Australia FP2 Results:

[Panther_99FS]

1	44	Lewis Hamilton	MERCEDES	1:22.600		33
2	77	Valtteri Bottas	MERCEDES	1:22.648	+0.048s	33
3	33	Max Verstappen	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:23.400	+0.800s	33
4	10	Pierre Gasly	RED BULL RACING HONDA	1:23.442	+0.842s	31
5	5	Sebastian Vettel	FERRARI	1:23.473	+0.873s	35
6	7	Kimi Räikkönen	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:23.572	+0.972s	40
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	RENAULT	1:23.574	+0.974s	37
8	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RENAULT	1:23.644	+1.044s	31
9	16	Charles Leclerc	FERRARI	1:23.754	+1.154s	35
10	8	Romain Grosjean	HAAS FERRARI	1:23.814	+1.214s	37
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	1:23.933	+1.333s	36
12	20	Kevin Magnussen	HAAS FERRARI	1:23.988	+1.388s	27
13	18	Lance Stroll	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	1:24.011	+1.411s	38
14	55	Carlos Sainz	MCLAREN RENAULT	1:24.133	+1.533s	26
15	99	Antonio Giovinazzi	ALFA ROMEO RACING FERRARI	1:24.293	+1.693s	37
16	11	Sergio Perez	RACING POINT BWT MERCEDES	1:24.401	+1.801s	34
17	23	Alexander Albon	SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO HONDA	1:24.675	+2.075s	40
18	4	Lando Norris	MCLAREN RENAULT	1:24.733	+2.133s	26

George Russell. Williams
Robert Kubica Williams

[wombat666]

We're heading off to Albert Park courtesy of a Shannons 'Invitation' just for the Saturday, it gives Madame an excuse (not that she ever needs one!) to 'Frock Up' and I'll take the Silver 934 up as I have a prospective buyer 'interested'.
Caught a smattering of the TV coverage and the usual suspects are doing their usual thing.
Gasly looked good until he broke the car, Leclerc was quite fast but seems to be taking it carefully, Albon broke his STR, while Kvyat made a decent return. Both Renaults showed decent pace but I'm thinking they were looking at race pace.
Williams are looking to be really bad, IMHO they will be lucky to survive the season!
And the we have Kimi Räikkönen, looking cool and calm and running in the top six!
Saturday will be just a 'Social' day for us, as I really care not for Race Day, as the forecast for surf is looking promising on Sunday.
Expect the 'Mercedes' duo to whitewash the race, the cars are quick and both look smooth.

[wombat666]

Not going to post a spoiler but I'll just say it was a VERY interesting season opener.
I might just end up watching a few more rounds in the hope the trend continues.

[Panther_99FS]

Definitely interesting - they say the P2 individual lost part of his floorboard.....P3 drove a great race!

[huub vink]

It was an interesting race..... But are we any wiser?

Mercedes is still very dominant. The Red Bull/Honda could overtake the Ferrari on top speed (although including DRS). It looked like Lecrerq was faster than Vettel but not allowed to overtake him.
And the first engine to blow up this year was a Renault again (not a lucky weekend for Sainz as well.....).
In Albert park it was still very difficult to overtake, despite the changes on the car.............

Cheers,
Huub

[Ferry_vO]

Good to finally see the real Bottas! Hopefully he can finally challenge Lewis for the title this year!

Honda looks strong, great to see their first podium in the hybrid era. Marko was quoted that the engine was now better than the chassis, so hopefully there's more to come. Strong race from Max, not a good start for Gasly, although his team was to blame for his poor qualifying.

Ferrari not so good despite a strong winter, Leclerc somewhat disappointing and Vettel not showing great pace either.

Renault poor despite having their 'best winter so far'.

Haas did at least 50% better in the pit stops compared to last year…

Williams...…. They should really become a Mercedes B-team like Haas.. And kubica.. Outpaced by his rookie team mate all weekend and too many mistakes!

McLaren looked like they've made a step up, good performance in qualifying from Norris especially.

[Panther_99FS]

. It looked like Lecrerq was faster than Vettel but not allowed to overtake him.

Cheers,
Huub

Yup!!!!!!!