Oliver Bearman, Haas, Albert Park, 2025

Lando Norris led the way in an opening practice session which was interrupted by two red flags at the Albert Park circuit.

The most significant disruption came when rookie Oliver Bearman crashed his Haas at the exit of turn 10. The driver was unhurt in the incident, but caused significant damage to the right-hand side of his car.

Bright sunshine greeted drivers as the first official practice session of the season began. It took little time for drivers to start beating the fastest time from the same session last year and by the time the chequered flag fell every team bar Haas had beaten it.

Charles Leclerc led the way early on as the drivers favoured the medium tyre compound. His new team mate Lewis Hamilton was off his pace to begin with, complaining he was struggling to turn his car at one stage.

Max Verstappen and the McLaren drivers were also consistently in the hunt for fastest time on the medium rubber. But once drivers switched to the soft tyres Carlos Sainz Jnr became a factor in the Williams, setting a 1’17.401 to head the times.

Seconds after Sainz set that time the session was red-flagged. Bearman had run wide at the exit of turn 10, snapped sideways as he rejoined the track and made a heavy impact with the barrier on the outside of the circuit. His VF-47 came to a rest with its right-hand wheels hanging off. Bearman apologised to his team as he climbed out.

That caused a significant delay in proceedings. The session eventually resumed with 10 minutes remaining, which gave Norris enough time to displace Sainz from the top. He had to contend with Yuki Tsunoda, however, who passed him at the final corner as the McLaren driver prepared to begin one lap, leading the pair to swap places at the next two turns.

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Leclerc ended the session third followed by Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren. Verstappen, who switched back to medium rubber for the final minutes, was fifth ahead of Alexander Albon in the second Williams.

George Russell was seventh for Mercedes after a harmless spin at turn four late in the session. Fernando Alonso took eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar, the rookie telling his team on the way in he hadn’t been happy with his fastest lap. Lance Stroll completed the top 10.

Hamilton was 12th for Ferrari, two places ahead of his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The pair were split by Jack Doohan, whose off-track excursion at turn six dragged gravel onto the circuit, causing a brief early red flag.

2025 Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix first practice result

P.#DriverTeamModelTimeGapLaps
14Lando NorrisMcLaren-MercedesMCL391’17.25221
255Carlos Sainz JnrWilliams-MercedesFW471’17.4010.14925
316Charles LeclercFerrariSF-251’17.4610.20921
481Oscar PiastriMcLaren-MercedesMCL391’17.6700.41820
51Max VerstappenRed Bull-Honda RBPTRB211’17.6960.44421
623Alexander AlbonWilliams-MercedesFW471’17.7130.46118
763George RussellMercedesW161’17.7160.46426
814Fernando AlonsoAston Martin-MercedesAMR251’17.7360.48423
96Isack HadjarRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT021’17.8470.59525
1018Lance StrollAston Martin-MercedesAMR251’18.0570.80520
1122Yuki TsunodaRacing Bulls-Honda RBPT021’18.0610.80923
1244Lewis HamiltonFerrariSF-251’18.0710.81920
137Jack DoohanAlpine-RenaultA5251’18.2320.98020
1412Andrea Kimi AntonelliMercedesW161’18.3901.13825
155Gabriel BortoletoSauber-FerrariC451’18.4381.18622
1630Liam LawsonRed Bull-Honda RBPTRB211’18.4551.20322
1710Pierre GaslyAlpine-RenaultA5251’18.5051.25323
1827Nico HulkenbergSauber-FerrariC451’18.5861.33418
1931Esteban OconHaas-FerrariVF-251’19.1391.88716
2087Oliver BearmanHaas-FerrariVF-251’19.3122.06012

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