McLaren duo of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton surprise in FP2 of the Melbourne GP – Formula 1
McLaren drivers, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, responded to Mark Webber’s fastest time in free practice 1 (FP1) on Friday and posted flying laps in FP2. Jenson topped the second session with 1 minute and 25.854 seconds, which was on the super-soft compound
and managed 32 laps. Hamilton followed him with 1 minute and 25.986 seconds while managing 31 laps.
The pre-season testing was not one for McLaren to remember because they had the slowest and the most unreliable car on the grid. Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren’s team boss, had previolusly consoled fans by saying that McLaren has the capability to surprise other
teams. They came up with some upgrades to their car in the Melbourne GP which included a new exhaust system, which resembles that of Red Bull, a modified floor and wing system. The new upgrades clearly showed some competitiveness on the track.
Behind McLaren was Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso who did the fastest lap in 1 minute and 26.001 seconds with 28 laps. He had a consistent day, as he was also the third fastest in the FP1. Following him was Red bull’s Duo, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. Vettel
did the fastest lap which was 0.740 seconds slower than Button while Webber was 0.771 seconds behind Button.
Sixth was Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher with 31 laps while his team mate Nico Rosberg completed the top ten spots with 23 laps. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was seventh fastest with 1 minute and 26.789 seconds. Sauber’s Sergio Perez managed 39 laps and came eighth
and Williams' Rubens Barrichello came ninth with 34 laps.
The practice was altogether very useful for the Pirelli tyres but not so much for the teams in term of the Movable rear wing and KERS rule. As FIA or Federation Internationale de l'Automobile modified the rules for the use of the wing and stated that it
cannot be used in wet and poor visibility conditions. The FP1 and FP2 were both hit by slight showers which hampered the use of the DRS Drag Reduction System for all the teams.
Hispania Racing Team also joined the session with only one car piloted by Vitantonio Liuzzi. Liuzzi took the new car for only one installation lap and didn’t post any time on the sheets.
The third and the final FP3 will take place on Saturday afternoon after which the qualifiers will be contested.
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