Red Bull Renault - Australian GP - Free Practice

Sebastian Vettel made his Grand Prix weekend debut today as a Red Bull Renault driver, but it was a tough day for last year's Italian Grand Prix winner.

A hydraulic failure left him stranded on track in the first session after just four laps, while an error saw him spin out of the second session with 30 minutes remaining. He was eighth fastest in session two.

Mark Webber also had a mechanical problem on his RB5 in the first session, but later went on to complete 30 laps and record the fourth fastest time.
Sebastian Vettel
“We had a bad session in this morning’s practice and didn’t get too much running, due to a hydraulics problem. In the afternoon we were able to get some laps in, but unfortunately I made a stupid mistake towards the end of the practice, so we couldn’t run through our programme. Nevertheless, it’s looking alright with what we’ve done compared to the time we had on the circuit, so let’s see how we go tomorrow. Like always on Fridays, it’s a bit difficult to interpret everyone’s lap times, but I think we can be happy.”
Mark Webber
“It’s great to be back in Australia. I’m proud of the Australian GP; they put on an excellent show here for everyone and it’s good for the local people. They’ve had a tough few months recently with the fires, so I hope they enjoy the weekend.
My day today was a bit hit and miss to be honest, as we had a few technical problems with the car. I didn’t get many laps in during the first session, but the second was a lot better. We completed more laps and tried both types of tyres, so we’ve got some good stuff to go through tonight."

"It was quite interesting to see how low the sun was through the trees towards the end of the second session, it was good to run with that to get used to it for Sunday.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal
“After the off-track activities of the last couple of days, it was good to get the weekend under way. There were a couple of issues in the first session – a hydraulics leak with Sebastian and a driveshaft problem with Mark limited our run-time. In the second session both drivers showed good pace and we worked through our programme. Unfortunately Sebastian had a small off, which ended his day early, but both drivers seem comfortable in the car and their pace was respectable.”