13/03/2015
NEWS STORY
Ahead of today's season opening practice session the air temperature is 18 degrees C, whilst the track temperature is 31 degrees. It is bright and sunny.
No major changes at Melbourne since last year's race, there are two DRS zones, detection is 13m before T14 with activation 30m after T16 and 32m after T2. Tyre compounds available are medium and soft.
Other than the mystery of Fernando Alonso and Crashgate 2, the big talking point today is Sauber, where the team appears to have three drivers. As he is still awaiting his superlicence, Giedo Van der Garde is not running this morning.
Also not running this morning, and possibly today, is the Marussia team which has a whole host of problems keeping it in the garage.
As speculation over who's hot and who's not continues, we're not likely to get many answers today, a day usually reserved for testing. The true pace should be seen tomorrow in qualifying.
Vettel is first out, followed by Verstappen, Sainz and a whole host of others.
One by one the drivers take to the track for an installation lap, Magnussen, in particular, setting a blistering pace.
The Mercedes duo is the first to post a time, Rosberg stopping the clock at 1:31.319 and teammate Hamilton at 32.044.
Magnussen is back on track in the McLaren, completing another installation lap before heading back into the pits.
Despite a minor moment at T3, Verstappen is the third driver to post a time (34.146), Massa also runs little wide at T3. The Brazilian posts 32.826.
Hulkenberg goes sixth (35.234) despite problems with the upshift and "brake judder".
A 31.699 sees Raikkonen go second as, after almost 25 minutes, all but Grosjean, Magnussen, Button, Ricciardo, the Saubers and Marussias have posted times.
As the Lotus crew work on the rear of Grosjean's car, Magnussen has a hairy moment at the infamous T3.
A 31.510 sees Vettel go second, albeit by 1.9s, and as the opening half hour comes to a close it's Rosberg, Vettel, Raikkonen, Sainz, Massa, Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen, Maldonado and Perez.
Of those, Rosberg has completed just 5 laps, Verstappen however has completed 12, Sainz 11 and Massa 10.
After a brief period of inactivity, Grosjean gets proceedings underway again. Also back on track, Bottas, currently sixth, says the track is improving with every lap.
Ricciardo is finally on track, his first lap seeing him go 12th (33.719).
"Tell me if I'm doing a bad job with the engine management," says Rosberg, "keep pushing me!"
As the German subsequently consolidates his top spot with a 29.557, teammate Hamilton posts 29.586, the Silver Arrows duo now separated by just 0.029s but 1.95s ahead of the opposition.
Button finally posts a time, the Briton going 13th with a 34.542. Elsewhere, Verstappen has a bumpy ride after running wide in T1.
Sainz is definitely keen to rack up the miles, the Spaniard, currently 6th (31.780) has completed 17 laps.
Fastest in S1 is Rosberg, whilst Massa is quickest in the two remaining sectors. Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen and Bottas also up there.
As Ricciardo spins at T15, the slowest corner on the circuit, Sainz and Verstappen improve to third and fourth.
As Maldonado improves to fifth (31.451), both McLaren drivers are out of their cars, their session seemingly over.
A 30.748 sees Bottas go third, 1.191s off Rosberg's pace. On his next lap he has a major slide in T1 but keeps it all under control. Sheer class.
Twenty minutes remaining and there's total inactivity, though in the McLaren garage Ron Dennis is in earnest conversation with his two drivers.
With fifteen minutes remaining, two engines fire up and moments later the Toro Rosso duo head down the pitlane. You can't keep these two in their garages.
TV cameras pick up on Carmen Jorda in the Lotus garage. Along with the Saubers and Marussias, Grosjean is the only driver still to post a time. Though at least the Frenchman has been out.
"We've brought the curtain down early on our FP1 running to check over a small mechanical issue with a power-unit component," reveals McLaren as more drivers pour on to the track.
Ricciardo is another driver who appears to have finished early, the Australian watching the action from the pit-wall. Indeed, as the session winds down, all but Ricciardo, Grosjean and the McLarens are on track.
Interestingly, the camera pick out FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer in the McLaren garage with Ron Dennis and his men. Hmm.
Despite running wide in T5 and sending up a cloud of dirt, Vettel improves to fifth with 31.029, 1.472s off the pace.
The session ends, Rosberg quickest ahead of Hamilton, Bottas, Sainz, Vettel, Verstappen, Massa, Raikkonen, Maldonado and Raikkonen.
Kvyat is eleventh, ahead of Perez, Hulkenberg, Button and Magnussen.
The session is followed by a couple of laps practice with the Virtual Safety Car which makes its appearance this weekend in the wake of the tragedy that was Suzuka.
While the Mercedes duo, as expected, is in a league of its own, it's good to see the Williams, Ferraris and Toro Rossos covered by just 0.562, though the Red Bulls are worryingly a little further behind.
Sainz completed the most laps (33), ahead of Verstappen (32), then Maldonado and Perez both on 23.
Check out our Friday gallery, here.