Australian GP: Verstappen leads down-under ahead of Hamilton and Perez
31st March 2023Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the way down-under in the first practice session of the Australian Grand Prix, ahead of both Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and, teammate, Sergio Perez.
How first practice unfolded…
When the pit exit light went green, several drivers peeled out onto the Australian Albert Pack track to get their first set of laps in. After the first five minutes, Alpine’s Pierre Gasly topped the timing boards but he was soon demoted by the usual contenders of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Verstappen.
Of the two championship contenders, Perez and Verstappen were on a mixed compound run as Perez put his fastest lap on the medium compounds while Verstappen was out with the softs.
Naturally with the softer – and quicker – compound of tyres Verstappen jumped to the top of the timing boards.
Just after the first 10 minutes, Haas’ Kevin Magnussen – who was temporarily sat P16 – brought out the yellow flags. The Danish driver lost rear-tyre grip as he started to turn into turn three and found himself in the gravel trap. Luckily the Dane was able to slowly drive out of the trap and return to the track, albeit with dirty hard tyres.
As the session crossed over the halfway point, many drivers peeled into the pit lane for set-up changes and adjustments before they returned to the circuit equipped with the soft tyres.
With just over 25 minutes left on the clock, Alpha Tauri’s Yuki Tsunoda (P16) locked up into the first corner after he went in too deep, and the Japanese driver soon bounced across the gravel trap before he came to a stop on the grass – facing in the wrong direction.
Tsunoda soon rotated his car around and continued on his way.
The session was red-flagged as the clock crawled towards its last 20 minutes as race control had a lack of GPS data. Free practice soon returned to green flag conditions with 14 minutes left.
How the table shaped up under the red-flag stoppage:
Top 10:
1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
3. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
4. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
5. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
6. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
7. George Russell, Mercedes
8. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
9. Alexander Albon, Williams
10. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Bottom 10:
11. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
12. Nyck De Vries, Alpha Tauri
13. Lando Norris, McLaren
14. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
15. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
16. Yuki Tsuonda, Alpha Tauri
17. Gunayu Zhou, Alfa Romeo
18. Logan Sargeant, Williams
19. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
20. Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo
In the last 10 minutes, the majority of the field were back out on the circuit making progress on their race programmes. Only Leclerc (P4) and Tsuonda (P16) remained in their respective garages.
Verstappen brought out the yellow flag in the dying stages of the practice session after he was seen facing in the wrong direction between turns four and five. Replays showed the defending world champion had suffered wheelspin on the exit of turn four and spun around. Fortunately, Verstappen was able to continue on with ruined tyres.
Sargeant, who sat P15, brought the session to a close after his car’s engine shut off and lost power. The American driver was able to coast his car to the side of the track, issuing yellow flags before race control red-flagged the session.
Fortunately, before Sargeant’s retirement, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton was able to make a late improvement to his previous best time as he went second fastest to split the two Red Bulls.
Top three:
- Max Verstappen, Red Bull – 1:18.790
- Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
- Sergio Perez, Red Bull
That’s all for the article; Australian GP: Verstappen leads down-under ahead of Hamilton and Perez!
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