Mercedes and Ferrari also showed strong pace in Melbourne, with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri setting the fastest time in Friday’s two practice sessions for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
Driving at his home circuit, Piastri finished second practice two tenths clear of Kimi Antonelli, with Italian Mercedes teammate George Russell a further three tenths behind in third place.
The timesheets showed Ferrari’s turnaround from the opening session, as Charles Leclerc took a one-two lead from teammate Lewis Hamilton, with the Red Bulls of Max Verstappen and Izak Hajjar finishing behind him.
Leclerc had a nearly half-second lead in the first practice, but he was unable to improve his time and finished fifth in the second session, suggesting that Ferrari was unable to reach its full potential in the late afternoon conditions.
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Charles Leclerc impressed with Ferrari’s quick start to practice in P2 at the Australian Grand Prix.
Hamilton’s fourth place was three tenths behind Piastri, making him the only driver to finish both Friday sessions in the top four.
Verstappen dropped six tenths off the pace to sixth place after spending almost half of the second session in the garage due to a technical glitch that caused him to stop at the pit lane exit early on.
The Dutchman overcame a major scare as he avoided the barriers towards the end of the session after crashing into the gravel at high-speed Turn 10, but his Red Bull still appeared to have sustained significant floor damage.
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Max Verstappen experienced a “terrifying moment” after crashing heavily in second place for Red Bull at the Australian Grand Prix.
McLaren’s reigning world champion Lando Norris also suffered a reliability issue with a clutch failure, completing just seven laps in the first practice, resulting in seventh place.
Norris enjoyed almost uninterrupted track time during the second practice, but only attempted one clean flying lap on the new soft tires. This will probably go some way to explaining the one-second difference to his teammates.
Racing Bulls’ British rookie Arvid Lindblad made an impressive debut in Friday’s full practice, finishing fifth in the first session and eighth in the second, ahead of Verstappen’s new teammate Hajar in the latter.
Aston Martin’s disastrous start to the year continues with further issues with the team’s troubled Honda power unit severely limiting running.
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During P2 of the Australian Grand Prix, Arvid Lindblad ran over George Russell’s front wing in the pit lane.
Fernando Alonso was forced to miss the first session and Lance Stroll completed just three laps. Although the pair completed a combined 31 laps in the second hour, they were still nearly five seconds behind Alonso’s best effort, leaving him at the bottom of the timesheets.
Sergio Perez was the only driver behind the Aston Martins in the second session. Sergio Perez was unable to set the time for Cadillac. A successful first day for the new F1 team ended on a sour note when the Mexican driver stopped on the track in the final stages.
Teammate Valtteri Bottas completed an impressive 28 laps, but his best lap was nearly four seconds off the pace, leaving him 19th.
Mysteries that remain in the battle of the Four Heavenly Kings
After the biggest regulation change in the sport’s history, introducing both a new chassis and power unit for 2026, it has emerged that the sport’s ‘big four’ teams remain the fastest during an extended pre-season to test new cars.
McLaren, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull spent a lot of time testing to explain why their rivals were faster and to limit their own pace.
The team that attracted the most attention in the paddock was undoubtedly Mercedes. So it was something of a surprise when Russell and Antonelli finished more than a second behind Leclerc in the first session.
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Martin Brundle talks to Craig Slater about his thoughts on an interesting first day of training this season.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said after the session that the team’s condition was not “in great shape” but his confidence that it would improve over the weekend was evidenced by the significant improvement that followed.
Antonelli and Russell were not only able to beat Leclerc’s top time in the morning, but also impressed their rivals in the paddock with their obvious pace on the long runs.
McLaren endured a difficult day in first practice with both drivers losing track time due to technical issues, but Piastri’s late pace show was a reminder that the reigning champion could still be in the race for pole position on Saturday.
Ferrari got off to a fast start in first practice, picking up where they left off after an impressive pre-season, but Leclerc was unable to improve his form in the second session while his rivals spent a significant amount of time, making it difficult to judge the Italian team on the day.
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During P2 at the Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton avoided an “unusually slow” Franco Colapinto on the pit straight.
Hamilton was able to run half a second faster in his second session, providing further evidence that the seven-time world champion feels much more comfortable with this Ferrari than the one he struggled with in his first campaign with the team last year.
Verstappen looked almost even with Ferrari for much of the first practice, but a technical failure halted his progress at the start of the second session, leaving him trapped in the garage for around 30 minutes.
From there, the four-time world champion tried to catch up, but perhaps pushed too hard and ended up having a bumpy ride on the outside of Turn 10 in the gravel.
The pre-season consensus remains that Mercedes are the team to beat, but the first qualifying session of the season, broadcast live on Sky Sports at 5am on Saturday, will be one of the most anticipated in the sport for a long time.
Sky Sports F1 Australian GP Schedule
Saturday, March 7th
0.10am: F3 sprint*
1:10am: Australian GP Practice 3 (session starts at 1:30am)*
3:05am: F2 Sprint*
4:10am: Australian GP qualifying build-up*
5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifying*
7am: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
9:45pm: F3 Feature Race*
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As F1 enters a new era, Grammy-nominated Tate McRae’s ‘Just Keep Watching’ will be the new title track for Sky Sports’ F1 coverage from this season onwards.
Sunday, March 8th
12:20am: F2 Feature Race*
2:30am: Preparation for Australian Grand Prix: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: Australian Grand Prix*
6am: Australian Grand Prix reaction: Checkered flag*
7am: Ted’s Notes*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP Highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
