LEWIS HAMILTON FINISHED only 13th in second practice for the Australian Grand Prix as championship leader Charles Leclerc set the fastest time.
A fortnight on from the controversial Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Formula One is back at Melbourne’s Albert Park for the first time since the 2020 race was cancelled because of the pandemic.
And Hamilton, who finished a lowly 10th in Jeddah, was again off the pace in his under-performing Mercedes.
The seven-time world champion demanded more power and greater grip after his disappointing showing at the previous round.
POV: You're @PierreGASLY driving around the incredible @ausgrandprix circuit! 🤩#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/oLS7GBVWhn
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 8, 2022
But the Silver Arrows arrived in Australia without any major upgrades as they continue to battle the new regulations.
Hamilton finished a distant 1.5 seconds behind Leclerc, with world champion Max Verstappen second, 0.245 sec adrift, and Carlos Sainz third in the other Ferrari.
Neither Mercedes drivers made it into the top 10 on Friday afternoon after Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell finished 11th, 1.2 sec back.
Fernando Alonso, who made his debut here 21 years ago, was fourth for Alpine, one spot ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
Hamilton finished second to former team-mate Valterri Bottas in the last race staged here back in 2019.
But the circuit has undergone a number of changes since in order to spice up what can be a largely uneventful race.
The track has been resurfaced and widened at Turns 1, 6 and the penultimate corner, while the chicane has been removed at Turns 9 and 10 to provide the drivers with a high-speed drag down to Turn 11; delivering greater overtaking opportunities.
Charles Leclerc fastest in FP2! 👊#AusGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/db3RxThndz
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 8, 2022
Sebastian Vettel was sidelined for the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia after testing positive for Covid-19.
The four-time world champion is back in action this weekend, but his first outing ended prematurely following an engine failure.
Vettel came to a halt with smoke billowing out of his Aston Martin. He rode a moped back to this pits, waving to the crowd – an incident which is being investigated by the stewards. He then failed to make it out for the concluding action of the day after his team could not change his faulty power unit in time.
Vettel’s team-mate Lance Stroll finished 14th on a day which is unlikely to improve the mood in the Aston Martin camp following their lacklustre start to the new season. Only they and Williams are without a point so far.
British driver Lando Norris was eighth for McLaren, two places ahead of team-mate and home favourite Daniel Ricciardo.
God bless him. Hiding being gay for years hiding the HIV also . The years and years of stress that he put himself under is sad. Always came across as a great genuine nice guy. Hope he has a long long life ahead of him still . I wish u well
@john s: did you read a different article to me? He said he has HIV, being gay was never mentioned but you assume he must be gay if he has hiv? Or did i miss something
@Karl Charlie: in fairness to John S (whoever he is) I didnt take you’re interpretation of what he’d written.
@Karl Charlie: he is gay that’s a fact do you not no who he is ?
@Karl Charlie: came out in 2009..
@Karl Charlie: in fairness to John S (whoever he is) I didn’t take your interpretation of what he’d written.
@bmul: i realised that after i googled it!! No idea who the lad is i dont follow uk sports teams
@Karl Charlie: classic example of contrived outrage….you go off on one not knowing who you are talking about….
Poor man. Seems to have been tormented all his life, both internally and externally. Medically, HIV has a different prognosis now. Socially, there’s still a stigma associated with it. Hats off to him. He’s a hell of a role model for anyone.
Best wishes to the man. He always came across as very genuine. A role model for anyone who has an interest in compassion and humanity.
We all worry about what People think, wasting our energy away, Gareth is a Wonderful Human Being, an inspiration to us all. Please God he will live many Happy years with this condition.
@tennis nut: why would his HIV status have anything to do with his rugby? I have a feeling you may need to educate yourself further if you think it does
@Vocal Outrage: because there is potential for blood contamination
@tennis nut: I’ll tell you who isn’t inspirational. A small minded bigot who doesn’t have the balls to to step out from the veil if anomomity.
@tennis nut: It’s because of judgemental people like you that causes the fear in others not to come out and say who or what they are. Watch the interview with Nigel Owens and it may help you understand where these people are and the horror they feel in having to ‘come out ‘. It may even educate you an g o d knows it seems like you need it.
@thomas patrick: You might need to educate yourself. Nowadays, if he is taking his treatment as prescribed, the virus reaches undetectable levels and is virtually untransmittable. The only recorded cases of transmission, a small number anyway, have been when patients were taking their treatment irregularly.
What’s shameful is the fact that society made it so hard for him to be who he is. Life with HIV is not what it was decades ago. Wishing him all the best. Brave man.
@Laura Mulcahy: how did society make it hard for him ? I think you ll find that when people come out they quickly find the opposite.
Wow unreal best of luck to him
@Louise Lennon: Is it Sunday?
@Darren: why does everyone automatically think he’s gay because of hiv?
@Louise Lennon: because he came out as gay years ago!!!!!!
@Louise Lennon: because he’s gay?
@Louise Lennon: The whole coming out thing made it pretty obvious Louise.
@vfagan: gay or not gay hiv is real!!
@Louise Lennon: take the shame and be out :)
@Louise Lennon: take the shame and BOW out I meant:( ;)
@Louise Lennon: stop digging Louise.