Australian Grand Prix
Venue: Albert Park, Melbourne Dates: 14 March-16 March Race begin: 04:00 GMT on Sunday, 16 March
Protection: Dwell radio commentary of follow and qualifying on BBC 5 Sports activities Additional, race stay on BBC Radio 5 Dwell. Dwell textual content updates on BBC Sport web site and app
Lewis Hamilton was fifth quickest for his new Ferrari crew because the System 1 season started on the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton was 0.42 seconds slower than his team-mate Charles Leclerc, who set the tempo forward of the McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in Friday follow at Albert Park.
Leclerc was 0.124 seconds forward of Piastri, who hails from Melbourne and edged Norris by 0.017secs.
Hamilton was slower than Leclerc all day – 0.61secs off because the Ferraris went third and twelfth quickest within the first session, and likewise about 0.1secs down on common on their race-simulation runs late within the second hour’s working.
The seven-time champion complained over the radio that he was struggling to show the automobile.
Yuki Tsunoda’s Racing Bull was the midfield interloper within the prime order in fourth, and his rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar was in sixth, additionally forward of Max Verstappen within the senior Purple Bull crew.
The world champion seemed to be struggling in Melbourne. His greatest time was set on the medium tyre – he aborted his soft-tyre qualifying simulation run when he took three bites making an attempt to show into Flip Three and ran broad on the exit.
Verstappen mentioned: “The steadiness wasn’t even fully out, no large or main issues, however in some way the grip simply wasn’t coming alive, simply struggling on all 4 tyres actually on sector one and the final sector and meaning in fact that we’re not actually up there for the time being.
“Will probably be a bit arduous to repair, but it surely’s additionally nothing I did not count on once I arrived right here, so I’m not positively or negatively shocked with the tempo we’re exhibiting.”
Verstappen got here to Melbourne anticipating not to have the ability to match the McLarens for uncooked tempo, however rain is forecast for the race on Sunday, which is more likely to put him again within the battle for victory, given his excellence in moist situations.
Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg was eighth, forward of the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll and George Russell’s Mercedes.
On the race-simulation runs late within the session, as soon as they had been corrected for tyre and gasoline weight, Leclerc seemed to be the quickest, a smidge forward of Norris, adopted by Hamilton, Piastri, Russell and Verstappen.
Williams driver Carlos Sainz, who impressed by setting second quickest time within the first session, was mixing it near the highest groups on race gasoline, averaging between the tempo of Leclerc and Hamilton.
Mercedes did their race runs on the arduous tyres, whereas the opposite prime groups used the mediums, so their averages can’t be in contrast. Russell was considerably faster than rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Russell mentioned Mercedes had been aggressive on the medium and arduous tyres, however not but on the delicate compound that can be used for qualifying.
“It was a very up and down day,” he mentioned. “Each time we had the medium or arduous tyre on, we had been within the prime two. Then we put the delicate on and we did not go a lot faster. Clearly there’s a little bit of tempo within the automobile and we have to perceive the tyres.”
The session was incident-free, apart from a bounce via the gravel at Flip Six for Hulkenberg.
That contrasted with the primary session, which was punctuated by two purple flags, one for a heavy crash for Oliver Bearman within the Haas.
The 19-year-old Briton, in his first full season after three substitute appearances in 2024, misplaced management in Flip 10 and badly broken his automobile, which the crew couldn’t restore in time to get him out on monitor to run within the second session.
Off monitor, there was a major growth after it emerged that every one 10 groups have now signed their industrial agreements with F1, committing them to the game till 2030.
Earlier than their present offers run out on the finish of this season, they nonetheless have to barter their contracts with governing physique the FIA, which can take a while.
