Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are braced are for another ‘close battle’ for supremacy at Mercedes after the Silver Arrows dominated practice for the Australian GP.
By the narrowest of margins, Rosberg headed a Mercedes one-two in bothPractice One and Practice Two as the world champions delivered emphatic proof of their superiority in the first official sessions of the new 2015 season.
With the W06 boasting what appears to be a one-second pace advantage over their nearest challengers, Ferrari and Williams, a Mercedes car seems certain to win Sunday’s win provided it remains reliable. Far less certain, however, is whether it will be Hamilton or Rosberg who crosses the line first.
“It's as tight as always, it is always going to be close between us,” predicted world champion Hamilton after being pipped by Rosberg by one-tenth of a second in the afternoon session.
The German was also fractionally faster than Hamilton in winter testing and, after out-qualifying his team-mate in 2014 by a 12-7 scoreline, will start Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated shoot-out as the favourite to claim pole position.
"It's better than being second quickest!" said Rosberg after his Friday double. "It won't make that much difference because there is so little between us but it's been a great day for the team. We've definitely shown we have a strong car. With Lewis, it's close, he's driving well, it's going to be a big battle. I need to nail car set-up because I am not quite there yet. It's a particular challenge here."
Nico Rosberg: Topped both of Friday's sessions
Hamilton also confirmed he had yet to find the sweet-spot of his new car, but the relief for both drivers will have been the outstanding performance of the W06. After the smoke and mirrors action of winter testing, Friday practice served as undisputable proof that the best have got better between seasons and Mercedes remain very much out in front.
“Everyone at the factory has done an incredible job and to arrive here and have such a competitive car is an amazing feeling,” acknowledged Hamilton.
Behind Mercedes, however, another close battle appears to be brewing with Williams and Ferrari vying to be the best of the rest. Although Felipe Massa missed the afternoon running due to an engine change and Valtteri Bottas finished a distant fourth in the timesheets, the resurgent Williams team remain confident they can challenge for a podium this weekend.
“It was a good day. Although Felipe had an issue, on my side it was nice and smooth,” Bottas told Sky Sports F1. “We will see where we are tomorrow. As a team, we really want to make a step forward and that is to be right behind Mercedes. It is possible but it is going to be really close – Ferrari look to be in good shape and Red Bull are an unknown.”
The former world champions endured a torrid day, with newcomer Daniil Kvyat over two seconds adrift of Rosberg’s benchmark and Daniel Ricciardo, like Massa, forced to sit out the afternoon session.
"Hopefully we can get close to Ferrari," said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. "That gap of within a second of Mercedes looks achievable. I don’t think we’ve seen Williams’ full hand yet but I think that is what we will be pitching for."
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