Drivers are nearing 8G in the new-spec Formula 1 cars at Albert Park, with the high-downforce cars described as "brutal" and "monsters" following the first qualifying session of the season. The unofficial Albert Park lap record was smashed today, Sebastian Vettel beating his old benchmark – set by the German back in qualifying for the 2011 Australian Grand Prix – for the first time during free practice 3, before Lewis Hamilton decimated it with his 1m22.188s in qualifying. While shy of the much-touted five-second improvement over 2016 lap speeds, the cornering forces generated by the new cars raised plenty of eyebrows in the paddock. "The cars are brutal to...
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