Lando Norris ended up fastest in FP1 to start the 2025 F1 season in Australian GP ahead of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
It was a busy start to the 2025 F1 season at Albert Park, as McLaren’s Lando Norris set the pace with a 1m17.252s lap to top FP1 after a late run to topple Williams’ Carlos Sainz by 0.149s, who surprised everyone with a Top 3 pace.
Sainz had an eventful start after he impeded Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, but apologised readily. The Dutchman was only fifth in the end behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who were third and fourth.
Williams’ Alexander Albon made it two of their cars in the Top 6. He made a late improvement to drop Mercedes’ George Russell seventh, who had an off moment at Turn 4 after dropping a wheel, but escaped without any damage in the run-off.
Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was eighth from the top rookie Isack Hadjar in the Visa Cash App RB after his late improvement. His teammate Yuki Tsunoda was 11th after a bit of a back and forth with Norris after a red flag moment.
Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll rounded out the Top 10, as Lewis Hamilton did not enjoy his start with Ferrari in 12th, with his replacement Andrea Kimi Antonelli only 14th in Mercedes behind Alpine’s Jack Doohan, who put in a late improvement.
Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto was 15th from Red Bull’s Liam Lawson after his minor brush with the wall. Alpine’s Pierre Gasly was only 17th after running at the front, ahead of Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and Haas’ Esteban Ocon.
Teammate Oliver Bearman binned at Turn 9-10 sequence after running on the gravel to cause the second red flag. The first red flag was to clear the track of the gravel brought in by several drivers at the modified Turn 6-7 sequence.
