Charles Leclerc was fastest during opening practice in Melbourne. Image: XPB Images
Ferrari led the way in the opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc setting a 1m20.267s to head teammate Lewis Hamilton by four tenths, while Max Verstappen was third.
Isack Hadjar impressed in fourth for Red Bull after leading much of the first half of the session, ahead of rookie Arvid Lindblad and local favourite Oscar Piastri in sixth. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli followed for Mercedes, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top ten.
The session featured several early technical issues, most notably for McLaren.
Piastri stopped on track with a power issue just three minutes into the session before recovering to complete 19 laps, while Lando Norris managed only seven laps and finished 18th as the team carried out precautionary gearbox checks.
There were also a handful of off-track moments for Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, while Alex Albon stopped late in the session with a hydraulic issue.
Teams will return to Albert Park for Practice 2 at 4pm AEDT.
Pos.
No.
Driver
Team
Time / Gap
Laps
1
16
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
1:20.267
33
2
44
Lewis Hamilton
Ferrari
+0.469s
30
3
3
Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing
+0.522s
27
4
6
Isack Hadjar
Red Bull Racing
+0.820s
24
5
41
Arvid Lindblad
Racing Bulls
+1.046s
22
6
81
Oscar Piastri
McLaren
+1.075s
21
7
63
George Russell
Mercedes
+1.104s
26
8
12
Kimi Antonelli
Mercedes
+1.109s
24
9
5
Gabriel Bortoleto
Audi
+1.429s
23
10
27
Nico Hulkenberg
Audi
+1.702s
21
11
31
Esteban Ocon
Haas F1 Team
+1.894s
28
12
55
Carlos Sainz
Williams
+2.056s
30
13
30
Liam Lawson
Racing Bulls
+2.346s
28
14
87
Oliver Bearman
Haas F1 Team
+2.415s
25
15
23
Alexander Albon
Williams
+2.863s
24
16
43
Franco Colapinto
Alpine
+3.058s
26
17
77
Valtteri Bottas
Cadillac
+3.755s
24
18
10
Pierre Gasly
Alpine
+3.768s
27
19
1
Lando Norris
McLaren
+4.124s
7
20
11
Sergio Perez
Cadillac
+4.353s
14
21
18
Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
+30.067s
3
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