Oliver WhiteAfter a surprising first practice where Nico Rosberg clinched the top spot in style, one could have been forgiven for thinking that it was just a headline-grabbing one-off lap. However, the young Williams pilot proved that the FW31 has some decent pace; Rosberg went to the top of the class yet again. Rosberg’s fastest lap, that bettered his effort in the first practice by over 0.6s, was impressive to say the least. And once again, Nakajima didn’t look too shabby either, improving his FP1 time and only lapping 0.5s shy of his team mate.
Rubens Barrichello confirmed the pace of the Brawn by going second, just a tenth off the Williams pace. Fellow Brawn pilot Jenson Button also impressed with a fifth quickest time and just 0.3s shy of Rosberg. Jarno Trulli also showed the speed in the Toyota by going third. In the first practice the Toyotas didn’t look overly quick, but Trulli did a good job and team mate Timo Glock also managed a sixth fastest time.
Mark Webber also improved considerably in the Red Bull, the Australian popping his car into fourth and stamping his authority over his younger team mate. Sebastian Vettel spun his Red Bull while trying to match Webber’s pace, and once again did not complete the session. Eighth fastest is still good going though, and despite his spin Vettel should be pleased that his car can mix it with the top contenders. Scuderia Toro Rosso failed to raise their game though, and once again the Sebastians languished towards the bottom. Bourdais finished in sixteenth, Buemi in twentieth and last.
Ferrari finished in tenth and eleventh, this time Felipe Massa getting the better of Kimi Raikkonen, and McLaren fared even worse with Heikki Kovalainen in seventeenth and Lewis Hamilton in eighteenth. Hamilton is reported to have been complaining about his MP4-24 bottoming out on the Albert Park circuit.
Australia 2009
|
Lap Time
|
Laps Set
|
1. |  Nico Rosberg Williams |
1m26.053s | 36 Laps |
| 2. |  Rubens Barrichello Brawn |
1m26.157s | 38 Laps |
| 3. |  Jarno Trulli Toyota |
1m26.350s | 42 Laps |
| 4. |  Mark Webber Red Bull Racing |
1m26.370s | 30 Laps |
| 5. |  Jenson Button Brawn |
1m26.374s | 38 Laps |
| 6. | Timo Glock Toyota |
1m26.443s | 42 Laps |
| 7. |  Kazuki Nakajima Williams |
1m26.560s | 33 Laps |
| 8. | Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing |
1m26.740s | 19 Laps |
| 9. | Adrian Sutil Force India |
1m27.040s | 29 Laps |
| 10. | Felipe Massa Ferrari |
1m27.064s | 35 Laps |
| 11. |  Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari |
1m27.204s | 32 Laps |
| 12. |  Fernando Alonso Renault |
1m27.232s | 28 Laps |
| 13. | Giancarlo Fisichella Force India |
1m27.282s | 32 Laps |
| 14. | Nick Heidfeld BMW |
1m27.317s | 34 Laps |
| 15. |  Robert Kubica BMW |
1m27.398s | 36 Laps |
| 16. |  Sebastien Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso |
1m27.479s | 36 Laps |
| 17. | Heikki Kovalainen McLaren |
1m27.802s | 35 Laps |
| 18. | Lewis Hamilton McLaren |
1m27.813s | 31 Laps |
| 19. | Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault |
1m27.828s | 35 Laps |
| 20. |  Sebastien Buemi Scuderia Toro Rosso |
1m28.076s | 33 Laps |
A reverse grid from last year if ever there was one!
Whatever the legality of the diffusers, it sure has stirred up the natural order of teams so far.
I think it is great, the prospect of some of the smaller teams wiping the larger teams faces in it. Of course this was only the 1st day of practice and teams have been known to change performance latest by Qualifying on Saturday but just imagine if this order is again reproduced for the qualifying.
One question that crosses my mind is that if the teams that are protesting and now appealing the diffuser designs, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull had been the teams to stick their necks out and come up with the design themselves would the smaller teams have protested?
Is it the prospect of the F1 minnows creating a situation that would leave the bigger teams with egg on their faces more to do with the protest than the actual design?
BTW hot and sunny at the circuit today but the last few days have seen cooler temperatures by the time the qualifying will start, lets see how the teams like less heat on the track!