Romain Grosjean put Lotus on top after rain hit the track during the final practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.
But having led both of yesterday’s sessions Sebastian Vettel hit trouble when his car stopped in the dying minutes of the final hour.
All the drivers had hit the track within minutes of the start as teams hurried on with their programmes in anticipation of the incoming rain
The Ferrari pair led the times initially with Fernando Alonso stopping the clocks on exactly 87 seconds. But just before the rain came he was pipped by Romain Grosjean’s Lotus.
Several drivers had switched to the super soft tyres in an attempt to get a run in on those when the rain arrived with less than 15 minutes’ running completed. No one managed a run on the softer tyres before the track was doused, and for the next 20 minutes there was no action at the track.
Felipe Massa broke the silence with 25 minutes remaining, taking to the track on wet weather tyres. Most of the drivers soon followed them, including the four who failed to set a time when the track was dry.
Once the rain stopped the track dried quickly, and with just over ten minutes to go drivers had begun using the intermediate tyres.
Vettel had just gone out on the intermediates when his car came to a stop at turn four. Race engineer Guillaume Rocquelin was quick to tell him to pull over to look after the car.
The slippery track caused several off-track moments for other drivers including Giedo van der Garde and the Sauber pair. But by the end of the session it had dried sufficiently that some teams were considering a switch to slicks.
Australian Grand Prix combined practice times
Pos | Driver | Car | FP1 | FP2 | FP3 | Fri/Sat diff | Total laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull-Renault | 1’27.211 | 1’25.908 | 1’29.808 | +3.9 | 58 |
2 | Mark Webber | Red Bull-Renault | 1’27.668 | 1’26.172 | 1’30.073 | +3.901 | 65 |
3 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 1’28.013 | 1’26.322 | 1’28.486 | +2.164 | 56 |
4 | Kimi Raikkonen | Lotus-Renault | 1’27.877 | 1’26.361 | 1’27.625 | +1.264 | 67 |
5 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’28.520 | 1’26.680 | 1’26.929 | +0.249 | 61 |
6 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 1’27.547 | 1’26.748 | 1’27.000 | +0.252 | 58 |
7 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1’27.552 | 1’26.772 | 1’47.246 | +20.474 | 55 |
8 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1’27.289 | 1’26.855 | 1’27.241 | +0.386 | 59 |
9 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1’28.426 | 1’27.435 | 1’28.069 | +0.634 | 69 |
10 | Paul di Resta | Force India-Mercedes | 1’28.910 | 1’28.311 | 1’27.533 | -0.778 | 64 |
11 | Daniel Ricciardo | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’30.969 | 1’28.627 | 1’27.849 | -0.778 | 69 |
12 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Ferrari | 1’30.729 | 1’28.968 | 1’27.860 | -1.108 | 69 |
13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’28.786 | 1’28.187 | 1’28.253 | +0.066 | 71 |
14 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’30.203 | 1’28.772 | 1’28.253 | -0.519 | 70 |
15 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1’28.440 | 1’28.294 | 1’33.236 | +4.942 | 56 |
16 | Sergio Perez | McLaren | 1’28.597 | 1’28.566 | 1’33.527 | +4.961 | 60 |
17 | Pastor Maldonado | Williams-Renault | 1’29.443 | 1’28.852 | 1’39.232 | +10.38 | 69 |
18 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Renault | 1’29.928 | 1’29.386 | 1’39.779 | +10.393 | 71 |
19 | Jules Bianchi | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’31.263 | 1’29.696 | 1’30.388 | +0.692 | 73 |
20 | Charles Pic | Caterham-Renault | 1’32.274 | 1’30.165 | 1’30.959 | +0.794 | 77 |
21 | Giedo van der Garde | Caterham-Renault | 1’32.388 | 1’32.450 | 1’30.598 | -1.79 | 49 |
22 | Max Chilton | Marussia-Cosworth | 1’32.176 | 1’30.600 | 1’42.872 | +12.272 | 72 |
2013 Australian Grand Prix
Image © Lotus/LAT
David not Coulthard (@)
16th March 2013, 4:07
I only watched the last 10 minutes, so…..when did Bianchi set his time?
wsrgo (@wsrgo)
16th March 2013, 4:15
@davidnotcoulthard presumably when the track was still dry.
David not Coulthard (@)
16th March 2013, 4:26
If so then it would be bad news for Marussia fans (and frankly I’m rooting for them in the battle of the backmarkers).
Kingshark (@kingshark)
16th March 2013, 4:19
Cautiously optimistic about Ferrari, fingers crossed.
Blackmamba (@blackmamba)
16th March 2013, 4:26
Blast the rain, I wanted to see quali sims. Ah well, quali is almost upon us.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th March 2013, 4:29
still hard to make more of it really. Sure Lotus keep looking good, Red Bull super fast (what about reliability though?) and Mercedes solid while Sauber, Force India and maybe McLaren will probably be filling the low end of the top 10/lower 10s.
And hard to tell what conditions are going to be for qualifying.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
16th March 2013, 4:58
Apparently a sensor fault was to blame for Vettel’s stoppage so no great drama.
ku (@kutovat)
16th March 2013, 5:02
it’s pouring again now in Albert Park with 59 minutes to go…a dramatic qualifying session awaits :-)
Eric Morman (@lethalnz)
16th March 2013, 5:05
is anyone receiving 5 grid penalty’s for gearbox replacements Keith????
Vijilio (@kvijilio)
16th March 2013, 5:12
Missed this practice. . What happened to Hamilton? 20s off
Himmat
16th March 2013, 5:23
Hmmm…Maussia within a second of the McLarens?
Btw I think Caterham should just pack their bags and go home for talking so much.
Ron (@rcorporon)
16th March 2013, 16:11
RBR looks quick. Hope for a trouble free race tomorrow.