It was a day of domination from the reigning Constructor’s champions in Australia, with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton ending both Friday free practice sessions in first and second positions.
Rosberg was able to take top spot in both ninety-minute sessions, and insisted it was a great start to the season for his Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS team, but felt the car still had some pace to find as he struggled with oversteer when simulating a qualifying run.
“Today we have the evidence that our Silver Arrow is quick again and it was a great start for the Team,” reflected Rosberg.
“I was very happy with my long run but on one lap I still need to work on the pace as I had a lot of oversteer in the car.”
Looking at the times from both sessions, Rosberg believes this could indicative to what could conspire during 2015, with him and his team-mate being evenly matched, with the German knowing he will always have to be on the top of his game.
“It seems again that it’s very close between Lewis and me and he is a great driver, so I need to nail the set-up every time to come out on top,” added Rosberg.
“This year will be a big battle again against him, I’m sure. I’m looking forward to the first weekend of the new season with all the great fans out there.”
2104 World Champion Hamilton felt happy to be back on track for the new season and felt it was a positive opening day for him and the team. Like his team-mate, he feels there is still work to be done to perfect the car ahead of qualifying and the race, but does not expect the gap to the chasing pack to be as big on Saturday as it was in either of Friday’s sessions.
“It feels great to be back on track and back into a race weekend,” revealed Hamilton. “In general it’s been a good first day. To arrive here and have such good pace in the car for the second year in a row is an amazing feeling.
“But, naturally, as drivers we want to push the car to the edge and when you get to that limit it gets tricky. That’s where it’s our job to keep our heads down and really try to figure out how to maximise the set-up and get the most out of the car.
“There’s a little bit of work to do on my side as I’m not 100% comfortable with the car – but that’s to be expected on the first day.
“Today seemed to confirm that we have pretty good pace. But there are still other quick cars out there and we can’t go into tomorrow’s sessions not thinking that they will be close.”
