F1 GP Australia, Free Practice 1: Hamilton in front in the first outing of the season

The reigning world champion bids farewell to the 2018 season from first position, finishing the FP1 of the Australian GP in command. Hamilton's Mercedes, with the best time of 1:24.026, preceded the car of teammate Bottas, and therefore Verstappen's Red Bull, 7 tenths from the top. Following the two Ferraris, with Raikkonen ahead of Vettel, then Ricciardo, Grosjean, Alonso - forced to pit for over an hour due to an exhaust problem - Sainz and Vandoorne.

News – First green light of the year, with Sebastian Vettel inaugurating the 2018 season. Grosjean and Ericsson also immediately enter. One after the other the single-seaters launch for the usual installation laps; only the two Mercedes hesitated a little more in the pits. Problems immediately for McLaren, with the mechanics getting to work on a general check on the single-seaters. Not a good start for the team which has abandoned the Honda engine engineer for Renault this year. The first time goes to Sirotkin's Williams, 1:32.057 on ultrasoft tyre. Then it's Ricciardo's turn, with the same compound, so it's Kimi with the soft tire who dictates the pace. Another lap, another best time, that of Bottas on the ultrasofts, in 1:26.499. A head-to-head battle then begins between the two Red Bulls, with Verstappen taking the lead. Bottas gets between the two, and Hamilton gets the better of the group in 1:26.007.

Thirty minutes from the start Verstappen reigns supreme, followed by Hamilton, Kimi, Vettel, Bottas, Sainz, Stroll, Ocon, Perez. Alonso, Vandoorne and Magnussen are still without a cron0. The top ten are all on ultrasoft tyres, except the two Ferraris with the softs and Sainz with the red tyre. But a few minutes and Hamilton is back in the lead, with a time of 1:24.914 and Verstappen at 22 thousandths. In the middle of the session the reference time, still owned by the Englishman, fell to 1:24.531. Followed by Verstappen, Ricciardo, Kimi, Vettel, Bottas, Ocon, Sainz, Perez and Stroll. Bottas returns to lap after a short break and moves up to second place, 46 thousandths behind his teammate. Stroll takes seventh place with the purple tire, but then Sainz overtakes him. Vandoorne finally reappears from the pits, but he is not very happy with the handling of his McLaren. Thirty minutes from the end, Hamilton set a new best time, 1:24.147, with a new set of ultrasofts. Bottas is 4 tenths behind him. Then Verstappen, Ricciardo, Kimi, Vettel, Sainz, Gasly, Stroll, Ocon. Vettel and the two Red Bulls have switched to the red compound, while Raikkonen continues with the soft.

With less than thirty minutes to go, Alonso launches onto the track and takes the 14th time. Mechanics had to fix exhaust problems on his MCL33. Hamilton drops further, with a time of 1:24.026, while Grosjean enters in sixth position, with the ultrasoft tyre. Alonso improved to eighth, while the two Ferraris moved ahead of the Red Bulls. The final minutes of the session saw both the Mercedes and the Reds engaged in simulating the race pace.

The first free practice session ends with Hamilton ahead of Bottas and Verstappen.

F1 GP Australia – Times, results and laps Free Practice 1