Rhonan Colquhoun 15:52pm 14th March 2025
The 2025 Formula One Season got underway as the 20 drivers hit the track in Albert Park for the two Practice sessions ahead of Sunday's Australian Grand Prix.
Still unknown to the true pecking order of the 10 teams, drivers pushed throughout the two Practice sessions - finding the limits of their cars and the Melbourne track.
Practice 1
One driver that found the limit of their car was Haas rookie Oliver Bearman who crashed heavily during the first session which brought out the Red Flag. The young Brit was unharmed but his Haas was severely damaged and despite the hard work of his mechanics - Bearman never got the chance to compete in the second session.
WRECKED REMAINS: Bearman's Friday was restricted to only 12 laps as the rookie binned his Haas - losing it on the exit of Turn 10
Bearman's shunt brought out the second Red Flag of the day. Race Control suspended the session briefly for marshals to clear up the gravel that had been kicked onto the track with drivers dipping their wheels into the gravel trap at the fast right-hander at turn 6.
Out in front, McLaren's Lando Norris led the way with a quickest time of 1:17:252 which was 0.149s quicker than Carlos Sainz's Williams with the Grove outfit having a very productive session.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was third quickest while the other McLaren of Oscar Piastri and Reigning Champion Red Bull's Max Verstappen rounded out the top five.
Red Bull still seem to be trying to understand their car with Verstappen changing his set-up numerous times throughout both sessions with the team even putting on some flow paint to track the aerodynamic performance of the RB21.
Aston Martin showed a decent amount of pace with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll posting lap times to put both of them inside the top 10 with Alonso in eighth and Stroll in tenth with Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar in between the two green machines in ninth.
In his Ferrari debut, Lewis Hamilton completed the session in 12th with the Brit still getting to grips with his new machinery while his Mercedes' replacement - Kimi Antonelli - finished the session in 14th. The other Mercedes of George Russell completed the most laps out of everyone with 26 with the Brit having a small moment on the entry to turn 4.
Alpine's Jack Doohan was an impressive 13th - under a second behind Norris's quickest lap time - with the Australian ahead of team-mate Pierre Gasly a few positions behind in 17th.
Verstappen's new Red Bull team-mate - Liam Lawson - ended the session in 16th with the New Zealander touching the wall on the entry to turn 9 but thankfully no damage was done.
Practice 2
Ferrari and McLaren occupied four of the top five positions come the second Practice with Charles Leclerc clocking in a 1:16:439 ahead of the McLaren duo of home favourite Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
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Racing Bulls' Yuki Tsunoda had a brilliant session by slotting his VCARB 02 into fourth place just ahead of Lewis Hamilton's Ferrari. Isack Hadjar backed-up Racing Bulls' pace by finishing in sixth which ended a very impressive day for the French-Algerian driver.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen finished the session a lowly seventh and was reportedly still not happy with the balance of his car while team-mate Liam Lawson was 10 place back in 17th after a difficult session.
Teams opted to use the session to see how their cars would fare in race-trim with the majority of the drivers completing 30 or more laps throughout the session.
However, teams are preparing for a difficult Sunday with rain on the forecast throughout the race. This will give the teams a headache tomorrow morning between Practice 3 and Qualifying to determine which set-up they should use on their cars.
Kick Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg was an impressive eighth despite taking a wild trip through the gravel trap at turn 6 which required his mechanics to double-check his car for any damage.
Pierre Gasly once again trailed Alpine team-mate Jack Doohan with the French driver struggling with his brakes - locking-up and taking a trip through the gravel at turn 3. The Alpine drivers languished in 14th and 15th - around one second off the best time.
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