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Australia

Australian GP: Hamilton beats Vettel by 0.038s in FP1

Lewis Hamilton topped the first free practice session of Formula 1 2019 for Mercedes, but Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was just 0.038s behind.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Hamilton had warned that Mercedes faced a clear deficit to Ferrari in pre-season testing, but kicked off Friday afternoon’s first running in Melbourne as if it was business as usual. 

The five-time title winner set a 1m23.599s around the Albert Park circuit to head Vettel by 0.038s, with Charles Leclerc only 0.074s behind in his first grand prix session for Ferrari. 

Max Verstappen gave Red Bull and Honda an encouraging start to life together by clocking the fourth-best time, 0.193s off the pace. 

Mercedes spent almost all of FP1 on top, as Valtteri Bottas became the first frontrunner to set a meaningful time and head the leaderboard until Hamilton went quickest once the two switched from medium to soft tyres. 

Bottas’s soft-tyre run left him 0.267s slower than Hamilton and restricted him to fifth-fastest, but it could have been worse after a near-miss down an escape road. 

As he approached the penultimate corner, the Finn touched the grass on the outside and went straight on, locking up briefly and then booting the throttle to perform a neat pirouette – barely avoiding the barrier on the outside as his car swung round. 

New Red Bull driver Pierre Gasly failed to make the sort of impact as teammate Verstappen, and lapped 1.3s off the pace in eighth. 

That allowed Kimi Raikkonen to hold best-of-the-rest behind the big three, giving Alfa Romeo an early boost on its first grand prix weekend as a full entrant. 

However, Raikkonen was 1.2s off the pace, indicating the midfield group is no closer to Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull than before. 

Gasly’s lack of pace in FP1 meant he also ended up behind his old team, Toro Rosso, and the driver he replaced at the Red Bull junior outfit in 2017 – Daniil Kvyat. 

The Russian, making his F1 comeback after a year as Ferrari development driver, set the seventh-best time and was only two-hundredths of a second slower than Raikkonen. 

His new teammate Alex Albon fared less well on his grand prix weekend debut, setting a respectable 13th-fastest time but causing a red flag when he nosed his car into the barriers on the exit of Turn 1 in the final half an hour. 

Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14 with a broken nose after spinning

Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14 with a broken nose after spinning

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images

Haas was considered to be the midfield favourite after testing but Kevin Magnussen was only ninth-quickest in FP1, albeit only a tenth behind Raikkonen. 

Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 after losing time early on to an “electronic error”. 

McLaren and Racing Point had a muted start to the season with its best drivers 14th (Carlos Sainz for McLaren) and 15th (Lance Stroll for Racing Point) respectively.

However, those teams were at least latched onto the back of the midfield group, whereas Williams was detached at the back of the field. 

Robert Kubica set the team’s quickest time but was 4.3s off the pace and a full two seconds slower than the next driver, McLaren’s Lando Norris.

Formula 2 champion George Russell ended FP1 slowest, 0.8s slower than teammate Kubica. 

It continues a troubling early 2019 for Williams, which was late to pre-season testing, has lost its chief technical officer Paddy Lowe and made changes to its car design to ensure its legality ahead of the weekend. 

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari looks on the Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari looks on the Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Photo by: Erik Junius

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes AMG F1 W10

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14 with a broken front nose after spinning with Daniil Kvyat, Toro Roso STR14 driving by

Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14 with a broken front nose after spinning with Daniil Kvyat, Toro Roso STR14 driving by

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG W10, leads Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG W10, leads Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF90

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

Robert Kubica, Williams FW42

Robert Kubica, Williams FW42

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL34, leaves the garage

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL34, leaves the garage

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14, leads Daniil Kvyat, Toro Roso STR14

Alexander Albon, Toro Rosso STR14, leads Daniil Kvyat, Toro Roso STR14

Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG W10

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG W10

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

10

Practice times:

Pos Driver Chassis Engine Laps Time Gap
1 United Kingdom Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes 26 1'23.599  
2 Germany Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari 18 1'23.637 0.038
3 Monaco Charles Leclerc Ferrari Ferrari 18 1'23.673 0.074
4 Netherlands Max Verstappen Red Bull Honda 22 1'23.792 0.193
5 Finland Valtteri Bottas Mercedes Mercedes 30 1'23.866 0.267
6 Finland Kimi Raikkonen Alfa Romeo Ferrari 18 1'24.816 1.217
7 Russian Federation Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso Honda 30 1'24.832 1.233
8 France Pierre Gasly Red Bull Honda 23 1'24.932 1.333
9 Denmark Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 24 1'24.934 1.335
10 Germany Nico Hulkenberg Renault Renault 11 1'25.015 1.416
11 Italy Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Ferrari 23 1'25.166 1.567
12 France Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 18 1'25.224 1.625
13 Thailand Alex Albon Toro Rosso Honda 21 1'25.230 1.631
14 Spain Carlos Sainz Jr. McLaren Renault 19 1'25.285 1.686
15 Canada Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes 26 1'25.288 1.689
16 Mexico Sergio Perez Racing Point Mercedes 21 1'25.498 1.899
17 Australia Daniel Ricciardo Renault Renault 16 1'25.634 2.035
18 United Kingdom Lando Norris McLaren Renault 31 1'25.966 2.367
19 Poland Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes 25 1'27.914 4.315
20 United Kingdom George Russell Williams Mercedes 25 1'28.740 5.141

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Edition

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