F1 Australian GP: Vettel downplays Ferrari’s Australia practice struggles

The new regulations in F1 have made the cars bigger and faster, prefacing an era that has the drivers and fans more excited than usual, and so the pilots have to follow suit.

Hamilton had played down Mercedes’ chances on Thursday after winter testing and suggested Ferrari may be quicker than the Silver Arrows.

“It doesn’t make any difference to me whether the reigning champion is here or not”.

In contrast to Hamilton, Bottas endured a challenging day in his first official sessions with Mercedes since replacing retired world champion Nico Rosberg.

Once again, conversation returned to Scuderia Ferrari’s dominance during testing and their apparent restraint during running.

“But 2017 will be a decisive year for him”. They remain the team to beat. Add to it the vast resources available at Maranello (Ferrari’s base in Italy), and this could be the year when Ferrari finally take the fight to Mercedes.

If Hamilton “wins a race against four of us as opposed to maybe just his teammate I think that reward is bigger as well”, said Ricciardo, who is aiming to be the first Australian to win the Australian GP since it became part of the world championship in 1985. The cars themselves look like they mean business, with many sporting shark fin-like aerodynamic detailing. He concedes Hamilton will start favorite, but is hoping for a shakeup at the top.

Engine development has been let off the leash, allowing Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, and Honda to completely re-imagine their hybrid V6 turbocharged engines to maximise power. So the rekindled relationship has gotten off rocky to a rocky restart.

The speeds of the new cars were impressive, with many posting times that were more than four seconds faster per lap compared to the corresponding sessions at last year’s race.

Come Sunday, when the pecking order is finally revealed, fans across the world will be hoping F1 can finally deliver on the hype in 2017.

Wolff backed Bottas to close the gap at the front, saying: “I’m very confident he’s going to find the pace and earn his place in the team”. Driving for them are 2015 Le Mans victor Nico “See Ya Later” Hülkenberg and Jolyon Palmer.

Pre-season indicates that Red Bull have work to do to catch up, but Ricciardo is hopeful that the title will be a close-run thing to make it exciting for the fans. Of course, in P2 all of a sudden they were quick.

Carlos Sainz managed P11 with a 1:26.450, edging out teammate Daniil Kvyat by 0.064s and Williams’ Lance Stroll.

Mercedes has proven hard to outperform during the last few years, having interpreted and implemented the regulation changes from three years ago the best. An underdog that, if lucky, may even take their maiden win this season. Sergio Perez remains but he has a new partner in the shape of Esteban Ocon.

“In an ideal world we’ll be the lead-up to the AFL season”, Westacott said.

Though never a very successful team, Sauber has been a steady entrant since 1993, making them one of the older teams on the grid.

He went even faster in the second session, run in bright warm conditions between 4pm and 5.30pm, his best time of 1:23.620 seconds being more two-tenths of a second faster than the time he set to secure pole position for last year’s race.