Red Bull seem to be the team to beat after third practice session at Melbourne
After the end of third practice session of the Australian Grand Prix, which is the inaugural race of the Formula One 2011 season, it appears that Red Bull are the team to beat. The reigning champion Sebastian Vettel clocked the fastest lap of the session
with 1:24:507. The young German became the first driver to set a time in the one minute 24 seconds bracket.
Vettel’s team-mate Mark Webber was the second fastest in the final practice session. The Australian was ahead of Vettel in the first practice session, but since then the German has been the better of the two.
McLaren-Mercedes were just behind the champion team in terms of pace. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button both showed good pace in all three practice sessions. They ended-up third and fourth respectively today and they will look to repeat their performance
in the qualifying session.
The British team struggled during the pre-season testing and they didn’t appear to be a race winning team. However, they have bounced back strongly and appear to be quicker than Ferrari at the moment.
Renault driver Vitaly Petrov surprised one and all with his pace today, as he was fifth in the time sheets. The Russian driver didn’t have an ideal start to his career in the 2010 season, but he has a solid car this season to prove his worth.
The sixth spot was taken by Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard finished third in the previous two practice sessions, but he failed to match the pace of both Red Bull and McLaren this morning. Alonso and his team-mate Felipe Massa will be hoping
for a better qualifying session, which starts a couple of hours from now.
Other than the top six, Mercedes GP drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished eighth and tenth today. The German team showed a lot of promise in the final pre-season test at Barcelona, but they haven’t been consistent during the free practice
at Melbourne.
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