Leclerc leads Ferrari 1-2 in opening Australian GP practice

Charles Leclerc led teammate Lewis Hamilton for a Ferrari one-two in the opening practice session of the 2026 season at the Australian Grand Prix.

Ferrari and Red Bull Racing both took to the track on soft tires at around the same time just after halfway through the session, setting up a direct comparison between them. Leclerc had led the field on the medium tires with which he opened the session, but Verstappen and new teammate Isack Hadjar moved into the top two places after the first run on the red-marked rubber.

The red and blue cars traded top spot until Leclerc, saving his best until the final minute of the session, used seven-lap-old softs to lower the benchmark to 1m20.267s.

Leclerc's time was 3.015s slower than the quickest lap of FP1 at Albert Park last season, roughly in line with pre-season expectations for this year’s new regulations.

Hamilton was 0.469s off the pace, though the Briton switched to the medium-compound tire after his initial fast laps and thus was unable to reply to his teammate's better time.

Verstappen and Hadjar were third and fourth, 0.522s and 0.820s respectively slower than Leclerc’s session-topping time. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad surprisingly completed the top five, the 18-year-old Briton lapping just over half a second slower than Verstappen and 1.046s off the pace.

It was a strong turnaround for Lindblad, whose car stopped on track at pit exit just seconds after the session started with a power unit fault. Marshals pushed his car back towards his garage, where it was repaired and sent back out.

The Mercedes-powered cars didn’t threaten the top of the order, and it was Oscar Piastri in the customer McLaren rather than either of the works driver who eld the way for the German manufacturer.

Piastri saved his soft lap for late, but despite setting the quickest first-sector time, he faded badly in the middle split in particular – the sector is dominated by the long back straight – to end up 1.075s off the pace. It was nonetheless a decent save after power unit problems forced the Australian back to his garage early in the session

His teammate, reigning world champion Lando Norris, didn’t set a time on the softs after gearbox checks sent him back to his garage with just seven laps completed for the session.

The works Mercedes drivers followed Piastri in the order, with George Russell 1.104s off the pace and Andrea Kimi Antonelli just 0.005s further back.

An encouraging first session for Audi, as well as Racing Bulls. Sam Bagnall/Getty Images

Audi turned heads in its first official session as a works team and with the first competitive outing of its in-house engine, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg completing the top 10. Bortoleto, starting his second season, was 1.429s off the pace to lead Hulkenberg by 0.273s.

Esteban Ocon was 11th for Haas ahead of Carlos Sainz, Liam Lawson and Oliver Bearman.

Alex Albon ended the session on track, his Williams car losing hydraulic pressure along the back straight and grinding to a halt at the exit of Turn 10, leaving him 15th in the order.

Franco Colapinto was one of the few cars to lock up and sail through the stones on his way to 16th place ahead of Cadillac’s Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly and the struck-out Norris.

Sergio Perez finished his first session back in 20th position after a bizarre spin, apparently due to engine braking, in the middle of Turn 4.

Aston Martin’s dismal start to the season got no better in FP1, with Lance Stroll completing just three slow laps before parking up in his garage and withdrawing from the session with an engine issue.

That was better than teammate Fernando Alonso managed, however. Honda discovered a “suspected power unit” issue in the car shortly before the start of the session, and the problem kept Alonso in his garage for the entire session.

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