The final practice session for the 2014 Australian GP would not be a straight forward time for the Williams Martini Racing team. Felipe Massa would only finish in 10th while teammate Valtteri Bottas would not set a time having suffered a gearbox issue which requires a change and a five place grid penalty.
Australian GP Saturday
Practice
On a overcast morning the
Williams Martini team would commence their Saturday morning practice for the
2014 Australian Grand Prix. Friday practice had seen the Williams drivers
Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finish in eighth and twelfth. Fastest was
Hamilton from Rosberg. Both Williams drivers admitted that there was work
to do as they were still someway of the pace of the Mercedes cars. There was
a lot of discussion as to what extent drivers will want to run their cars.
Vergne would be first out followed by Valtteri for Williams. There would be
a rush of drivers coming out including the second Williams. For this early
run the medium tyre was the favourite.
Drivers would pit after their installation lap including both Williams cars.
Several drivers would complete practice starts prior to going out including
Rosberg and Button. It was announced that rain was expected shortly as we
had both Red Bull cars out on the track. Vergne and Gutierrez were both back
out but Gutierrez would slow at the side of the track with a gearbox issue. For Williams
Felipe was first back out still on the medium tyre. As drivers started to
set times it would be Kvyat fastest with a 1m:32.605, followed by Magnussen,
Perez, Vergne, Button, and Sutil sixth. Felipe's first time would be a
1m:38.462 to be seventh as Button went fastest with a 1m:32.604.
Sutil was now sixth but Vergne would take this spot as both Mercedes acrs
resumed their places at the top of the times with Rosberg fastest with a
1m:31.583 and Hamilton a 1m:31.736. Felipe's next lap was a 1m:32.163 to be
third as it was announced that Gutierrez was out for the session. Button was
now fourth from Kvyat and Magnussen. With twenty minutes remaining Valtteri
had yet to return to the track as Hamilton went fastest in sector one and
two to finish with a 1m:30.919 to be quickest. Button would report that his
traction was poor while Hamilton was saying that his tyres were overheating.
Valtteri was finally out on the track as Felipe set a 1m:31.798 but remained third. But Valtteri would pit without setting a
time followed by Felipe. Vettel and Raikkonen would move up to be fourth and
fifth.
Hamilton would pit as Alonso set a 1m:33.577 on his first run to be twelfth
with thirty minutes remaining. The track now only had three cars on it
including both Ferrari's. But Raikkonen would pit after having a small off
track moment only to come back out. Alonso would improve to now be fourth
with a 1m:32.176. Valtteri was seen out of his driving suit so what ever was
his issue he certainly had finished for the session. Felipe was back out again on the medium tyre. Both Hulkenberg and
Maldonado were out running on the soft tyre. Hulkenberg would use his soft
tyres to go second with a 1m:30.978. But Hamilton was still quicker with his
time set on the medium tyre. Felipe was now fourth while Valtteri had not
set a time with twenty minutes remaining in the session. Felipe would set a personal best in sector
one having completed thirteen laps so far. Both Mercedes cars were back out
with Hamilton having had a suspension change. Both cars were on the soft
tyre with not a large numbers of drivers out on the track. Both Mercedes
drivers were swapping fastest sector times with Rosberg going fastest with a 1m:29.375.
The sun was again shinning as Button went second with a 1m:30.766 running on
the medium tyre. Hamilton would not improve on his time having run wide but
he was now the only one. Felipe was back in his pit while Magnussen was out
on the soft tyre finishing with a 1m:31.499 to be fifth. Alonso was now
third, 1m:30.876, also on the soft tyre. Felipe was now eighth with ten minutes remaining.
Ricciardo was now fifth also on the soft tyre with both Mercedes cars having
pitted ending their session. There were still about half the field that had
yet to try the soft tyre. Vettel was on a soft tyre run and was really
fighting the car. Pat Symonds for Williams would say that for Valtteri they
were having to take a gearbox change seeing him having to take a five grid
place penalty. Felipe was back out this time of the soft tyre as Vettel
sounded very unhappy with his car.
The session would come to a close with Felipe down in tenth and Valtteri not
having set a time. Maldonado would stop out on the track in the final sector
while Grosjean had not set a time. A bad weekend for Lotus as they struggle
to get their car sorted out. A frustrating session for the Williams team
with them again appearing to struggle for pace as well as having a
reliability issue. But reports would say that Felipe was on a quick lap but
had to slow as a result of Maldonado's issue. Fastest in the session was
Rosberg from Button, Alonso, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen,
Magnussen, Perez, and Felipe tenth.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1m29.375s 15
2. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1m30.766s 20
3. Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m30.876s 11
4. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m30.919s 13
5. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault 1m30.970s 13
6. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1m30.978s 16
7. Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 1m31.156s 12
8. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 1m31.251s 22
9. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 1m31.665s 17
10. Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 1m31.723s 20
11. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 1m31.925s 17
12. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m32.255s 14
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault 1m32.417s 16
14. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari 1m34.184s 15
15. Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 1m34.188s 16
16. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault 1m34.413s 19
17. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari 1m34.717s 15
18. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 1m34.754s 15
19. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault 1m36.159s 21
20. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 2
21. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 2
22. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 4
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