Sebastian Vettel suffered another setback on his comeback in the Formula 1 cockpit. In the first practice session in Melbourne, he had to park his Aston Martin with engine problems 15 minutes before the end of the session.
The rear of his car was smoking, Vettel grabbed the fire extinguisher himself and pushed the car to a safe position with the help of marshals. After the end of practice, he sped back to the pit lane on a motor scooter and waved at the audience with a smile. Aston Martin announced an engine change on Vettel’s racing car.
Vettel had previously set his fastest lap in 1:21.661 minutes. This put the 34-year-old in 13th place. Vettel had missed the first two races of the season in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia due to the corona infection. Of the Australian Grand Prix (Sunday, 7:00 a.m. CEST / Sky) will be the first season for the four-time world champion, who is from Nico Hulkenberg (Emmerich) had been represented.
Ferrari made a strong impression in sunny weather at Albert Park. The Spaniard Carlos Sainz set the best time of 1:19.806 minutes. His teammate and world championship leader Charles Leclerc (1:20.337) finished second, world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull (1:20.626) finished fourth.
Mercedes follows
Mercedes still has a large gap to the top. record champion Lewis Hamilton (1:21.027) was more than a second behind Sainz in seventh place, but was faster than his teammate George Russell (1:21,457). Mick Schumacher (1:24.349) only completed his first timed lap in the Haas following around half an hour. The 23-year-old, who missed the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix due to a serious accident in qualifying, finished last.
Sunday’s race will be Australia’s first since 2019. In the past two years, the traditional GP had been canceled due to the corona pandemic. In the meantime, various changes have been made to the track: more flat-out sections, wider corners and a fourth DRS zone should ensure more action and overtaking manoeuvres.
