Norris fastest in FP1 as Bearman crashes

McLaren’s Lando Norris topped first practice for Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix ahead of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, with the action disrupted twice by two red flag stoppages.

Leclerc led the first quarter of the one-hour session with an early benchmark of 1m17.880s, as the opening 15 minutes featured both Red Bull drivers getting away with wayward moments – Liam Lawson tapping the wall on approach to Turn 9 and Max Verstappen clipping the gravel exiting Turn 6.

After a lull in the action the session was briefly halted due to debris on track – possibly from Jack Doohan’s Alpine, which had been amongst the cars dragging gravel onto the track at the reprofiled Turn 6.

The session resumed just before the halfway stage, with Verstappen heading straight back out on the softs and duly going quickest with a 1m17.696s.

The rest of the frontrunners were already set to complete their first flying laps on the softs much later, with Leclerc slotting into second by 0.060s just after Sainz had gone quickest for Williams with a 1m17.401s.

But the session was then suspended when Oliver Bearman crashed heavily after going off exiting the rapid Turn 10 right – the Briton smashing the right-hand side of his car against the outside barrier before the wreckage bounced back across the track.

Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

The action only resumed with 11 minutes remaining, after which Norris had his first attempt at a flying lap wrecked by Yuki Tsunoda nipping ahead just as the Briton was about to open up.

Oscar Piastri did get a flier in with fresh softs on the other McLaren just afterwards, with the home hero going 0.269s slower than Sainz to run third, before Norris demoted him with an effort just 0.117s down on Sainz, but with the quickest time in the final sector.

In the final minutes, Norris shot to the top of the times with a 1m17.252s, while Alex Albon put the second Williams sixth behind Verstappen’s best effort.

George Russell, who finished seventh as the top Mercedes runner, spun off at Turn 4 just before the finish, putting his right-side wheels on the grass after exiting Turn 3.

Fernando Alonso, Isack Hadjar and Lance Stroll rounded out the top 10, while Lewis Hamilton was only 12th for Ferrari and his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli, was just 14th.