Reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel was in a positive frame of mind following the opening day of practice in Melbourne, with the Red Bull driver topping the timesheets in both sessions and completing a total of 49 trouble-free laps.
Having assessed the potential of both the Super Soft and Medium compound tyres, the German's focus is now on the upcoming and changeable weather conditions.
"Overall it was a good day for us. It was pretty seamless and there was no trouble with the car," Vettel explained on Friday. "After all the mileage of testing, it was fun to be out there – this circuit doesn’t get easier, it’s a good challenge. The soft tyre doesn’t last too long, but the harder tyre is a decent race tyre.
"The weather should be quite changeable tomorrow and, as we can’t predict how much that will impact the tyres and car balance, we need to be ready to change things. Today was a good day and the balance was good, but we need to be ready for what’s coming up."
Current weather forecasts are predicting consistent showers over the Melbourne area on Saturday, with the potential to affect the hour-long afternoon qualifying session.
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:25.908 | 33 |
| 2. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:26.172 | 31 |
| 3. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:26.322 | 26 |
| 4. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | 01:26.361 | 38 |
| 5. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 01:26.680 | 32 |
| 6. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:26.748 | 35 |
| 7. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:26.772 | 28 |
| 8. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:26.855 | 32 |
| 9. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:27.435 | 35 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 01:28.187 | 34 |
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