HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from FP1 in Australia as the 2026 season officially kicks off
F1 returned to action at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit on Friday afternoon.
Charles Leclerc and Ferrari set the pace as the 2026 F1 campaign kicked off with the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.
Leclerc worked his way down to a best time of 1m 20.267s over the course of FP1, with team mate Lewis Hamilton making it a 1-2 for the Scuderia over Red Bull pair Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar.
Sole rookie Arvid Lindblad made an eye-catching start to his debut season in fifth, from home hero Oscar Piastri, the Mercedes cars of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli, and Audi pair Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg.
There were power unit issues for Aston Martin pair Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, as well as gearbox gremlins for Lando Norris, while Alex Albon stopped on track late on with an apparent hydraulics problem.
Hit go on the video player above to catch up on the action from FP1 in Australia.
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