MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso topped the timesheets in the first free practice at the Australian Grand Prix today as reliability problems saw the new Formula One season open with a whimper rather than a bang.
The twice world champion Spaniard posted a lap of one minute 31.840 seconds with half an hour left in the 90 minute session and held his half-a-second lead over McLaren’s second-placed Jenson Button in brilliant sunshine at Albert Park.
After a winter testing in which teams struggled to come to terms with the new turbocharged hybrid engines, drivers spent much of the session cooling their heels in the garages, while technicians tinkered.
The biggest surprise of the session was trouble for Mercedes, who arrived Down Under optimistic after a promising winter testing.
Having batted away the favourites to win the season-opener tag, Lewis Hamilton was left fuming when his car stopped at turn nine of his installation lap just five minutes into the session.
With the vehicle hauled off by a tow-truck, the 29-year-old Briton walked back to the paddock without taking his helmet off and suffered the indignity of being stopped by security before retreating into his team’s tent.
Mercedes later issued a statement clarifying that his car had come to an automatic halt triggered by an oil pressure alarm, but said they needed to investigate the fault further.
