Ferrari had a strong start to the season in Australia as the red cars led the chase of Mercedes in Friday practice.
In FP2, Sebastian Vettel was third and Kimi Raikkonen fourth, while both men did a respectable amount of laps.
“It was a good day with no problems on the car,” said Vettel. “It looks like the hard work done during the winter, both on track and at the factory at Maranello, is paying off. Our positive trend goes on, notably as far as reliability is concerned. I can’t think of such a trouble-free Friday session in a long time. As for performance, the higher you are in the time sheets, the better.
“But then it’s only Friday and I’ve been in Formula One long enough to know that today’s lap times are not so important. Mercedes are out of reach, we must be realistic. Every team and driver strives for being eventually on top, and we can be pleased with the work we’ve done today”.
“It was a typical Friday of free practice,” said Kimi. “In the first session I could not drive very well and it was difficult to put a good lap together. So, for the second session, we made some changes to the car before the long runs and, in the end, the feeling was better.
“Now if we can put everything together and find a good lap, we should be OK. It was a positive day overall, and the feeling hasn’t changed since winter testing: I think the whole package has improved. On the other hand, it’s only Friday, and we know we still have a lot of work to do.”
Click HERE for more F1 news and features.
