Lewis Hamilton led a Mercedes 1-2 at the top of the timesheets for the first free practice session at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, while McLaren's hopes of a clean start were tempered by reliability issues.
After pipping Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel with a lap of one minute 23.599 seconds in the first practice, the Briton shaved almost a second in FP2, his quickest lap clocked at 1:22.60.
Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton dominated practice at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Friday, putting Mercedes on top of the timesheets and leaving his Formula One rivals with plenty to ponder before the weekend.
Sahara Force India witnessed a good outing on Friday during the practice sessions for Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix as both their drivers recorded a top-10 timing with Paul di Resta lapping the eighth fastest time while Nico Hulkenberg was the ninth quickest, in Shanghai.
Lewis Hamilton's hopes of clinching his fifth Formula One World championship at the US Grand Prix were boosted on Friday when Ferrari rival Sebastian Vettel was handed a three-place grid penalty for a practice infringement.
World champion Lewis Hamilton topped the timesheets for Mercedes in both practice sessions of the Australian Grand Prix on Friday but team mate Nico Rosberg crashed as waterlogged conditions put a dampener on Formula One's season opener.
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