced in pre-season testing with the MCL-32.
Esteban Ocon finished the session in 13th fastest followed by Felipe Massa who ended the session in 14th. Massa had limited running in second practice after breaking down on track in his Williams following a gearbox issue which prevented the Brazilian F1 veteran from selecting and changing gear in his car.
Marcus Ericsson finished in 15th place for Sauber after having an off in the session, ending practice 2 in the gravel after a peculiar spin from the rear of the car upon corner entry. Following Ericsson was Lance Stroll for Williams, with the Canadian being less than 0.1 seconds slower than the Sauber driver.
Stoffel Vandoorne was 17th fastest in the second McLaren, 0.3 seconds ahead of Pascal Wehrlein who finished the session in 18th place in the second Sauber.
Rounding out the field were the two former Renault team mates of Kevin Magnussen and Jolyon Palmer in 19th and 20th. Both drivers had limited running in the session, with Magnussen only managing to complete eight laps for Haas F1 and Palmer bringing out the first red flag of 2017 after spinning his Renault into the wall of the fast right hander of turn 16.
Palmer’s accident can be watched here:[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_bV928Tjyo[/youtube]
With practice 2 marking the end of the first day of the Australian Grand Prix race weekend, it is without doubt that Mercedes are looking strong once again for 2017. However, Red Bull and Ferrari could be very close, with many suspecting the teams of running higher fuel loads and hiding their real pace. Come qualifying on Saturday, it will be very interesting to see how the grid forms up for the start of the 2017 Formula 1 Season.
Results from Practice 2 of the Australian Grand Prix:
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:23.620
- Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:24.167
- Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, 1:24.176
- Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:24.525
- Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing, 1:24.650
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 1:25.013
- Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso, 1:25.084
- Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, 1:25.436
- Nico Hulkenberg, Renault, 1:25.478
- Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:25.493
- Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:25.591
- Fernando Alonso, McLaren, 1:26.000
- Esteban Ocon, Force India, 1:26.145
- Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:26.331
- Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:26.498
- Lance Stroll, Williams, 1:26.525
- Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1:26.608
- Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber, 1:26.919
- Kevin Magnussen, Haas F1, 1:27.279
- Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:27.549
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