F1: Ferrari's Alonso fastest in FP1, Hamilton in FP2 at the Autralian Grand Prix

Free Practice sessions went underway at Albert Park Grand in Australia and it was the first time all the 'new' F1 cars congregated together at one venue. The new rules for 2014 have made sure that the design of the F1 cars is a topic of joke! Look at some of them and you'll know why I say that.

 

FP1 belonged to Fernando Alonso as he emerged fastest for Ferrari by putting in a lap of 1m 31.840s - 0.517s ahead of Jenson Button who posted lapped in at 1m 32.357s for McLaren.

 

Alonso was the first out on track when it opened and got a clean stretch ahead of him. Lewis Hamilton, however, struggled with his Mercedes W05 and couldn't even set a lap time. Just 12 minutes in, Lewis' car stopped at Turn 9 and he played no further part in FP1.

 

Following Alonso and Button were the Williams duo of Bottas and Felipe Massa who set a time of 1m 32.403s and 1m 32.431s respectively.

 

Both the Force India drivers, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, looked good and put insome good lap times but were restricted to being 11th and 12th fastest.

 

FP2 however, saw a twist in fate. Lewis Hamilton made up for lost ground in FP1 and went on to set the fastest lap. Hamilton set a lap time of 1m 29.625s while team mate Nico Rosberg was just 0.157s behind the leader.

 

The Red shimmered again at Albert park as Fernando Alonso tried to keep up the pace but finished only in third place with 1m 30.132s, while Sebastian Vettel came in fourth for Red Bull as he put in a lap time of 1m 30.381s.

 

Both Hulkenberg and Perez improved their timings in FP2 and 'the Hulk' looked in sublime form as he completed the top ten list while Perez could manage only 13th fastest.

 

FP3 commences tomorrow along with the Qualification rounds. Mercedes do look the favourites here but there is still a long way to go till race day.