2015 Australian Grand Prix Saturday - Qualifying
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Sainz's first effort slots him into third, 2.5s off the pace set by Nasr so far.
Rosberg is reminded that he has new brakes on his Mercedes W06, so he has to bed them in.
Replays show Nasr struggling with the Sauber under braking into Turn 9.
The Brazilian completed 33 laps for Sauber in FP2 yesterday.
The Brazilian completed 33 laps for Sauber in FP2 yesterday.
Sauber's Monisha Kaltenborn is on the pitwall in FP3, with the driver issues apparently sorted...for now:
Van der Garde gives up right to race
Van der Garde gives up right to race
Stopwatch
Nasr improves to a 1m32.533s.
Nasr reports "a lot of understeer already, on entry". He's told to see how it develops.
Twitter
Another team suffering issues this morning is Manor, who look likely to miss FP3.
"@ManorF1Team: #FP3 time but sadly we haven't toppled all our challenges yet. Good progress in past 24 hrs though & we are of course still plugging away."
"@ManorF1Team: #FP3 time but sadly we haven't toppled all our challenges yet. Good progress in past 24 hrs though & we are of course still plugging away."
Stopwatch
The Saubers of Nasr and Ericsson are first to set times - Nasr leading the way with a 1m33.301s.
He makes it back to the pits, perhaps a software issue for the Russian.
Yellow flag
Kvyat certainly has some issues, he's on the grass near pitlane entry as his car seems to want to keep accelerating when he hits the brakes for the penultimate corner.
Mostly installation laps to start this morning, with the serious running likely to come shortly.
Kvyat reports on the radio that there's something he's not happy with from the Renault engine in the Red Bull.
Everyone out there at the moment is on the medium-compound tyres.
Twitter
With fairly strong winds affecting the cars yesterday, Lotus report that it's significantly breezier this morning.
"@Lotus_F1Team: Quick weather update, our expert* informs us it's warm with a light breeze and a dusting of clouds in the sky."
"@Lotus_F1Team: Quick weather update, our expert* informs us it's warm with a light breeze and a dusting of clouds in the sky."
Maldondao, Bottas, Ericsson, Vettel, Grosjean, Nasr and Massa are first to head out.
Green flag
The track is open.
Bottas is told on the radio that the wind is in the opposite direction to yesterday, meaning it's pretty much a headwind into Turn 1.
Last year's FP3 was topped by Nico Rosberg, with a time of 1m29.375s.
The German smashed that yesterday, heading that time in FP2 on his way to topping both sessions.
Kevin Magnussen led the running in last years session with 22 laps, but with attrition considerably lower this year, that should be comfortably beaten this year.
Magnussen could do with heading the running again this year after his off in FP2 yesterday.
The German smashed that yesterday, heading that time in FP2 on his way to topping both sessions.
Kevin Magnussen led the running in last years session with 22 laps, but with attrition considerably lower this year, that should be comfortably beaten this year.
Magnussen could do with heading the running again this year after his off in FP2 yesterday.
Twitter
Mercedes' Nico Rosberg has a strange way of preparing for FP3 - playing Football in the paddock!
"@MercedesAMGF1: Traditional warm-up in progress for @nico_rosberg... #Tekkers #F1 #AusGP #F1DownUnder @ausgrandprix."
"@MercedesAMGF1: Traditional warm-up in progress for @nico_rosberg... #Tekkers #F1 #AusGP #F1DownUnder @ausgrandprix."
Breaking news
The big story from Albert Park this morning is the news that we have a temporary resolution in the Giedo van der Garde/Sauber dispute - with the Dutchman giving up his legal right to race for the team this weekend:
Van der Garde agrees not to drive for Sauber
Van der Garde agrees not to drive for Sauber
Van der Garde Oz paddock
The blue skies are back for the second day of running on track, which gets underway with final free practice in a little over 10 minutes.
Welcome to AUTOSPORT's Live coverage of Saturday's action from the Australian Grand Prix weekend.
By: Glenn Freeman, Jack Benyon, AUTOSPORT staff, Ben Anderson, Edd Straw, Lawrence Barretto
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