2014 Australian Grand Prix Friday - Practice
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Williams tells Bottas that he's on for a seven-lap run next.
Stopwatch
Ricciardo immediately lowers the benchmark to 1m35.168s the next time around.
"To make a quick car reliable is generally easier than making a reliable car quick." Sebastian Vettel is hoping to discover whether Red Bull's RB10 is fast, once the team gets his version running. For now, he'll have to look to team-mate Daniel Ricciardo to give him a clue.
Magnussen sets our second flying lap of 2014 with a 1m37.762s.
Button joins McLaren team-mate Magnussen on the circuit now too.
More cars on track now. Bottas, Vergne and Rosberg. Will the latter last longer in motion that his team-mate?
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Radio update for Kvyat: "We have completed our checks and everything looks good. We'll try to go out again as soon as possible."
The GP3 champion lives up to Russian stereotypes by responding with silence.
The GP3 champion lives up to Russian stereotypes by responding with silence.
Stopwatch
It is! Ricciardo sets a 1m37.290s. That's 10s off the fastest FP1 time from last year, but that would be very harsh to make a direct comparison at this stage.
EDD STRAW notes from the side of the track that the Red Bull-Renault "sounds markedly better than it did during the last Bahrain test. That said, this impression is only based on the car cruising past twice."
EDD STRAW notes from the side of the track that the Red Bull-Renault "sounds markedly better than it did during the last Bahrain test. That said, this impression is only based on the car cruising past twice."
Breaking news
With Red Bull now running, the only team we haven't seen anything of at all is the troubled Lotus squad.
But it has been making some behind-the-scenes moves, announcing the promotion of team stalwart Federico Gastaldi to deputy team boss a few moments ago:
Lotus appoints Gastaldi as deputy team principal
But it has been making some behind-the-scenes moves, announcing the promotion of team stalwart Federico Gastaldi to deputy team boss a few moments ago:
Lotus appoints Gastaldi as deputy team principal
Ricciardo continues onto what looks like a proper flying lap. Is the first timed effort of a 2014 race weekend imminent?
Magnussen joins Ricciardo on track.
Speaking of Red Bull, Ricciardo heads back out of the pits as the running resumes.
Hamilton's car is now cleared.
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Jean-Eric Vergne's early report on the Toro Rosso:
"Pretty good, engine sounds quite decent. Nothing major at the moment."
As his debrief continues, he adds that it's pretty rough over the bumps.
"Pretty good, engine sounds quite decent. Nothing major at the moment."
As his debrief continues, he adds that it's pretty rough over the bumps.
Some grinding going on in the Red Bull garage already! It sounds like Bahrain pre-season testing all over again for the world champion team...
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EDD STRAW has a trackside report on the Hamilton stoppage.
"At Turn 8, just before where Hamilton stopped. Car sounded fine under braking and on downshift but very reluctant to pick up again once through the corner."
"At Turn 8, just before where Hamilton stopped. Car sounded fine under braking and on downshift but very reluctant to pick up again once through the corner."
Mercedes was nervous about reliability heading to Melbourne, despite all the mileage it managed in pre-season. With such a strict limit on engines this early failure does not bode well.
Just four drivers didn't get out in that (very) early flurry of installation laps: Vettel (Red Bull); Chilton (Marussia) and the Lotus duo of Grosjean and Maldonado.
The latter two not emerging in the opening minutes is unsurprising. Hamilton being the first driver to break down is more of a shock.
The latter two not emerging in the opening minutes is unsurprising. Hamilton being the first driver to break down is more of a shock.
Furrowed brows on the Mercedes pit wall as the recovery vehicle approaches the stricken Mercedes.
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"Car's stopped, some smoke out of the back," Hamilton reports.
"Looks like we've got an engine kill," replies the team.
"Looks like we've got an engine kill," replies the team.
He's out of the W05 and walking away. The worst start possible for the pre-season pacesetters.
Smoke emerging from the back of the Mercedes. He's straight on the team radio to inform the team and is now clambering from the car.
Groans here in the media centre as championship favourite Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes grinds to a halt on-track.
Two laps to his name but Sutil is in fact in the pits.
We have seen some Renault cars in action - Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso and Marcus Ericsson's Caterham have been out.
Sutil continues round in his Sauber, straight into a second lap.
Alonso is back in after an installation lap, as is McLaren's rookie Kevin Magnussen.
We'll be watching the Renault-engined teams with particular interest in this first session. They've all suffered a problematic pre-season, but the French manufacturer's head of track operations, Remi Taffin, told AUTOSPORT last night that it is confident its reliability troubles are a thing of the past. We shall see...
Green flag
F1 2014 has begun, Fernando Alonso's Ferrari is first to hit the track.
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Jenson Button is among those strapped into their car ready for the start of the session. He's relieved the season's ready to begin after the uncertainty of pre-season testing.
"It’s nice to get in the car at the first race," he said. "Wherever you are. All the pre-season hype and bullshit we all go through!
"It’s nice to finally put your visor down, get out there and do the bit you love doing."
"It’s nice to get in the car at the first race," he said. "Wherever you are. All the pre-season hype and bullshit we all go through!
"It’s nice to finally put your visor down, get out there and do the bit you love doing."
Five minutes to go now until the Australian Grand Prix on-track action begins.
Plenty of nervous team bosses getting ready to watch this first free practice session of the new season. A step into the unknown for Formula 1.
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There have been fears that with F1 teams still grappling with the complexities of the 2014 cars - and particularly how to solve problems on them - we might see drivers sitting out practice sessions, even though they need all the mileage they can get.
This is unlikely to be an issue today, though. Instead it's Saturday morning that could be quiet, as Romain Grosjean explains:
"Friday morning is fine. Saturday morning is more a question mark. It's part of the sport. You need to be a little bit lucky, assess the risk, see what it brings to drive or to stay in the garage.
"Saturday morning may be a tricky one because if you have any problem with the car, even a leak on the batteries, that's the end of the story.
"I may have a lay-in on Saturday morning!"
Twitter
Meanwhile, Marussia's tail-end rival Caterham is being intimidated by flying things:
"You always know it's about to get serious at #AusGP when the air fills with the sound of planes flying VERY LOW overhead.. NNNEEEEOOOOWWWW"
"You always know it's about to get serious at #AusGP when the air fills with the sound of planes flying VERY LOW overhead.. NNNEEEEOOOOWWWW"
Earlier this week, Marussia sporting director Graeme Lowdon spoke to EDD STRAW for The Racer's Edge with F1 Racing and AUTOSPORT, giving his view of both his team's chances in 2014, and what the rules revamp means for the entire sport:
Twitter
Here's what Marussia is planning for the morning:
"Today we'll be working mainly towards the race, devoting only a brief window to some lower fuel evaluations. Aero assessments throughout."
"Today we'll be working mainly towards the race, devoting only a brief window to some lower fuel evaluations. Aero assessments throughout."
EDD STRAW is heading trackside now to provide up-close observations of the cars' behaviour when the first session commences in half an hour.
Live will be running as a news blog throughout the F1 weekend, including additional information, quotes and analysis from our paddock team on top of the flow of news stories to bring readers closer than ever to what's happening over the whole grand prix event - and inviting you to chip in with your observations too.
We'll still be bringing you the usual comprehensive blow-by-blow commentary on what's happening on track in each session - but that's now just part of the AUTOSPORT Live GP weekend service.
Good morning and welcome to the start of the new, expanded, bigger, better and longer AUTOSPORT Live Formula 1 coverage from the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
By: Matt Beer, Ben Anderson, Scott Mitchell, Edd Straw, Sam Tremayne
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