Norris claims top spot in FP1 with a late fastest lap

The McLaren driver lapped the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit in 1m17.252s to lead the 20 drivers in the first one-hour session in Melbourne. It was a fast opening session in perfect conditions with 25 degrees ambient temperature, with 15 drivers lapping faster than the best time from the first session a year ago.

Norris was 0.149s clear of the second-fastest driver, Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard, who won last year’s race for Ferrari, impressed mid-session on his first weekend in the Williams-Mercedes FW47.

The best of the Ferrari drivers was the third-fastest Charles Leclerc, but the highlight of the session for many Ferrari fans would indeed have been Lewis Hamilton's first appearance in the Ferrari SF-25. Hamilton complained of understeer late in the session and could finish only 12th fastest.

Local hero Oscar Piastri was the fourth fastest in the second McLaren-Mercedes, the Melbourne driver just holding off Max Verstappen. The defending and four-time World Champion started the session with some aerodynamic testing in his Red Bull, and only just finished in front of the second Williams of Alex Albon.

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George Russell was seventh fastest in the Mercedes-AMG, but finished the session badly after dropping a tyre onto wet grass and spinning at Turn 4.

Best of the rookie drivers was Isack Hadjar, the Frenchman looking very good in the Racing Bull, which finished ahead of his teammate, the experienced Yuki Tsunoda.

Jack Doohan did a great job in his first appearance as a full-time Alpine driver. His time of 1m18.232s placed him 13th fastest and ahead of his Alpine teammate Pierre Gasly.

The session featured two Red Flags that cost the drivers 18 minutes of track time, one for debris on the track and then after a massive crash by Haas’s Oliver Bearman. The English rookie lost control of his car, which was on Soft tyres for the first time in either Testing or Practice, and clouted the wall at Turn 7. 

He was not hurt in the impact, but the team will have a lot of work to complete to prepare the car for the second Practice session, which is due to start at 4:00 p.m.