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2013 FORMULA 1 ROLEX AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

  • A smidgen of blue skies over Melbourne as the Australian city prepares to host the opening session of the first Grand Prix of the 2013 season
  • There are five rookies on the grid this season but the last seat was filled by old hand Adrian Sutil who is reunited with Paul di Resta as he's back in the cockpit for Force India
  • The first car out on track in 2013 is... Daniel Ricciardo. The Australian gets the opening batch of installation laps under way in Melbourne
  • Mercedes were top of the timesheets in testing but the team spend a lot of first practice getting the cars in good shape while drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton bide their time at the back of the garage
  • Kimi Raikkonen closes in on Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber. The Lotus goes on to set the benchmark for the session so far while rookie Gutierrez runs wide as he finds his rhythm
  • Lewis Hamilton settles into the Silver Arrow and sets a competitive lap time for Mercedes as the leading cars begin to show their hand
  • Giedo Van Der Garde tears up the grass at Turn One as he gets used to life as a Formula One driver in his debut season for Caterham
  • Fellow rookie Jules Bianchi kicks up some dust at Turn Three as he gets to grips with his Marussia. Plenty of the drivers making little errors on day one of the season
  • There are plenty of marbles coughed onto the track by the new tyres and Felipe Massa drives over a few of them here on his way to the second fastest time of the session
  • Paul di Resta slides into the gravel after a mistake in his Force India late on, but the Scot does well to dig his car out and get back on track
  • The number one spot in Practice One belongs to triple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who leads the way with a time of 1m 27.211s
  • Sadly there was no lap time for the third Ferrari, however, driven by a young Melbourne fan
  • The crowds take their seats in Albert Park for Practice Two. Australia attracts some of the biggest crowds of the season and it's no wonder in this balmy weather
  • It's a double-take as Jenson Button watches himself in the garage before taking out his McLaren for the start of Practice Two
  • Nico Rosberg has new Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton in his mirrors as he goes across the grass
  • Sebastian Vettel soon gets on the pace and takes his Red Bull to the top of the time sheets in 1m 26.274s
  • Giedo van der Garde leaves his Caterham beached in the gravel after his off at Turn Three. He loses vital time in the Caterham car as that is the end of his session
  • Ferrari's Fernando Alonso tries out some colour coordinated supersoft tyres but struggles to match the pace-setting Red Bulls
  • Jean-Eric Vergne takes a spin in his Toro Rosso. The drivers are still feeling their way as the Albert Park circuit rubbers in
  • Felipe Massa has to take evasive action as Esteban Gutierrez brings his Sauber out of the pits just a bit too close to the Ferrari man on track
  • Lewis Hamilton finds himself out of the car and waiting for a lift back to the pits after his Mercedes gets beached in the gravel
  • There are more problems for Mercedes, as very soon afterwards Nico Rosberg's car grinds to a halt and both Silver Arrows finish Practice Two early
  • The late drama continues as Mark Webber spins his Red Bull on track. His tyres look to have come to the end of their life
  • A good day at the office as Sebastian Vettel picks up where he left off in 2012, the triple world champion topping Practice Two with a time of 1m 25.908s
  • The 2013 Pirelli tyres are continuing to provide the teams with a bit of a dilemma, even after two practice sessions
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