Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton renewed their rivalry yesterday with pace-setting performances in the two practice sessions for Formula One's Australian season-opener.
Ferrari's Raikkonen, limbering up for his first race as world champion, laid down an early marker for tomorrow's grand prix with a one minute 26.461 second lap that topped the morning timesheets at Albert Park.
But the Finn was less happy with his car's set-up in the afternoon, when Hamilton was quickest.
"I'm not very happy with the way practice went," he said. "This morning we found some good settings for the car but in the afternoon we struggled and our lap times reflect that."
"We must look carefully at the data to work out how to improve the car," the Finn said.
Raikkonen won in Melbourne last year on his Ferrari debut and the Finn will be chasing a third successive victory after ending last year on a high with triumphs in China and Brazil taking him to the title by a single point.
Hamilton, the 23-year-old who missed out on the title by a single point after a stunning debut season with McLaren, was more positive.
"There was some good progress with the car and we made the best use of the ever-improving track conditions," the Briton said.
His lap of 1:26.559 ousted Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber from the top spot.
Ferrari and McLaren, between them winners of every race last year, dominated the field in the first session but the pecking order was shaken up by Red Bull's strong showing after lunch.
Webber, who was a considerable 0.914 off Hamilton's time, cautioned his home fans against expecting too much however after a session that saw cars running with different fuel levels.
"We're not second quickest, we're still fighting for the back of the points," he said.
"That wasn't too bad. There was probably a few different fuel loads out there so it's hard to know exactly where we are," Webber said.
"There are definitely four or five cars that are quicker than us, so we'll get our heads down this evening and work on the race information before qualifying tomorrow," he said.
Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa and McLaren's new Finnish signing Heikki Kovalainen were third and fourth fastest respectively in both sessions.
Spain's double world champion Fernando Alonso, who has returned to Renault after a bitter and tumultuous year alongside Hamilton at McLaren, was sixth in the morning but 13th in the second stint and complained of gusting winds.
"We must still find some performance but I am optimistic for the rest of the weekend," he said.
The top 10 highlighted the fierce fight behind Ferrari and McLaren, with seven teams jostling for position.
Poland's Robert Kubica was seventh fastest for BMW in the morning, ahead of Toyota's German rookie Timo Glock and compatriot Sebastian Vettel in a Toro Rosso.
Italian Giancarlo Fisichella showed Force India were likely to be more serious contenders than predecessors Spyker with ninth place in the afternoon after 12th place earlier on.
Williams made a troubled start with Germany's Nico Rosberg failing to register a timed lap in the morning before lapping eighth fastest in the second session.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan yesterday dumped defending champions Germany out of the United Cup with world No. 2 Alexander Zverev sidelined by an arm injury barely a week away from the Australian Open. The upset in Perth sent the Kazakhs into the semi-finals of the 18-nation tournament. In Sydney, women’s world No. 2 Iga Swiatek led Poland into the last eight by winning a rematch of her 2023 French Open final against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. Britain also progressed to the quarter-finals with Katie Boulter’s dominant 6-2, 6-1 victory over Australia’s Olivia Gadecki enough to guarantee they won their group. The US and
HAT-TRICK PREP: World No. 1 Sabalenka clinched her first win of the season, as she aims to become the first woman in 20 years to win three Australian Opens in succession Coco Gauff, Jasmine Paolini and Taylor Fritz yesterday all clocked impressive wins as tennis powerhouses Italy and the US surged into the quarter-finals of the mixed-team United Cup. World No. 3 Gauff swept past Croatia’s Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-2 to avenge a loss at the Paris Olympics, while Fritz took care of Borna Coric 6-3, 6-2 in searing Perth heat. That was enough to put the Americans — last year’s winners — into a last-eight clash with China today, while Elena Rybakina’s Kazakhstan today are to meet defending champions Germany, led by Alexander Zverev, in the other Perth quarter-final. In Sydney, the in-form
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
RSS