It was a beautiful early afternoon in Melbourne as the drivers took to the track at Albert Park for first practice on Friday afternoon.Pirelli has brought the C3, C4 and C5 compounds to the event.
A 1:20.886 from Lewis Hamilton saw him lead the charts 5 minutes in on the mediums, with Leclerc, Piastri, Perez and Stroll. The Ferrari and Red Bull both were on the softs. Russell, Gasly, Tsunoda, Norris, Guanyu and Ricciardo completed the order of the drivers who had set a time.
After setting a purple middle sector, Oscar Piastri had a big wobble in the incredibly quick turns 9 and 10 section. However, he managed to avoid going off and slotted into P3 behind Norris and Stroll.
Sergio Perez was the first driver to break into the 1:19s as he pumped in a 1:19.977. However, double purple for Lance Stroll in sectors 1 and 2 put him top of the charts by 0.119s after 10 minutes.
Leclerc and Perez continued to trade times at the top on the softs. A 1:19.110 from the Ferrari driver saw him end up 0.128s ahead of the Mexican thanks to purple sectors in 1 and 3 after 15 minutes. Piastri, Norris, Verstappen, Stroll, Tsunoda, Ricciardo, Sainz and Guanyu completed the top 10.
However, after a relatively tentative first few flying laps, Max Verstappen smashed in a 1:18.670 on the C5s to go 0.440s clear of his former karting rival.
At the 20-minute mark, Verstappen led Leclerc, Perez, Piastri, Tsunoda, Sainz, Ricciardo, Stroll, Norris and Magnussen. The top 3 ran on softs, with everyone else on mediums.
Hamilton (P15), Alonso (P16) and Russell (P20) were all quite quiet early on, focusing on longer runs at Mercedes and Aston Martin testing updates.
There was a huge moment for Fernando Alonso as he got wide on the exit of turn 10 and went through the gravel at a fair rate of knots. He did manage to avoid the barriers, however. Aston changed his floor as a result of it.
The RB F1 of Yuki Tsunoda popped up into P2 on the mediums as he went within four tenths of Verstappen.
On a new soft, Lando Norris logged a 1:18.564 with fastest sectors in 1 and 3 to go a tenth clear of Verstappen. Tsunoda, Leclerc, Perez, Stroll, Ricciardo, Piastri, Sainz and Albon completed the top 10 halfway through.
Four hundredths up after 2 sectors on the time of the McLaren, George Russell had a massive snap of oversteer and had a huge moment. Incredibly he didn’t spin or end up in the barrier and could carry on.
Moments later, Valtteri Bottas had a massive spin at the same corner but could continue, although his tyres got badly flat spotted.
With just under 20 minutes to go, Alex Albon lost it over the turn 6 kerb. As he tried to collect it, the Thai hit the wall on the opposite side at turn 7, eventually coming to a stop at turn 8.
Norris led Leclerc, Tsunoda, Perez, Stroll and Verstappen before the green flag waved. A mere 0.106s covered the top 6. Piastri, Ricciardo, Sainz and Albon rounded out the top 10.
When the session resumed, Lewis Hamilton had a snap of oversteer into the entry of turn 1 and took a trip through the kitty litter.
Both Red Bulls had moments, too. Verstappen had a snap of oversteer at turn 9 and understeered wide at turn 10. Perez then had a snap in turn 11, before having a lock-up at T13.
Russell and Hamilton moved themselves into the top 10 in the final couple of minutes, going P8 and P9 respectively.
As the chequered flag fell, Verstappen and Russell improved to 2nd and 3rd, with 0.033s covering the top 3. Norris remained top of the charts, however. The three-time defending World Champion failed to improve in any sector on his last run but did a personal best time overall.
In a ridiculously close session, Norris, Verstappen, Russell, Leclerc, Tsunoda, Perez, Stroll, Sainz, Hamilton and Piastri were covered by only 0.354s.
Ricciardo, Albon, Magnussen, Sargeant, Ocon, Hülkenberg, Gasly, Alonso, Guanyu and Bottas completed the full order.
