Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two ahead of Lewis Hamilton as Formula 1’s new regulatory era kicked off with first practice at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen led the field into the closing minutes of the session, but Hamilton and then Leclerc delivered faster laps to move back ahead of the four-time world champion.
Teams wasted little time adapting to the radically revised 2026 machinery around Albert Park, with engineers eager to gather data on the circuit’s demanding energy characteristics.
Early Laps and Initial Drama
Nico Hulkenberg was first on track for Audi, though Verstappen was the first to register a meaningful benchmark, with early lap times roughly five seconds slower than last year as teams cautiously built speed.
The leaderboard changed hands several times early on. Verstappen’s rookie team-mate Isack Hadjar briefly led before being displaced by Leclerc and then Kimi Antonelli for Mercedes.
There was a brief virtual safety car after Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad appeared to stall at pit exit. The interruption was short-lived, but it hinted at the teething problems teams are facing with the complex new power units.
Reliability Headaches Hit Several Teams
McLaren endured a frustrating session. Home favourite Oscar Piastri reported a power delivery problem, telling the team he had “no throttle” despite the engine idling.
Team-mate Lando Norris also struggled, suffering erratic gearshifts that forced the team to end his running after just seven laps to investigate the gearbox issue. The reigning world champion finished a lowly 19th while Piastri was P6.
Conditions were even worse at Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso did not run at all after Honda identified a suspected power-unit problem before the session. Team-mate Lance Stroll completed only three slow installation laps.
Late Shuffle at the Top
At the front, the order tightened in the closing stages. Leclerc initially led with a 1m20.829s lap on soft tyres before Verstappen edged ahead with a 1m20.789s. Hamilton then moved to the top.
But with the chequered flag approaching, Leclerc produced a final push lap to reclaim first place in an encouraging start for Ferrari.
Hadjar finished an impressive fourth ahead of Lindblad and Piastri. George Russell and Antonelli were seventh and eighth for Mercedes, while Audi pair Gabriel Bortoleto and Hulkenberg completed the top 10.
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via X and Facebook
