Photo: Daimler AG
Even though this time it was a much closer run with Ferrari and Red Bull, it seems that the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team is still on top when it comes to performance in Formula 1 this year, with Nico Rosberg topping all time sheets in the 2014 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix practice that took place earlier today.
His team mate, Lewis Hamilton, had managed to set the fastest lap time in the first practice session, with the second one making him drop to fourth in the time sheets.
Rosberg's 1:39.909 lap time proved to be only 0.035 seconds faster than Kimi Raikkonen's, who also also just 0.026 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel.
All in all, the fastest drivers in top eleven achieved times bracketed within a single second, with the first six cars achieving times covered in an incredible 0.203 seconds.
Nico Rosberg: “It was crazy conditions out there. In the very, very warm temperatures, it’s a huge challenge to get everything right. The cars are on the edge and the tyre degradation was higher than expected today - we are sliding a bit more this year, perhaps because of the reduced downforce levels. We are still having some small issues and therefore we were not able to maximize everything today. The quickest teams seem to be closer together than in Australia, so we still have work to do overnight to improve our level of performance.”
Following the hard work done by the engineers, who resolved the ignition problem suffered in Australia, Lewis Hamilton had a perfect running F1 W05 single seater today.
Lewis Hamilton: “I’m happy with our progress over the two sessions today and we were able to complete our programe. The car feels good and our focus was on trying to understand the tires and make sure the balance is right for the weekend. There are areas where we can improve so we’re keeping focused on our own work, rather than being distracted by what the others are doing.
It was pretty tough with the temperature and humidity and it’s so important to keep hydrated here. We would love a good result this weekend, particularly as it is the home race for PETRONAS, but it’s impossible to predict what will happen at this stage. It’s one of the trickiest races of the year so we just have to make sure we tick all the boxes and that it all comes together for us.”
Both Rosberg and Hamilton ran a total of exactly 100 laps during the two practice sessions in the heat of the Sepang circuit, just five laps less than they completed in the same Friday practice from 2013.
Rosberg's 1:39.909 lap time proved to be only 0.035 seconds faster than Kimi Raikkonen's, who also also just 0.026 seconds faster than Sebastian Vettel.
All in all, the fastest drivers in top eleven achieved times bracketed within a single second, with the first six cars achieving times covered in an incredible 0.203 seconds.
Nico Rosberg: “It was crazy conditions out there. In the very, very warm temperatures, it’s a huge challenge to get everything right. The cars are on the edge and the tyre degradation was higher than expected today - we are sliding a bit more this year, perhaps because of the reduced downforce levels. We are still having some small issues and therefore we were not able to maximize everything today. The quickest teams seem to be closer together than in Australia, so we still have work to do overnight to improve our level of performance.”
Following the hard work done by the engineers, who resolved the ignition problem suffered in Australia, Lewis Hamilton had a perfect running F1 W05 single seater today.
Lewis Hamilton: “I’m happy with our progress over the two sessions today and we were able to complete our programe. The car feels good and our focus was on trying to understand the tires and make sure the balance is right for the weekend. There are areas where we can improve so we’re keeping focused on our own work, rather than being distracted by what the others are doing.
It was pretty tough with the temperature and humidity and it’s so important to keep hydrated here. We would love a good result this weekend, particularly as it is the home race for PETRONAS, but it’s impossible to predict what will happen at this stage. It’s one of the trickiest races of the year so we just have to make sure we tick all the boxes and that it all comes together for us.”
Both Rosberg and Hamilton ran a total of exactly 100 laps during the two practice sessions in the heat of the Sepang circuit, just five laps less than they completed in the same Friday practice from 2013.
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