18
March
2016
|
09:52
Europe/Amsterdam

2016 Australian Grand Prix - Practice Sessions

RAIN WRITES OFF REALISTIC FREE PRACTICE IN ALBERT PARK MOST OF THE RUNNING ON INTERMEDIATES AS TRACK TEMPERATURES DROP SIGNIFICANTLY Rain in both the first and second free practice sessions today meant that it wasn’t possible for the teams to complete much realistic running. As well as wet weather, there were high winds and cool conditions that resulted in track temperatures that were around 20 degrees less than those recorded yesterday. Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “A bit of a washout – that’s how we can describe today I think! Most of the running was on intermediates this afternoon, which we are unlikely to see being used in the race, although there’s a chance they will be needed again tomorrow. While nobody really learned a lot today, there was some slick tyre running this morning, and we came close to the crossover point, enabling some useful data to be gathered about the intermediate. What this all means is that a season full of far-reaching changes has got off to an even more unpredictable start than expected, which opens up even more variables for the rest of the weekend. We’ll have to wait a little bit longer now to find out the true effect of the 2016 tyre regulations.”

FP1 - TIMES   FP2 - TIMES   
1.Hamilton1m29.725sSoft new1.Hamilton1m38.841sInterm. new
2.Kvyat1m30.146sSoft new2.Hulkenberg1m39.308sInterm. used
3.Ricciardo1m30.875sSoft new3.Raikkonen1m39.486sInterm. new

FP1 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

MEDIUMRicciardo1m32.394s
INTERMEDIATEVerstappen1m40.075s
SOFTHamilton1m29.725s

FP2 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

INTERMEDIATEHamilton1m38.841s

LONGEST STINTS OF THE DAY

INTERMEDIATEWehrlein13 laps
SOFTHamilton9
MEDIUMHaryanto5

Tyre statistics of the day:

 MediumSoftIntermediateWet
kms driven *127562125668
sets used overall **7262113
highest number of laps **69231

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined. ** Per compound, all drivers combined. Pirelli fact of the day: Jacques Villeneuve, who would go on to become 1997 world champion, made his Formula 1 debut at the 1996 Australian Grand Prix exactly 20 years ago, qualifying on pole but finishing second after his car picked up an oil leak. Spotted in the paddock today: Alan Jones, 1980 world champion, who was commentating for Australian television. Jones is still the only Australian driver to have won the Australian Grand Prix, at Calder Park in 1980: a non-championship race, in which Jones drove his title-winning Williams FW07. For more information: please visit our all-new website, which is regularly updated with exclusive in-depth features, news and reviews. To find out more, please visit: http://racing.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/melbourne-2016-practice