He Australian GP began early this Friday with the dispute in the first session of free training in Albert Park Circuita first contact with more setbacks than expected, with exits on the track, including one of the current world champion Max Verstappen, who suffered a spin at the end without consequences, on a track that gradually turned to rubber and where there was even a general problem with the cars’ GPS that caused a red flag. The pilots will follow improving his confidence between the walls at the always difficult Albert Park in Free Practice 2 (7:00 am)But before that, Max Verstappen took the lead with a time of 1’18″790, to start marking the ground, making it clear that after being second in Jeddah, he doesn’t mind letting this victory go.
The Dutchman, at the start, placed more than four tenths of a second behind the second classified in a car that also in Melbourne seemed to be in another world. Second was Lewis Hamilton, at 0″433, leaning towards the top with the final turn, with the track in better condition. This is how the Briton slipped between the two Red Bulls, ahead of Pérez, who finished third in 0″ 503. It will be necessary to see if the Mexican can reduce his gap with his teammate in Free Practice 2.
Max leads the World Cup by just one point over the Mexican and achieving his second consecutive victory is a huge blow to the table against the current king. Although it looks unlikely that Verstappen will allow it.
Alonso and Aston Martin, also in Australia
Fernando Alonso finished in fourth position. The Asturian always reiterated before the start of the course that the first three races are key to see how the car behaves on different tracks. In Bahrain and Jeddah, completely different tracks, his car was the second best on the grid in the race and continued to be at the top. In Australia, at this moment things started well for the Spaniard. He remains in that fight, even though Hamilton’s time signed at the end of the session dropped him from a Top-3 he wanted to repeat at Sunday’s appointment.
Fernando finished 0″527 behind Verstappen, and importantly the Dutchman’s Red Bull was still on another planet despite the fact that the Oviedo native finished just 24 thousandths of a second behind the sports cars.
Ferrari, 5th and 6th
The two Ferraris finished behind Alonso. A lap away, Charles Leclerc continued his dominance against Carlos Sainz, who had to improve a lap with the SF-23 that left a better sensation from the start than in Jeddah. Charles finished 5th at 0″588 and Carlos Sainz, in sixth position at 0″715. The Ferrari qualified quickly in the first two rounds but suffered severe tire damage. That may be the trend in Australia. It is necessary to see if those in red can get closer to the Red Bulls in the fight for pole position, their biggest asset to get a good starting position for the race.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
