Australian Grand Prix: Charles Leclerc leads Ferrari team-mate Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne practice
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton struck the first blow of the new Formula 1 era with the first and second fastest times in opening practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
Leclerc took his place at the top, leaving Hamilton 0.469 seconds behind the seven-time champion in the final lap.
By then the gap between Hamilton, Leclerc and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was less than 0.1 seconds.
Verstappen’s new teammate Isack Hadjar was fourth fastest, 0.820 seconds behind 18-year-old Briton Arvid Lindblad, and made his debut with the Racing Bulls team.
Aston Martin, whose terrible form so far is in many ways the story of the new season, has had a predictably difficult season.
Fernando Alonso could not run at all due to a problem with the Honda power unit. Teammate Lance Stroll only managed three laps before his car was also diagnosed with an engine problem.
Team boss Adrian Newey stunned F1 on Thursday when he said vibrations from the Honda engine were so bad that Alonso could not do more than 25 laps in his hands without risking permanent nerve damage.
But for an engine that remains well below the standard required in F1 following the introduction of new rules this season, this seems to be a different reliability issue.
