• Australian Grand Prix - FP1

Webber kicks off his weekend with the fastest time

ESPNF1 Staff
March 25, 2011
Mark Webber felt at home straight away at Albert Park © Sutton Images
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Mark Webber got his season off to the best possible start by topping the times during the first free practice session of his home Australian Grand Prix.

As predicted, the Red Bull looked quick with Sebastian Vettel second fastest - 0.327 off Webber's 1:26.831 - and Fernando Alonso's Ferrari nearly a second adrift. However, the times should not be taken too literally as fuel loads are completely unknown and the drivers only ventured out on hard tyres, saving their set of softs for the second session.

But for Webber it was the start of the mind games with his team-mate, as the Australian clocked the fastest lap on his very last attempt after Vettel had looked set to finish on top. It will only be a minor victory in the grand scheme of things, but a confidence booster nonetheless.

The tyres look likely to play a major part in the story of Sunday's race as drivers experienced pretty serious wear, with chunks of rubber shedding from the surface. Vettel's first set looked in particularly bad shape after 16 laps of running, but the Pirellis should have an easier time once the track surface has been rubbered in and temperatures increase over the course of the weekend.

In fact track conditions were so bad at the start of the session that Karun Chandhok completed just three corners before losing control of his Lotus and crashing into the barriers. As he applied the throttle on the short burst down to turn four, the rear of his car broke away and he demolished the front wing. The Indian was distraught after being given the opportunity to take over from Jarno Trulli in the morning session as part of a new deal as one of the team's reserve drivers.

He wasn't the only driver to make a mistake, although none of the others had as serious consequences, and many of the tyre problems can be attributed drivers locking up under braking. Another factor that appeared to play a part in the mistakes was the moveable rear wing, which the drivers were testing at every available opportunity around the circuit. In qualifying it could be worth a lot of lap time and several drivers were seen keeping it open for as long as possible into braking zones and then running wide.

One team with plenty to understand on its car this weekend is McLaren. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button wasted no time getting to work, however, and completed 55 laps between them as they gathered data on the team's untested exhaust and diffuser. The initial signs look positive, with the pair running near the top of the timing sheets early on before settling for sixth and seventh place at the chequered flag.

Meanwhile, HRT failed to make the circuit with the team firing up the car in the garage but not hitting the track. There is no official reason why the car has not turned a wheel, after it also failed to make an appearance at pre-season testing, but clearly there are still some fairly big issues to be solved.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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