Australian GP: Work to do After Friday in Melbourne

A tricky opening day of track action in Australia

The first day of running at Albert Park provided plenty of intrigue. Conditions proved difficult throughout, with drivers across the field struggling with lock ups and major moments as they got to grips with the circuit.

George ended the day sixth fastest in FP2 with Lewis, unable to set a representative time on either of his first two push laps on the soft tyre, P18. Those times therefore don’t tell the full story but there is clearly work for the team to do overnight to improve the balance of the car. That will be the focus of those trackside in Melbourne and our colleagues back in Brackley.

Earlier in the day, George had finished P3 and Lewis P9 in FP1. The team’s focus was all about learning and data gathering. The low grip levels led to a number of moments across the field, with Alex Albon in the Williams bringing out the red flag as he crashed at turn seven.

The fastest time of the day was set by the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, with the Red Bull of Max Verstappen a few tenths further behind in P2.

Australian Grand Prix: Everything You Need to Know

George Russell

We were pushing the limits today and I had a few moments out there. It was all under control in the end though. It was very tight out there in the first session with FP2 slightly more spread out. I was on for a really good lap on my last push on the Soft tyre, but just ran wide in the last two corners and picked up some minor damage to my front-wing. Without that, I think we would have finished the session P3.

We are trying to understand this car further and made some changes after Saudi Arabia. Every single lap is so valuable as you learn more about the car and try to get it into the sweet spot. We will have the team back at the factory working hard in the simulator to get more performance out of it. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. When you arrive the next day, it can often be very different.

Lewis Hamilton

It didn’t feel great out there today. We began the day on the front foot and in FP1, the car generally felt good. The first run was actually the best the car has felt so far this year. To continue our learning, we made some big changes into FP2 and unfortunately, that made the car worse. It was tough but there are positives we can take from the first session. We will be working hard overnight to make improvements ahead of tomorrow.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We had a good FP1 session. The changes we made to improve our high-speed cornering performance and reduce the bouncing after Saudi Arabia seemed to be a good step in the right direction. Overall, the car was feeling quite good.

Unfortunately, FP2 wasn't as strong. Lewis felt that we had gone in the wrong direction with our changes. Frustratingly, they weren't quick to unwind so he had to live with that throughout the session. George found the car a bit trickier in the windier conditions of FP2 compared to earlier in the day. We could have ended a bit higher up the time sheets had he not had a bit of damage. Overall though, it’s clear that we've got work to do overnight to improve the car.

Free Practice 2 - Results

1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:17.277	26
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:17.658	21
3	Carlos Sainz Jr.	Ferrari	1:17.707	25
4	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:17.822	29
5	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:17.912	31
6	George Russell	Mercedes-AMG	1:17.951	24
7	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:18.077	29
8	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:18.090	33
9	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:18.155	23
10	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	1:18.188	27
11	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	1:18.421	32
12	Daniel Ricciardo	Racing Bulls	1:18.534	30
13	Logan Sargeant	Williams	1:18.578	23
14	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	1:18.585	32
15	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:18.691	33
16	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas	1:18.702	28
17	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:18.705	32
18	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG	1:18.834	23
19	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:19.275	31

Free Practice 1 - Results

1	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:18.564	23
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:18.582	19
3	George Russell	Mercedes-AMG	1:18.597	21
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:18.599	22
5	Yuki Tsunoda	Racing Bulls	1:18.621	26
6	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:18.642	23
7	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:18.667	26
8	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:18.686	23
9	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-AMG	1:18.771	20
10	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:18.918	25
11	Daniel Ricciardo	Racing Bulls	1:19.274	25
12	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:19.443	11
13	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:19.489	21
14	Logan Sargeant	Williams	1:19.519	22
15	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:19.561	25
16	Nico Hülkenberg	Haas	1:19.604	21
17	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:19.622	25
18	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:19.716	16
19	Zhou Guanyu	Sauber	1:19.989	23
20	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	1:20.014	21

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