Carlos Sainz, Ferrari dominate FP1 in Australia

Carlos Sainz led Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari one-two in the first practice at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Spaniard clocked a 1m 19.806s on the softest tyres with his teammate Charles Leclerc 0.571s adrift. The championship leader ran into the gravel on his out-lap and then backed out of his second attempt.

Red Bull’s Sergio Perez was third after causing one of two red flags when he lost a piece of bodywork with Max Verstappen a couple of tenths behind though the reigning champion set his quickest lap much earlier in the session.

McLaren put their front axle and opening races issues behind with Lando Norris finishing fifth and hometown hero Daniel Ricciardo in eighth place.

Alpine’s Esteban Ocon was sixth, a fraction clear of Lewis Hamilton in the leading Mercedes at 7th.

Fernando Alonso popped his Alpine into ninth in the closing stages, with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas completing the top 10 that was split by just 1.441s.

The AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda was 11th, on a track that will offer four DRS zones, which is a Formula 1 first.

Mercedes’ George Russell was 12th ahead of returning Sebastian Vettel, who brought out a red flag late in the session when his Mercedes-powered Aston Martin lost power with just 18 laps on the board.

It was a frustrating end to a session with the German hoping for plenty of mileage after missing the first two races.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly was 14th, ahead of Zhou Guanyu.

Lance Stroll put his Aston Martin 16th, with Alex Albon the leading Williams in 17th, 1.2s clear of teammate Nicolas Latifi in 19th.

Haas, after a strong start to 2022 struggled in Australia with Kevin Magnussen 18th, and teammate Mick Schumacher last– 4.543s off the pace set by Carlos Sainz.