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Formula 1
Australian GP
2014 Australian Grand Prix Saturday - Qualifying
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Vettel, down in 10th, is winding up for a soft-tyre run.
Raikkonen is seventh quickest in the Ferrari but is very much struggling to keep it totally planted on the road.
It's been a productive FP3 for Caterham. Kobayashi and Ericsson are 6.077s and 9.426s off the pace respectively, but the former is quicker than Chilton and only a few hundredths slower than Bianchi.
Not bad given their minimum mileage.
Not bad given their minimum mileage.
Maldonado's switch to the soft tyre, by the way, didn't yield anything of note. Perhaps it was just set-up work, but the Venezuelan is 5.3s off the pace in 15th.
Despite the pre-session fears that teams would steer clear of the track to preserve their cars, we only have a trio of drivers on single figures for laps completed.
Two of those are out with mechanical woes (Bottas and Gutierrez) and the other is driving a Lotus (Grosjean).
Two of those are out with mechanical woes (Bottas and Gutierrez) and the other is driving a Lotus (Grosjean).
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"Still struggling with fronts" reports Daniel Ricciardo over the radio. The Aussie is currently sixth fastest.
Alonso jumps up to third on his soft-tyre run, 1.5s behind the leading Mercedes.
Magnussen confirms that Mercedes is just too quick. The McLaren rookie improves to sixth, but is 2.1s behind Rosberg.
We're pretty sure that time from Button was on softs as well, so McLaren is 1.3s slower than Mercedes on raw pace...
...that's very ominous indeed.
...that's very ominous indeed.
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"Nothing is solved" according to Romain Grosjean, who sounds a touch angry as he reports the status of his Renault engine's misfire over the radio.
Button pops up into second in the McLaren, but he's 1.3s off Rosberg's time.
Hamilton goes quickest of anyone in the first sector but his middle sector is slow.
Stopwatch
It is. Rosberg goes P1 on a 1m29.375s. He gained 2s on the soft.
New fastest lap imminent for Rosberg?
Big change for F1 2014, but some things are always the same. We have 19 drivers with times to their name, and the bottom four of those are from Caterham and Marussia.
The Mercs switch to the soft tyre. This could be when we find out just how quick those cars are.
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"The car is all over the place. It's so bad", reports Adrian Sutil The team advises he heads back to the pits for a set-up change.
This could be interesting. Maldonado is also on the soft tyre. Might we see something of a representative time for the E22?
Hulkenberg flies to second quickest on a 1m30.978s. He was quickest of anyone in the first two sectors but fell 0.059s short of Hamilton's session-topping time.
That was on the soft tyre, before you get too excited.
That was on the soft tyre, before you get too excited.
Bottas done for the session. Team will face a race against time to get his Williams ready in time for qualifying. As Romain Grosjean said on Thursday, a problem in FP3 is the worst timing possible with these complicated new F1 cars.
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"You have to be more precise telling me which button to use", says Kimi over the radio. He sounds a little frustrated.
Massa's looking to improve on third. He's out, and pushing, but he'll do well to topple the Mercedes stranglehold.
With 25 minutes to go, this is the top five: 1 Hamilton; 2 Rosberg; 3 Massa; 4 Alonso; 5 Vettel.
Vettel pits - but not before correcting his own team over which torque map he is using.
A few more cars on track now, including Maldonado's Lotus.
A few more cars on track now, including Maldonado's Lotus.
Raikkonen joins team-mate Alonso on track as the Spaniard leaps to fourth overall, though some 1.257s slower than Hamilton's best.
Alonso and Vettel are the only drivers still on track. The session is already passed the halfway mark.
As if to confirm those struggles, Raikkonen locks up and takes a trip across the grass in his car.
Alonso continues in the Ferrari. Both he and team-mate Kimi Raikkonen struggled with the F14 T's braking by wire system yesterday, particularly the Finn, so it will be key for the Scuderia to get its drivers more comfortable ready for qualifying.
Breaking news
Still no time on the board for Romain Grosjean, whose Lotus team was one of two to break curfew this morning.
Both Lotus and Marussia used one of their six 'jokers' to work late in order to prepare their cars for FP3. BEN ANDERSON has the full story.
Lotus, Marussia break curfew in Oz
Both Lotus and Marussia used one of their six 'jokers' to work late in order to prepare their cars for FP3. BEN ANDERSON has the full story.
Lotus, Marussia break curfew in Oz
Fernando Alonso sets Ferrari's first time of the day, going 12th fastest with a 1m33.577s.
And he immediately pits.
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"The tyres are finished" says Rosberg over the team radio.
Marcus Ericsson is the next driver to take a trip through the gravel after a lock-up, but manages to get back on track without any problem.
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Romain Grosjean reports that his Lotus engine is misfiring.
Rosberg discards something from the cockpit of his Mercedes around the back of the circuit, prompting puzzled looks from Niki Lauda in the pits and much hilarity in the media centre. Perhaps Nico finished his lunch late?
The circuit is very busy at the moment. Still no time for seven cars though.
Bizarre issue for Rosberg, who looks like he's collected a bit of debris in the cockpit...weird one, but explains his slow middle sector.
Stopwatch
Hamilton reclaims top spot with a 1m30.919s.
Rosberg backs off in the middle sector. Button complains over the radio that he's "struggling with the rear".
Speaking of Rosberg, both he and Hamilton are flying on this lap. The latter especially so.
By: Scott Mitchell, Ben Anderson, Edd Straw, Jonathan Noble, Andrew van Leeuwen, Matt Beer
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