MELBOURNE: World champion Lewis Hamilton took up where he left off last season with the fastest lap times in opening practice for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix on Friday.
Hamilton lowered his opening practice best time of one minute 24.026 seconds with 1:23.931 in the second session to hold a 0.127sec gap over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen (1:24.058).
Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas (1:24.159) was third in Melbourne in the first exchanges of the new Formula One season.
The Ferrari duo of Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth respectively and between 0.3-0.5secs down on Hamilton’s time ahead of Saturday’s qualifying.
Australia’s big hope Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull was seventh fastest in 1:24.721.
“Coming to the first race you have no idea what it’s going to be like, but we started on the right foot today,” Hamilton said.
“The gap closed up a little bit between all the cars, but that’s exciting anyway.
“It’s more challenging for me to eke out more from the car, discover whether I have lost something or they have all gained, but I enjoyed driving.
“We’re going to get quicker and quicker through the weekend, that is if it doesn’t rain tomorrow.”
Hamilton’s long-run pace looked superior on the ultrasoft tires, reeling off a steady run of 1:28s, but race pace simulations showed little between the three leading teams.
Red Bull managed to lap in the high 1:28s with Ferrari in the low 1:29s.
Verstappen and Bottas both used soft tires for the final few minutes of the second practice session, while Raikkonen was on the supersoft for Ferrari.
“For me this has been a positive start to the weekend so I am really happy about that,” Verstappen said.
“The car has behaved well on this track which is always pleasing after only running in Barcelona to date. It is still hard to see who is strongest and how we will finish come race day.”
Hamilton is gunning for his fifth world title, an achievement which would match the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio and leave him just two adrift of Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.
Bottas and Raikkonen faced the stewards after the second session to explain a coming-together, when Bottas had to take to the gravel to avoid running into the Ferrari.
“We tried to chase the balance a bit because I did not feel that comfortable,” said Ferrari’s Vettel.
“We still have quite a lot of performance in hand — I am not too worried because I know if I get everything right we should be in better shape.
“It looks to be close, which is good news, so we should be able to do something tomorrow.”
The surprise of the opening day was the performance of the Haas team to challenge for the fourth-fastest team on the back of two strong showings from Romain Grosjean.
The second session was halted briefly after a cable was ripped up from underneath the start/finish line, and resumed after officials cut loose the wire.
A fired-up Fernando Alonso yelled down the McLaren team radio: “Maybe because of the halo the people stop looking into their mirrors!” after a close shave with some of his rivals early in the session.
The halo, a safety bar above the cockpit to protect drivers, is a new innovation this season.
— AFP
Lewis Hamilton dominates F1 practice in Melbourne
Lewis Hamilton dominates F1 practice in Melbourne
Archer dismisses Australian tailenders for a 5-wicket haul to keep England in the Ashes contest
ADELAIDE, Australia: Jofra Archer dismissed Mitchell Starc for a well-made 54 and No. 11 Nathan Lyon to restrict Australia to 371 on Thursday and complete a five-wicket haul to keep England in the Ashes contest.
Archer picked up the first wicket of the third test, two more in the first over after lunch later Wednesday and the last two on Day 2 after Australia resumed at 322 for eight.
Starc made it back-to-back half centuries to continue his run of form that has earned him player-of-the-match honors in Australia’s opening eight-wicket wins in Perth and Brisbane.
He was unbeaten on 33 overnight and quickly raced to his half-century, plundering four boundaries in the first 10 deliveries of the morning: two slashing cuts in the first over from Archer and two more to wayward deliveries from Brydon Carse.
Starc reached 50 with a single, hit the first ball of Archer’s next over to the boundary but then the England paceman bowled him with a delivery that angled in from around the stumps.
The last-wicket pair added 23 runs before Archer trapped Lyon lbw, leaving Scott Boland unbeaten on 14 from 21 deliveries.
Archer returned 5-53 from 20.2 overs for his fourth five-wicket haul in test cricket, and third in the Ashes.
Victory a must by England
England needs a victory in Adelaide to have any chance of reclaiming the Ashes in this five-test series. A good batting performance in hot conditions on Thursday will help the cause, particularly with the Australians in the field and the temperature forecast to get close to 40C on Day 2.
On Wednesday, Alex Carey posted a hometown hundred and Usman Khawaja scored 82 after he was recalled at the last minute to replace Steve Smith on the eve of his 39th birthday.
Carey’s 106 was slightly contentious after he survived a review for caught behind when he was on 72. England reviewed the initial not out decision but Carey survived as decision review technology showed a noise spike before the ball had reached his bat.
The technology’s operators, BBG, later conceded after play ended that an operator error was most likely.
“Given that Alex Carey admitted he had hit the ball in question, the only conclusion that can be drawn from this, is that the Snicko operator at the time must have selected the incorrect stump mic for audio processing,” BBG founder Warren Brennan said in a statement.
Before play on Day 2, the ICC match referee restored one review to England because of the error.
