Mercedes dominates F1 practice at Australian GP

Mercedes drivers dominated Friday’s practice sessions for Formula One’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix, while other teams wrestled with mechanical problems, and even a legal dispute.

Nico Rosberg set the day’s fastest time during the second practice session at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit, just a tenth of a second ahead of teammate and reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, as the team lived up to expectations of continued dominance in 2015.

Ferrari drivers Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were the next fastest, but well off Mercedes’ pace. Third-placed Vettel was seven-tenths of a second behind Rosberg.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, the local favorite, was forced to miss the second session after an engine replacement, which is a serious concern as new regulations restrict each car to four engines for the season before penalties kick in.

Williams’ Felipe Massa also missed the session due to a water leak, and Toro Rosso’s 17-year-old rookie Max Verstappen barely participated in the second session due to a reported battery issue.

Such teething problems are common at the season-opening grand prix, and predictable for McLaren, which has struggled throughout preseason testing with its new Honda power unit. While Jenson Button was able to do some sustained running in the second session — 1.4 seconds off the top pace — Kevin Magnussen crashed into a tire wall early. Magnussen is standing in for Fernando Alonso, who will miss the season-opening race due to injury.

Williams driver Valtteri Bottas was fifth-fastest in the second session, ahead of Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat. Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz Jr., Lotus drivers Pastor Maldonado and Romain Grosjean, and Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg rounded out the top 10.

Sauber skipped the opening session due to an ongoing legal dispute with driver Giedo van der Garde, but Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr both participated in the second session for the team.

Van der Garde maintains he was promised a seat with Sauber for the 2015 season, but the team dumped him in favor of Ericsson and Nasr in November. A Supreme Court judge in the state of Victoria ruled Wednesday that van der Garde should be able to race in Melbourne; another hearing is scheduled for Saturday.

The Manor team, having been taken out of administration by new ownership, took no part as it scrambles to make its car ready. Even if the team does manage to get going for qualifying on Saturday, it looks unlikely to set the requisite time to enable it to take part in the race.

AP