Australia: Season starts with a mourning flag 🎥
DEATH CASE The first Formula 1 race weekend in Australia is overshadowed by the death of FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting. The first practice session was dominated by world champion Lewis Hamilton on Mercedes. On Thursday morning, Charlie Whiting was found dead in his hotel room in Melbourne. The Briton died at the age of just 66 as a result of a pulmonary embolism. Whiting climbed [...]
A look back on the extraordinary career of Charlie Whiting, who has passed away at the age of 66
A man who has left an indelible mark on the history of motorsport and F1 pic.twitter.com/SB8vdGQOkR
- Formula 1 (@F1) March 14, 2019
On Thursday morning, Charlie Whiting was found dead in his hotel room in Melbourne. The Briton died at the age of just 66 as a result of a pulmonary embolism.
Whiting rose from race mechanic - including at Brabham as race engineer to three-time world champion Nelson Piquet and the Swiss Marc Surer - to the highest FIA race official. He has been permanent race director and safety delegate since 1997.
Mercedes sets the pace
Each of the ten GP teams expressed their grief in their own way before concentrating on the first two practice sessions on Friday. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in both sessions. While his Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas came within fractions of a second of him, Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly in their Red Bull-Honda were already eight tenths behind in third and fourth.
Alfa/Sauber already behind the top teams
Alfa Romeo Racing made a strong first appearance. Kimi Räikkönen set the sixth fastest time in both practice sessions with the C38 built by Sauber Motorsport in Hinwil. Only Scuderia works driver Sebastien Vettel was faster with a new Ferrari engine in the rear. Antonio Giovinazzi in the second Alfa Romeo-Ferrari C38 began his first full GP season with 11th and 15th places.
Kimi Räikkönen: "That was a solid first working day without any major problems. The feeling in the car is quite good, but there is still a lot to do to improve the setup. I'm looking forward to qualifying with confidence. Anything is possible behind the top teams."
Renault and Haas in lurking position
The Renault team also put in a convincing performance on the first day of practice, with Nico Hülkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo finishing 7th and 8th respectively. Both were faster than Charles Leclerc in the second Ferrari SF90, whose time chase ended with a spin without any further consequences.
Haas F1 Team, which is currently in tenth place with Romain Grosjean from Geneva, can also breathe a sigh of relief. The drivers from Scuderia Toro Rosso, Racing Point (formerly Force India), McLaren and Williams (rookie George Russell and returnee Robert Kubica) are only in the second half of the rankings.
This official video from formula1.com shows a summary of the first day of practice:
Plenty of spins 🔄
A few close calls with the walls 😮
And a couple of very quick laps 🚀
It's all the best bits from FP2 at the #AusGP 🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/cC1r5WH2ho
- Formula 1 (@F1) March 15, 2019
Marc Surer as Swiss TV expert
Saturday's qualifying will show what the times from the first day of training are worth. Swiss television will broadcast the time trial live on SRF zwei from 6.55 to 8.10 am (summary from 11.15 to 12.05 am), and the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday morning from 5.30 to 8.10 am. Marc Surer will be co-commentating with Michael Stäuble for the first time.
