Ferrari led the way in the opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix, with Charles Leclerc setting a 1m20.267s to head teammate Lewis Hamilton by four tenths, while Max Verstappen was third.
Isack Hadjar impressed in fourth for Red Bull after leading much of the first half of the session, ahead of rookie Arvid Lindblad and local favourite Oscar Piastri in sixth. George Russell and Kimi Antonelli followed for Mercedes, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top ten.
The session featured several early technical issues, most notably for McLaren.
Piastri stopped on track with a power issue just three minutes into the session before recovering to complete 19 laps, while Lando Norris managed only seven laps and finished 18th as the team carried out precautionary gearbox checks.
There were also a handful of off-track moments for Franco Colapinto, Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez, while Alex Albon stopped late in the session with a hydraulic issue.
Teams will return to Albert Park for Practice 2 at 4pm AEDT.
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time / Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 16 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 1:20.267 | 33 |
| 2 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Ferrari | +0.469s | 30 |
| 3 | 3 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull Racing | +0.522s | 27 |
| 4 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | Red Bull Racing | +0.820s | 24 |
| 5 | 41 | Arvid Lindblad | Racing Bulls | +1.046s | 22 |
| 6 | 81 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | +1.075s | 21 |
| 7 | 63 | George Russell | Mercedes | +1.104s | 26 |
| 8 | 12 | Kimi Antonelli | Mercedes | +1.109s | 24 |
| 9 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Audi | +1.429s | 23 |
| 10 | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Audi | +1.702s | 21 |
| 11 | 31 | Esteban Ocon | Haas F1 Team | +1.894s | 28 |
| 12 | 55 | Carlos Sainz | Williams | +2.056s | 30 |
| 13 | 30 | Liam Lawson | Racing Bulls | +2.346s | 28 |
| 14 | 87 | Oliver Bearman | Haas F1 Team | +2.415s | 25 |
| 15 | 23 | Alexander Albon | Williams | +2.863s | 24 |
| 16 | 43 | Franco Colapinto | Alpine | +3.058s | 26 |
| 17 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Cadillac | +3.755s | 24 |
| 18 | 10 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | +3.768s | 27 |
| 19 | 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | +4.124s | 7 |
| 20 | 11 | Sergio Perez | Cadillac | +4.353s | 14 |
| 21 | 18 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | +30.067s | 3 |
Discussion about this post