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Formula 1
Australian GP
2014 Australian Grand Prix Friday - Practice
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Raikkonen's run on the soft Pirellis yields a 1m30.991s, which is only good enough for sixth and 1.2s off the pace.
Button loses a huge chunk of time in the final sector. He goes from being neck-and-neck with Rosberg to 0.7s behind, and only third quickest.
More and more soft tyre runs now. Including Button - who is running Rosberg close on this lap, very close indeed.
It's a purple middle sector from the McLaren...
It's a purple middle sector from the McLaren...
Messy moment between Hamilton and Kvyat into Turn 13. It looks like Kvyat misunderstands which side the faster Mercedes is going to pass him on, and they nearly trip over each other.
Vettel is through on the softs and it's the best non-Rosberg time so far, a 1m30.381s. So still 0.6s slower than the Mercedes.
Bottas goes third on a 1m30.920s. He's quicker than Massa but still 1.1s slower than Rosberg.
Hamilton hasn't switched to the soft yet, but was set for an improvement nonetheless before a slow final sector robbed him of a personal best.
Massa only goes fourth on that run, 1.3s slower than Rosberg. That's surprising.
Lotus asks Grosjean to "switch off straightaway" when he gets back to the pits.
Out come the Williams drivers and Kvyat to bank a soft-tyre run.
Ricciardo improves after a cool-down lap, but it's a minor trim - to 1m30.538s.
Gutierrez is out so it's just Maldonado of those we think expect to see who hasn't emerged.
We have a laptime for Romain Grosjean. He puts the Lotus 18th, 6.8s off the pace.
Great effort from Rosberg, 1m29.782s - 0.8s quicker than Ricciardo. Hulkenberg is third, four tenths behind the Red Bull.
Rosberg, not to be outdone, is going even quicker...
Stopwatch
He does, very comfortably. It's a 1m30.597 - that's 1.4s faster! And the reason is...he's on the soft tyre!
A minor off for Grosjean, who gathers it up and continues.
Stunning lap this from Ricciardo, he should go quickest.
Hulkenberg is also out on the soft.
Meanwhile, on the medium tyre it seems, Ricciardo has gone quickest in the first sector.
Hearing that Pastor Maldonado's Lotus has a problem with its ERS (energy recovery systems). If it's a serious issue, the team might well not be able to get him out this session.
There we go then. Out comes Rosberg, in a soft-shod Mercedes.
Raikkonen's car is now being pushed back down the pitlane by the marshals.
He reports that he can't get first gear, and after initially saying that it was looking at the problem, Ferrari radios him and says "switch off, there is no way..."
He reports that he can't get first gear, and after initially saying that it was looking at the problem, Ferrari radios him and says "switch off, there is no way..."
Team-mate Alonso briefly got trapped behind the Finn and had to drive around him.
Raikkonen's Ferrari seems to be in trouble in the pit exit.
Worth noting that, having used the medium tyre again for those early runs, we're likely to see the soft-compound Pirellis in use before too long.
Whether that comes before or after some long-run work remains to be seen.
Whether that comes before or after some long-run work remains to be seen.
Vettel pits with a personal best looming. He remains fourth, 0.621s back.
The top 10 is covered by less than a second at present.
Alonso gets ahead of Button, but falls 0.033s short of Rosberg.
We're not going to see Kobayashi, and question marks hang over Maldonado, but Gutierrez is also yet to emerge.
Remember, the Sauber mechanics were still tinkering away as the session started.
Remember, the Sauber mechanics were still tinkering away as the session started.
Red Bull also points out to Vettel that the reason he went off there was because his left side wheels were on the grass. The world champion thanks his crew for the tip...
It's not enough. Another 1m32.2s though - the McLaren's looking quite strong at this stage.
Another session best middle sector for Button. How will his final sector stack up...
Red Bull says it's Vettel's call whether to do another lap or not after that mistake. He says he's up for it.
Whatever Alonso's issues may be, pace isn't one of them. He's straight into third, 0.248s slower than Rosberg.
Crash
Vettel outbrakes himself into Turn 1 and shoots over the grass in that common Friday error. He gets back on and resumes.
A number of drivers back into the pits now. Both Ferraris are still circulating and Raikkonen's moved into 10th.
So, a flurry of times in the opening 15 minutes or so. Rosberg's set the early benchmark (1m32.013s) with Button, Bottas, Vettel and Ricciardo completing the top five.
Looming problem for Alonso? He's told to "keep the battery high, and then we'll have a look at this issue".
Hamilton jumps to sixth, seven tenths back on his team-mate.
By: Matt Beer, Ben Anderson, Scott Mitchell, Edd Straw, Sam Tremayne
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