Australian Grand Prix – Free Practice 1: McLaren Prevails Despite Eventful Session
Norris set the fastest lap of the session, but Carlos Sainz led for a while: the Spanish driver remains in second place at the end of Free Practice 1. No fewer than two session interruptions during the session, several contacts with the walls, offs in the gravel... The teams still have a lot of work to potentially deal with the rain over the weekend.
Lando Norris set the fastest time in Free Practice 1 in Melbourne, ahead of Carlos Sainz and his former teammate Charles Leclerc. The spectators were able to witness several turnarounds, with a few incidents and notably two red flags.
The tires chosen by the teams
The teams used only soft and medium tires during this first practice session: no data collected yet with the hard tires.
Several interruptions
The red flag was waved twice during this practice session. The first time was due to an abundance of gravel on the track, and the second time following a minor accident involving Bearman. The young driver hit a wall after losing control of his single-seater and going through gravel. The Haas was too damaged, making it impossible for the rookie to finish the session.
Other incidents disrupted the trials.
Other incidents occurred during the session, with, for example, contact with the wall for Lawson and also Russell. Turn 6 caused problems more than once, and several drivers went off into the gravel.
We also had the opportunity to witness an overtaking between Tsunoda and Norris: the two drivers were very close for a short moment.
The very fast Williams
Carlos Sainz briefly held the fastest lap, before finishing 0.149 seconds behind Lando Norris. As for Alexander Albon, he recorded the 6th fastest time at 1:17.713, placing him ahead of both Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton. Isack Hadjar was faster than his teammate at Racing Bulls with a time of 1:17.847 compared to 1:18.061 for the Japanese driver.
The best times of all the drivers
| N° | Driver | Team | Times | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norris | McLaren F1 Team | 1:17.252 | 21 | |
| 2 | Sainz | Williams Racing | 1:17.401 | +0.149 | 25 |
| 3 | Leclerc | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:17.461 | +0.209 | 21 |
| 4 | Piastri | McLaren F1 Team | 1:17.670 | +0.418 | 20 |
| 5 | Verstappen | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:17.696 | +0.444 | 21 |
| 6 | Albon | Williams Racing | 1:17.713 | +0.461 | 18 |
| 7 | Russell | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:17.716 | +0.464 | 26 |
| 8 | Alonso | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:17.736 | +0.484 | 23 |
| 9 | Hadjar | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 1:17.847 | +0.595 | 25 |
| 10 | Stroll | Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team | 1:18.057 | +0.805 | 20 |
| 11 | Tsunoda | Visa Cash App RB F1 Team | 1:18.061 | +0.809 | 23 |
| 12 | Hamilton | Scuderia Ferrari | 1:18.071 | +0.819 | 20 |
| 13 | Doohan | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:18.232 | +0.980 | 20 |
| 14 | Antonelli | Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport | 1:18.390 | +1.138 | 25 |
| 15 | Bortoleto | Stake F1 Team | 1:18.438 | +1.186 | 22 |
| 16 | Lawson | Oracle Red Bull Racing | 1:18.455 | +1.203 | 22 |
| 17 | Gasly | BWT Alpine F1 Team | 1:18.505 | +1.253 | 23 |
| 18 | Hülkenberg | Stake F1 Team | 1:18.586 | +1.334 | 18 |
| 19 | Ocon | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:19.139 | +1.887 | 16 |
| 20 | Bearman | MoneyGram Haas F1 Team | 1:19.312 | +2.060 | 12 |
The continuation during Free Practice 2!
