F1 Australian GP live commentary and updates - FP1
Live updates from the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix
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That's all from us for now - we'll be back for FP2 a little bit later on. Thanks for joining us!
It was interesting to see the different lines through Turn 1. Lewis Hamilton in particular has been taking loads of kerb every day time. Carlos Sainz is much less dramatic or remarkable in the Williams. But he has been quick.
Photo by: Filip Cleeren
FP1 results
And that's it for FP1 - Lando Norris is fastest from Carlos Sainz by 0.149s, with Leclerc, Piastri, Verstappen, Albon, Russell, Alonso, Hadjar, and Stroll completing the top 10.
Norris goes fastest with a 1m17.252s in the dying embers of the session. Meantime, Russell has an off at Turn 4 as he dropped a wheel on the grass - and was lucky not to knock the car into the wall.
Alonso foisted his way into the top eight - Aston Martin might be lacking a little bit of pace, but the AMR25 does look quite easy to handle. The Spaniard was throwing the car into the corners, and it seemed to stick.
Piastri moves up to third on the soft tyres, Albon gets up to sixth - but Norris then relegates them down a position each to go third himself.
Norris is having a bit of fun racing out there - the Briton got baulked by Doohan in Turn 11, and then had a little ding-dong with Tsunoda immediately afterwards. All utterly pointless, of course, but it brings some mild amusement at this time of the morning.
It's time to go - again! We've had two-thirds of the red flags in this session that we managed in three days in Bahrain, which is pretty wild.
Bearman's stricken car is being stretchered away, so hopefully we'll be on the move shortly. Top 10 order with less than 15 minutes to go is: Sainz, Leclerc, Verstappen, Russell, Alonso, Hadjar, Norris, Antonelli, Hamilton, Piastri.
The right side of Bearman's car took a big hit as his Haas took a 180-degree spin, so the American squad's got some work to do in between sessions to fix that car up.
Both Max Verstappen and the two McLarens look rock solid while Lawson hops over the exit kerb again. The most commitment I have seen so far? It's that man Fernando Alonso.
Photo by: Filip Cleeren
We've got another red flag - Bearman lost control at Turn 10 and ended up in the gravel, and then careened into the wall. He's out of the car and he's okay.
Sainz goes fastest with a 1m17.401s lap, as the Williams looks pretty handy this year.
I would just like to declare that I like the Alpine livery this year. Losing the Bleu de France last year was a travesty, so it's nice to actually see it back - and with a novel approach to including the BWT pink.
Hadjar's been impressive so far, he's up in fifth at the moment. The Frenchman is the highest placed rookie so far as we pass the first half-hour of running.
Indeed, our reigning champ does a 1m17.696s on those softs. Let's see what Russell does...he's fastest in S1, but crosses the line just 0.02s shy of Verstappen.
Verstappen and Antonelli have popped some soft tyres on, according to the timing boards, so it seems that they're very much keen to have a good old go at a faster lap. Russell and Sainz follow suit.
The FIA has given its official verdict on the red flag: "The red flag was caused by debris on track, it seems it came from a car, the session should be resumed soon". It seems.
We're up and running again with 35 minutes on the clock - both Ferraris and both McLarens are eager to make their way on track.
Filling airtime during the red flag, the Australian track announcer has already dropped the dreaded C-word. I am of course talking about "Colapinto", whose signing as Alpine reserve driver could well be a threat to Aussie Jack Doohan. There's another driver relieved the talking stops and he can finally strut his stuff out on track.
It's a red flag - gravel on track has required some clean-up. Doohan went a bit wide at the reprofiled Turn 7, although it doesn't entirely seem to be all his fault!
New boys Antonelli and Doohan come whizzing past, utilising every centimetre of the trademark green and yellow kerbs to find the limit. There's no hanging about here from either rookie.
Liam Lawson goes well wide and that's his lap aborted. He was asked numerous questions about being Max Verstappen's teammate yesterday so bet he's delighted to be left driving the actual car.
Leclerc now has a 1m17.880s to go top once more - all times on the board have been run on the medium tyres. Russell then goes second fastest - 0.15s slower than the Ferrari driver.
I'm standing trackside outside Turn 1. We may get rain later this weekend but right now it's a scorching day in Melbourne. Sunscreen at the ready. The white Racing Bulls really do catch the eye in bright daylight!
There's the timing board, let it have a little bit of caffeine and it should start showing things as we expect shortly. It's having to deal with a few changes in order - Norris is top again with a 1m18.253s, and both Sainz and Gasly have spells in the top three.
Leclerc now does a 1m18.317s, now 0.382s ahead of Piastri's next lap.
Lando Norris hurls in a 1m18.765s to go a second faster than Verstappen's earlier benchmark. Our live timing tool seems to have slept in, so we'll keep you as posted as we can until it bursts into life.
Leclerc and Piastri slot into the top three after the opening tours, above Hamilton, Doohan, and Gasly. Liam Lawson kicks up some sparks in his new Red Bull - the RB21 running somewhat low.
First laps are up: Pierre Gasly drops a 1m21.074s - although Max Verstappen does something a bit more representative with a 1m19.771s.
Lewis Hamilton begins his first official lap in a race weekend in a Ferrari - he sustained a slight lock-up at Turn 3, the usual pitfalls of cold tyres and brakes apply.
It's go time! Aaaaaand it's...Nico Hulkenberg - had to be the green car, didn't it?
Takeaways from the new intro titles: why is Lance Stroll just posing for a normal photo? Why is Yuki Tsunoda bringing back the COVID hand-rinse? Why is George Russell doing that...again? Rest of the poses looked moderately natural, I suppose...
We've just five minutes until the lights at the end of the pit lane go green - who's going to be first man on track in 2025?
Good morning everyone - have we met before? If you're in Europe, it's just a tad early - if you're in America, it's getting late. But if you're Down Under, the time is just right for some FP1 action.
By: Autosport Staff
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