Webber snatches fastest time from Vettel
2011 Australian Grand Prix
Mark Webber, Red Bull, Melbourne, 2011
Mark Webber set the fastest time in the dying moments of the first practice session in Melbourne.
The Red Bull driver hit the top of the times early in the session but was overhauled by Sebastian Vettel shortly afterwards. Vettel posted a 1’27.739 but by the end of his stint his tyres had visibly deteriorated.
The Ferrari of Fernando Alonso split the pair of them later in the session, falling short of the fastest time by just a hundredth of a second.
In the final minutes the Red Bulls took to the track again and Webber briefly saw the top of the times again – only to be pegged back by his team mate once more.
But Webber had a little more in hand and with his final lap of the session lowered the best time to a 1’26.831.
The two Mercedes also showed some potential – at one point Nico Rosberg did the fastest time over the first two sectors before backing off in the third.
Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were sixth and seventh having made an early start to the session in the revised McLaren.
But Karun Chandhok had a disastrous return to F1 with Lotus as he crashed on his first lap. The T128 snapped right as he accelerated out of turn three, putting him in the barrier.
He at least got further than F1′s other Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan. He and team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi spent the session in the pits while the HRT mechanics scrambled to get their cars finished.
Several drivers had off-track moments during the session including Felipe Massa, who had a particularly large lock-up at the first corner.
Virgin were well off the pace in the first session and failed to lap within 7% of the fastest time by 2.3 seconds.
2011 Australian Grand Prix
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- Sauber will not appeal Australia disqualification
- 2011 Australian Grand Prix: complete race weekend review
- Who was the best driver of the Australian Grand Prix weekend?
- No home advantage for Webber at Red Bull
- Relief at McLaren after last-minute changes pay off
- Ferrari look for answers on missing pace
- Collisions spoil Mercedes’ start to the season
- Petrov fires Renault with fine drive to first podium
- Unreliability and driver errors hold Williams back
Browse all 2011 Australian Grand Prix articles
driftin said on 25th March 2011, 3:09
Business as usual for RBR and Alonso but really great to see:
1. McLarens getting up to speed.
2. Rosberg and Barrichello in the top 5.
2. Kobayashi in the top 10.
wasiF1 (@wasif1) said on 25th March 2011, 3:12
HRT not too many miles?
graigchq (@graigchq) said on 25th March 2011, 5:21
HRT NO miles.
I doubt they or Virgin will qualify. For Virgin this is a shame, for HRT, well, come on people, you’ve had months now. If you can’t put your car together in time, how are your drivers suposed to a) drive it and b) set anywhere near a competitive time
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 25th March 2011, 3:10
You amaze me with how quickly you get this out Keith!
That said, interesting session, I can’t help but say go Webber! Nice to see him do well in front of the home crowd.
driftin said on 25th March 2011, 3:13
I know right. It was up barely a minute I think after the BBC live coverage ended their broadcast. How does he type that fast, yet alone get all the stats and then post it up all formatted correctly?
Keith rules.
RIISE (@riise) said on 25th March 2011, 3:16
And not a mistake in sight, great work!!!
Jarred Walmsley (@jarred-walmsley) said on 25th March 2011, 3:25
I can spot one, (Mercedes-Ferrari) but for the first entry of the season and the speed at which Keith gets them up, 1 mistake is pretty good.
DeadManWoking said on 25th March 2011, 3:32
7%? :)
mateuss (@mateuss) said on 25th March 2011, 3:41
By my reckoning all the cars who set a time were within 7% of WEB, Glock was 6.66% off the pace.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 25th March 2011, 3:43
Sorry I don’t see what you’re getting at here – they were more than 7% slower than Webber (i.e. more than a 1’32.909).
Mateuss, Glock was 9.74% slower than Webber.
mateuss (@mateuss) said on 25th March 2011, 3:47
Sorry, thats a bit embarrassing – forgetting there is 60s in 1min not 100 :D Its 5am thought if thats any excuse.
Mike said on 25th March 2011, 3:58
Yeah, more great work Keith.
I really hope the Virgin cars can get within the 107% rule, I think it would go a long way to dampen the event if they can’t compete.
DeadManWoking said on 25th March 2011, 4:03
You’re right, Keith, it’s the wording that caught me out, I expected to see ‘failed to lap within 107% of the fastest time by 2.3 seconds.’
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 25th March 2011, 3:24
Thanks guys :-)
unoc said on 25th March 2011, 4:27
It doesn’t matter anyway as Red BUll, Ferrair etc… are all close to their Q1 pace in comparison to Virin who will turn the engine up etc…
All the times will improve becasue the track is green, but Red BUll will make sure they aern’t going to run out of fuel and their engines wont be turned up to max. HRT, Virign etc.. will do all of that and hence they will be comparitively faster in Q1, then once it gets to Q3 Ferrari, Red BUll etc.. will all set faster times thatn their Q1 pace while HRT and Virgin will have set their max pace in Q1.
Makes sense? In Short if they make a hot lap in Q1 then they shouldn’t fall below the 7% simply because those that race the benchmark time aren’t racing anywhere near full speed hence making it easier to reach
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 25th March 2011, 4:59
Maybe, but given all the new variables and regulations, I don’t think any midfield team is going to want to risk getting caught out in Q1, which means that in turn, no top team will want to be caught out by the midfield cars. In future races once the pecking order is essentially established, I think you’re right, but with the uncertainty of pace this weekend, I think the top teams will be giving it their best to make sure they get into Q2.
RIISE (@riise) said on 25th March 2011, 3:11
It was a nice last lap from Webber. Gives Vettel something to think about.
Couldn’t believe Chandhok though…..
BasCB (@bascb) said on 25th March 2011, 3:30
I really hope he gets in with the 5Live crew later and talk us through that!
RIISE (@riise) said on 25th March 2011, 3:42
I wonder even though it didn’t look like it whether he put a short burst of power down, lost traction and in conjunction lost the rear.
Strange crash.
Owen said on 25th March 2011, 3:12
Ricciardo’s name is invisible … anyway glad to see him ahead of Buemi. I hope he can keep that up all year.
Webber’s time is good, but I don’t think we have seen top speed for any driver yet.
RIISE (@riise) said on 25th March 2011, 3:14
Well obviously the times will drop significantly by P3 but all the teams were running the same programs in that session. Webber just hooked up a sweet lap.
BasCB (@bascb) said on 25th March 2011, 3:12
On the 5Live coverage, they first had Liuzzi commenting that his car should be ready during FP1 and both for FP2. Later they commented on him sitting on the pitwall in jeans and the team not even working on the car.
Customs again?
Mclaren seem to have got reliability fixed with the new parts. Never saw a complete diffusor covered in heat resistant coating before. Speed looks a bit better than might be expected from them as well. And first strike for Webber in the battle of the Bulls.
Great to have the season starting again.
reg said on 25th March 2011, 3:14
Those Red Bull fast laps were using the actuated rear wing to full capacity. I didn’t see Alonso’s lap but the McLaren and Mercedes laps were not actuating the rear wings at all, it appeared.
US_Peter (@us_peter) said on 25th March 2011, 4:51
McLaren and Mercedes may not have the downforce to be able to run the wing open nearly as frequently as Red Bull, which if that’s true, I think we’ll see lots of Red Bull poles again this year…
Lee said on 25th March 2011, 8:06
Why would that be? The wing can only be activated at the very end of the straights where downforce is pretty irrelevant.
Kimster said on 25th March 2011, 16:14
In FP en Quali u can use the wing when and where u want
BasCB (@bascb) said on 25th March 2011, 3:14
And very important, HD feed really makes a difference.
driftin said on 25th March 2011, 3:15
Was that with the BBC site? I was trying to find that. Where is it? I watched it in SD.
James Williams said on 25th March 2011, 3:24
BBC don’t broadcast the practice sessions in HD. They get a HD feed from Melbourne.. but have to broadcast it to us in SD
bosyber (@bosyber) said on 25th March 2011, 5:13
Still, maybe the higher quality feed might make the subsequent downscale be an improvement to the previous result?
tequilatim said on 25th March 2011, 3:15
4 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes-Ferrari 1’28.152 1.321
5 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1’28.430 1.599
6 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1’28.440 1.609
7 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1’28.483 1.652
8 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes-Ferrari 1’28.690 1.859
Glad to see Rosberg’s Ferrari up there!
mateuss (@mateuss) said on 25th March 2011, 3:15
It was interesting watching Alonso’s onboards with that red light on the wheel to show when FFW is activated, also looked like Macca did a lot of laps without FFW, suggesting they were more concentrated of learning race setup, which is what you would expect in FP1, although looked like all the other teams were using the FFW for most of the time, I guess to give the drivers some more practice with it.
LosD said on 25th March 2011, 7:38
FFW? Do you mean DRS?
Mike said on 25th March 2011, 8:44
Flippy Flappy Wing.
A genius of observations came up with the phrase.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner) said on 25th March 2011, 13:21
I think you could string together any 3 random letters and come up with a name for this device!
I heard RFA in FP2 this morning.
mateuss (@mateuss) said on 25th March 2011, 15:09
Yes, in Mercedes its Rear Flap Adjuster (probably for radio clearance, as is ‘A-firm’ and other of their radio slang), but Flippy Flappy Wing is funnier. :D
NinjaBadger (@ninjabadger) said on 25th March 2011, 3:16
Is it just me, or does the williams sound abit ‘different’ in the down changes?
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 25th March 2011, 5:14
I’m glad I am not the only one who noticed that. It does indeed sound different.
Kisii said on 25th March 2011, 3:16
Whats a Mercedes-Ferrari?
driftin said on 25th March 2011, 3:17
Michael Schumacher’s trying to emulate his glory days with this new team.
einariliyev (@einariliyev) said on 25th March 2011, 3:20
mercedes-ferrari wudve been a beautiful car…
Jim said on 25th March 2011, 3:20
Mercedes-Ferrari?
lewymp4 (@lewymp4) said on 25th March 2011, 3:21
Mark looked as if he had some serious intent.
Adam Tate (@adam-tate) said on 25th March 2011, 5:15
Yeah he did, I liked seeing that. It would be pretty neat if he won in front of his home crowd. I don’t think anyone has since Hamilton and Massa both did in 08.
F1Yankee (@f1yankee) said on 25th March 2011, 3:21
ferrari motor? that’s new :P
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 25th March 2011, 3:25
Not entirely error-free then! Have fixed it, thanks.
James Williams said on 25th March 2011, 3:50
LOL I noticed that.. ***