Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes showed their first glimpse of “very impressive” pace in practice for the Australian Grand Prix, prompting many to name the Silver Arrows as 2026 title contenders.
Leclerc observed on the track in Melbourne at the end of the first day of the season, despite Mercedes not being in the lead in either of Friday’s two practice sessions.
It was the Monaco himself who set the pace from teammate Lewis Hamilton in a one-two for Ferrari in the first hour of practice at Albert Park, before McLaren’s Oscar Piastri beat the Mercedes drivers with the fastest time in the second session.
However, Leclerc, who dropped back to fifth place just behind Hamilton in second practice, said that while it was still a solid first day for Ferrari, the speed of Mercedes’ race run was outstanding.
“In FP1 we looked positive, but in FP2 I think each team is showing a little bit better. And unfortunately we seem to be on the back foot, especially compared to Mercedes. It looks very, very strong,” Leclerc said in a TV interview after the session.
“I don’t think they showed everything on low fuel, but on high fuel they were very impressive. It’s probably the first time we’ve seen what they’re capable of and it’s a little more than I would have liked, but it is what it is.”
“On the other hand, we had a very positive start to the weekend and will continue to work hard to maximize everything for tomorrow.”
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Australian GP Friday practice session highlights
Most observers had named Ferrari as Mercedes’ closest challenger in the pecking order heading into Melbourne after pre-season testing in Bahrain.
The Scuderia’s SF-26 appeared to be in good form on Friday, and Hamilton was encouraged by the team’s fast pace.
In a press release after the Ferrari race, Hamilton said: “It was a really good day. It’s great to get back on track and get a proper start.”
“It was difficult at times on the track, but we made the most of the laps, performed to the best of our abilities and got good information. We have a lot of work to do, but I’m looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”
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Lewis Hamilton avoids an ‘unusually slow’ Franco Colapinto on the pit straight during P2 at the Australian Grand Prix
Russell and Norris not completely satisfied with first Friday of F1 season
Pre-season title contender George Russell was third behind pacesetter Piastri and Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli in the second practice.
Mercedes’ long-run pace caught the eye of their rivals at the end of the day, described by Sky Sports F1’s Martin Brundle as “blindingly fast”.
But Russell said Mercedes “need to take another step overnight” to be in contention for pole position when qualifying takes place at 5am UK time on Saturday.
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Arvid Lindblad runs over George Russell’s front wing in the pit lane during P2 of the Australian Grand Prix
“The first Friday of the season wasn’t very smooth. FP1 was a tough session where we struggled to optimize battery harvest and deployment,” he said.
“That required most of our attention, so we weren’t able to get into the setup work until quite late in the day. When we did the setup work, the car showed a lot of understeer and we didn’t have time to put together a long run.”
“Thankfully we were able to take a positive step towards FP2 and had a better session. The car felt more put together and we completed a good amount of single lap and long run work which put us in a decent position for the rest of the weekend.”
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Rachel Brooks spoke to fans on Paddock Pass ahead of this season’s F1 season opener in Australia.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris was more than a second slower than Piastri in second practice, but reliability issues forced him to catch up in the first session, leaving him behind.
Norris therefore faces an uphill battle to repeat his opening round win from 12 months ago, admitting he is “a bit behind”.
“With these new regulations, time in the car is very important, so we have a little bit of work to do tonight to recover,” he added.
“We got some good data from the second half of FP2 and there’s a lot we can learn from what our competitors are doing. We’ll work hard tonight and try to close the gap by the time we get back in the car for FP3 tomorrow.”
Verstappen: Red Bull working to get setup right
Max Verstappen also suffered trouble on Friday after stopping at the end of the pit lane during second practice, forcing him to spend half the session in the garage.
During the race simulation, Verstappen went wide at Turn 10, causing his car to briefly jump into the air as it bounced over the gravel at high speed.
The Dutchman is 0.637 seconds behind Piastri, with Red Bull looking to be the slowest of the Big Four teams heading into Saturday.
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Max Verstappen experiences ‘terrifying moment’ after crashing hard in second place for Red Bull at Australian Grand Prix
“We’re working on getting the car set up properly, but we struggled a bit with grip and also got into the gravel,” Verstappen said.
“We didn’t have a clean run all day, but we’re where we expected pace-wise. There’s still a lot of work to do and we’ll analyze overnight what went well and what we can improve on, but that’s the reality at the moment.”
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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Grammy-nominated Tate McRae’s ‘Just Keep Watching’ will be the new title track of Sky Sports’ F1 coverage from this season onwards as F1 enters a new era
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
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