As practice for the 2014 Australian Grand Prix got underway, it was Fernando Alonso who had the most to be happiest about as he topped the session with a 1:31.840.
The Spaniard was also the first man out on track as the light turned green at the end of the pit lane, whilst many of his rivals remained in the garage with engineers desperately trying to ready their own cars.
McLaren’s Jenson Button went second quickest, albeit half a second down on Alonso’s best time, whilst the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa were third and fourth respectively.
The big news from the opening few minutes was that of Lewis Hamilton stopping on circuit. The favourite for victory only completed an out lap when his W05 came to a halt.
The team later confirmed that an oil pressure sensor shut the engine off for no apparent reason, which will be welcome news for the team.
Hamilton’s issue wasn’t the only cause for concern. Lotus’s Pastor Maldonado completed an out lap with just minutes of the session left before smoke filled his cockpit and the Renualt power unit shutoff.
Meanwhile the Red Bull’s of Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel completed some 36 laps between them to go fifth and seventh quickest, with the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg between them.
Marussia had the upperhand on rival Caterham as both cars managed to get out for at least a handful of laps, whilst Caterham reported battery problems for both its drivers.
FP1 Full Times – 2014 Australian Grand Prix:
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 1:31.840 | 20 | |
| 02 | J. Button | McLaren | 1:32.357 | 0.517 | 23 |
| 03 | V. Bottas | Williams | 1:32.403 | 0.563 | 27 |
| 04 | F. Massa | Williams | 1:32.431 | 0.591 | 19 |
| 05 | D. Ricciardo | Red Bull | 1:32.599 | 0.759 | 26 |
| 06 | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:32.604 | 0.764 | 17 |
| 07 | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32.793 | 0.953 | 10 |
| 08 | K. Magnussen | McLaren | 1:32.847 | 1.007 | 28 |
| 09 | K. Raikkonen | Ferrari | 1:32.977 | 1.137 | 19 |
| 10 | J-E. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 1:33.446 | 1.606 | 30 |
| 11 | N. Hulkenberg | Force India | 1:33.533 | 1.693 | 23 |
| 12 | S. Perez | Force India | 1:33.855 | 2.015 | 24 |
| 13 | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 1:34.272 | 2.432 | 27 |
| 14 | E. Gutierrez | Sauber | 1:35.578 | 3.738 | 7 |
| 15 | A. Sutil | Sauber | 1:36.445 | 4.605 | 13 |
| 16 | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 1:40.859 | 9.019 | 6 |
| 17 | M. Chilton | Marussia | 1:46.922 | 15.082 | 4 |
| 18 | M. Ericsson | Caterham | 1 | ||
| 19 | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 1 | ||
| 20 | K. Kobayashi | Caterham | 1 | ||
| 21 | P. Maldonado | Lotus | 2 | ||
| 22 | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 0 |
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