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2025 australian grand prix

2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/Formula 1/Lewis Hamilton

Hamilton “slowly piecing the puzzle together” after “messy” start to practice · RaceFans

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Lewis Hamilton said he made progress over the course of his first two practice sessions at Ferrari in Melbourne today.

After placing 12th in the opening session, Hamilton improved to fifth later in the day. He was four tenths of a second off team mate Charles Leclerc, who set the pace on Friday in Melbourne.

“It felt amazing to get out there and be in a Ferrari here,” Hamilton told the official F1 channel afterwards. “Honestly, the car felt so much different to what I’ve ever experienced coming to this track so it took a little bit of bedding in through [first practice].

“[Second practice] was definitely a little better, but just building, we’re slowly building and getting a little bit faster bit by bit.”

The SF-25 feels “a lot different” to the Mercedes chassis Hamilton drove in previous seasons. “The car doesn’t feel bad or anything, it just requires a different way of driving, so I’m adjusting my driving style bit by bit. But I’m enjoying driving.”

Hamilton’s unfamiliarity with aspects of Ferrari’s operation is slowing his progress. He said the first practice session was “a little bit messy” but by the second “it was definitely starting to look a bit better.”

“I’m really still getting used to all the set-up changes,” he explained. “I don’t have them on call like I used to have obviously at Mercedes because I’d been there for so long I knew exactly all the set-up changes. So I’m still working through understanding what tools we can use.”

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Today was the first time Hamilton has shared a track with Leclerc as team mates. “It’s interesting because you can see with Charles, he just knows because he’s been here for such a lot of time,” he said. “But I’m slowly piecing the puzzle together.”

Leclerc’s fastest time, which put him a tenth of a second ahead of the two McLarens, gave Ferrari more encouragement. “I think the long-run was competitive with the others as well,” said Hamilton. “McLaren looked pretty quick. So it looked pretty close up top.”

However he downplayed the possibility of being able to fight for pole position tomorrow. “For me, I think it’s a little bit early as I continue to just learn the car,” he said. “But never say never.

“I’ll still give it everything I’ve got tomorrow and just not put [myself under] much pressure. I’m just going to try and enjoy it.

“I’ve got some pace to find, I know where I’ve got to find it. It’s just about going out and doing it, but it’s building.”

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2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/Liam Lawson/Red Bull

Lawson admits he was “too slow” after ending practice 17th · F1 · RaceFans

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New Red Bull driver Liam Lawson admitted he was “too slow” on the first day of practice for the new season in Australia.

He ended Friday’s second session 17th out of the 19 drivers who set times. Oliver Bearman was unable to participate after damaging his Haas in a crash during the opening session.

Although Lawson avoided the barriers, his quickest time on the soft tyres was over half a second slower than team mate Max Verstappen managed. However Verstappen’s session was not especially smooth as he had to repeatedly back out of attempts to start a flying lap due to traffic.

Lawson said he was “comfortable, just too slow” on his first day in the new RB21 at a grand prix weekend.

“We have a lot of work to do overnight,” he told the official F1 channel. “Obviously, day one on a new track [for me], we were expecting to have some work to do, but probably not this much. We’ll obviously work on it overnight and then try and improve it for tomorrow.”

He admitted it was “not really” clear what they need to do to improve. “I think if we knew that we’d know how to fix it as well.

“In general, just grip when we need to use it on that short run. But then, in general, our long-run pace was slow as well. Obviously we’ll work on it.”

Of the six drivers beginning their first full seasons in Melbourne this weekend, Isack Hadjar occupied the highest position in Friday’s running, finishing sixth. Jack Doohan was 14th for Alpine and Mercedes’ Andrea Kimi Antonelli was 16th, six-thousandths of a second ahead of Lawson. Behind him were Gabriel Bortoleto in his Sauber and Bearman.

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2025 Australian Grand Prix

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2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/charles leclerc/Practice reports

Leclerc leads McLarens as Bearman misses second practice · RaceFans

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Charles Leclerc beat the McLaren pair to put Ferrari on top in the second practice session for the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne.

His quickest time of 1’16.439 was half a second off last year’s pole position time at the Albert Park circuit.

The McLaren pair were a tenth of a second slower than Leclerc, Oscar Piastri leading his team mate Lando Norris by 17 thousandths of a second on his home track.

Racing Bulls impressed in the second session, Yuki Tsunoda lapping three-tenths of a second off the pace in fourth. His rookie team mate Isack Hadjar was only two-tenths of a second slower in sixth, the pair separated by Lewis Hamilton in the second Ferrari.

Several drivers were delayed by traffic during the session, notably Max Verstappen, who took multiple attempts to produce a flying lap on soft tyres. His best effort was six tenths of a second off Leclerc’s.

Nico Hulkenberg was eighth quickest for Sauber following a scruffy start to his session. He had to pit early on after discovering a safety plug had been left in his car by mistake, then had a bumpy ride through the gravel trap at turn six.

Following their eye-catching performance in the first practice session, neither Williams driver placed in the top 10, though they did set identical lap times to within a thousandth of a second. Lance Stroll was ninth and George Russell just three-thousandths of a second behind him in 10th.

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Liam Lawson was a lowly 17th for Red Bull. He had a brief incident with Norris when they left the pits as the session began, the McLaren driver taking to the grass to avoid hitting the RB21.

Haas worked throughout the session to repair the damage Oliver Bearman incurred in his earlier crash. However they ran out of time to fix the car before the session ended and he failed to set a lap.

2025 Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix second practice result

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2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/Ferrari/Frederic Vasseur/Lewis Hamilton

Vasseur has no doubt Hamilton will be able to “perform soon” at Ferrari · RaceFans

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Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur is confident they have taken the right approach to help Lewis Hamilton adjust to his new environment as quickly as possible.

Hamilton had just one-and-a-half days of testing in the team’s new car before the first event of the season this weekend. He was unable to drive for them in the post-season test at Yas Marina last year, unlike several other drivers who changed teams.

However Ferrari used the opportunity to run Hamilton in one of their older chassis, known as Testing of Previous Cars under F1’s regulations, at the beginning of the season. Vasseur said that gave him a useful chance to get used to the team’s internal processes.

“It’s not [the goal] to be at the limit on one session, it’s not a matter of speed,” said Vasseur in the FIA press conference after the first practice session.

“The target is for him to know everybody in the team, to discover the software, the process, the system. I’m convinced that we have something very similar to Mercedes, but at the end of the day, perhaps not with the same name, or the same way to use them.

“It’s just a learning process. We did one or two test days with the TPC one or two months ago. It was a good way to approach it but nothing compares to the race weekend. We have to go through and we have to do it, but I’m not worried at all about this.”

Hamilton placed 12th in the first practice session at Albert Park, six-tenths of a second slower than team mate Charles Leclerc, but Vasseur said this was no cause for concern.

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“He’s on this process, honestly, you can’t draw a conclusion after a first session,” he said. “I have absolutely no doubt that he will be able to perform and to perform soon. Last year I think that Carlos [Sainz Jnr] was P8 or P9 in free practice and he won the race.”

Hamilton said yesterday he is still getting accustomed to the differences between Ferrari’s car and the Mercedes he drove last year.

“Joining a new team, the sooner you can reach a high level and get results, the better. But inevitably, there’s a transition period, and there is a foundation that’s needed to be built, […] that’s what we have been doing over the past couple of months.

“The first half of the season, it is about that foundation. Building those relationships, the trust, you’re building with absolutely every everyone in the team. Trust isn’t something you just walk in the door and have, it’s built over time.

“For me, the goal is to win, of course, and to take the team forward. I’ve had some not-so-spectacular years and I’m trying to see if I can have a better year than I have the last three. There are a lot of factors that can add to that.”

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F1 Live: 2025 Australian Grand Prix second practice

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This session is live. You are not logged in, so new updates will not appear automatically. For automatic updates, log in here or register a free RaceFans account here.

There’s only four minutes left but Bearman is finally putting his helmet on.

Leclerc running a slightly faster pace on the mediums at the moment than Norris. Verstappen a few tenths off the pair of them on the same rubber.

Verstappen completes his lap and sets a 1’17.063 for seventh. He was well into that run on softs, though.

Finally a lap coming from Verstappen? He does a personal best first sector time, as does Alexander Albon.

Piastri goes quickest in the final sector as he sets the second-fastest time, still a tenth off Leclerc.

Leclerc displaced Norris at the top of the times with a 1’16.439, over a tenth of a second quicker than the McLaren. Verstappen still hasn’t got anything like a representative time in, encountering traffic and backing out.

Fernando Alonso takes to the grass at turn one. An unimpressed Gasly picks his way through traffic at turn four.

Isack Hadjar produces a decent lap for fifth – Williams caught the eye in the first session, Racing Bulls have in the second.

There is once again a significant amount of gravel just off-line at the exit of turn six. Unlike in the first session, no red flag yet.

Verstappen starts a lap but backs out of it after a twitch of oversteer at turn three. Norris goes top with a 1’16.580, two-tenths up on Tsunoda.

Yuki Tsunoda now takes the top time with a 1’16.784 in his Racing Bulls.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli goes 10th on softs, three-tenths of a second off his team mate.

Liam Lawson only 14th with that run on a set of softs – and he was outside of track limits at turn four.

The Sauber mechanics are busy working on Hulkenberg’s floor after his trip through the gravel. We’re 20 minutes into the session and Bearman has still not joined the track.

Leclerc does the fastest first sector and gets a cleaner end to the lap, lopping half a second off Sainz’s best time with a 1’16.794 which is by far the fastest time of the day so far. Hamilton pops up to second behind him, four-tenths of a second slower.

Norris produces the fastest time of all in the first sector, despite seemingly not having a great run out of the final corner, but pits at the end of the lap.

Pierre Gasly is the latest driver to discover a gravel trap, he goes off at turn three. “I can’t brake,” he reports.

Charles Leclerc starts a decent lap but picks up some serious understeer in the final sector and backs out of it.

Speaking of Norris, he understeers wildly at the exit of turn four but gathers it up. Nico Hulkenberg’s eventful session goes on as he clatters through the gravel trap at turn six.

Carlos Sainz Jnr began a quick lap but had to back out of it when he caught Piastri. He tries again ang goes quickest of all, on the medium rubber, with a 1’17.302. That’s five-hundredths of a second off Norris’s benchmark from earlier today, set on softs.

Russell nabs the top time from Norris by a tenth of a second, running a set of the hard tyres on his Mercedes.

Norris puts up a 1’17.671 to go quickest on the medium rubber, four-tenths of a second slower than he went on the softs in the earlier session.

Nico Hulkenberg radios his team and says he needs to pit because a ‘safety plug’ has been left in his car.

Now George Russell takes a close look at Norris as they approach turn nine but thinks better of it.

For the second session in a row, Norris drops a wheel onto the grass soon after leaving the garage, this time it’s in the pit lane exit as he swerves around Liam Lawson.

Haas are busy working on Oliver Bearman’s car which he damaged in first practice. It’s still up on stands in the garage so he won’t be heading out immediately.

Lando Norris set the pace in the opening session earlier today, but there was very little between the teams. The seven fastest different cars were covered by six tenths of a second – an encouraging sign for the season ahead.

Second practice for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix is coming up next.

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2025 australian grand prix/RaceFans Live

F1 Live: 2025 Australian Grand Prix second practice

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There’s only four minutes left but Bearman is finally putting his helmet on.

Leclerc running a slightly faster pace on the mediums at the moment than Norris. Verstappen a few tenths off the pair of them on the same rubber.

Verstappen completes his lap and sets a 1’17.063 for seventh. He was well into that run on softs, though.

Finally a lap coming from Verstappen? He does a personal best first sector time, as does Alexander Albon.

Piastri goes quickest in the final sector as he sets the second-fastest time, still a tenth off Leclerc.

Leclerc displaced Norris at the top of the times with a 1’16.439, over a tenth of a second quicker than the McLaren. Verstappen still hasn’t got anything like a representative time in, encountering traffic and backing out.

Fernando Alonso takes to the grass at turn one. An unimpressed Gasly picks his way through traffic at turn four.

Isack Hadjar produces a decent lap for fifth – Williams caught the eye in the first session, Racing Bulls have in the second.

There is once again a significant amount of gravel just off-line at the exit of turn six. Unlike in the first session, no red flag yet.

Verstappen starts a lap but backs out of it after a twitch of oversteer at turn three. Norris goes top with a 1’16.580, two-tenths up on Tsunoda.

Yuki Tsunoda now takes the top time with a 1’16.784 in his Racing Bulls.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli goes 10th on softs, three-tenths of a second off his team mate.

Liam Lawson only 14th with that run on a set of softs – and he was outside of track limits at turn four.

The Sauber mechanics are busy working on Hulkenberg’s floor after his trip through the gravel. We’re 20 minutes into the session and Bearman has still not joined the track.

Leclerc does the fastest first sector and gets a cleaner end to the lap, lopping half a second off Sainz’s best time with a 1’16.794 which is by far the fastest time of the day so far. Hamilton pops up to second behind him, four-tenths of a second slower.

Norris produces the fastest time of all in the first sector, despite seemingly not having a great run out of the final corner, but pits at the end of the lap.

Pierre Gasly is the latest driver to discover a gravel trap, he goes off at turn three. “I can’t brake,” he reports.

Charles Leclerc starts a decent lap but picks up some serious understeer in the final sector and backs out of it.

Speaking of Norris, he understeers wildly at the exit of turn four but gathers it up. Nico Hulkenberg’s eventful session goes on as he clatters through the gravel trap at turn six.

Carlos Sainz Jnr began a quick lap but had to back out of it when he caught Piastri. He tries again ang goes quickest of all, on the medium rubber, with a 1’17.302. That’s five-hundredths of a second off Norris’s benchmark from earlier today, set on softs.

Russell nabs the top time from Norris by a tenth of a second, running a set of the hard tyres on his Mercedes.

Norris puts up a 1’17.671 to go quickest on the medium rubber, four-tenths of a second slower than he went on the softs in the earlier session.

Nico Hulkenberg radios his team and says he needs to pit because a ‘safety plug’ has been left in his car.

Now George Russell takes a close look at Norris as they approach turn nine but thinks better of it.

For the second session in a row, Norris drops a wheel onto the grass soon after leaving the garage, this time it’s in the pit lane exit as he swerves around Liam Lawson.

Haas are busy working on Oliver Bearman’s car which he damaged in first practice. It’s still up on stands in the garage so he won’t be heading out immediately.

Lando Norris set the pace in the opening session earlier today, but there was very little between the teams. The seven fastest different cars were covered by six tenths of a second – an encouraging sign for the season ahead.

Second practice for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix is coming up next.

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2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/Lando Norris/Practice reports

Norris leads Sainz in first practice after Bearman crash disrupts session · RaceFans

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Lando Norris led the way in an opening practice session which was interrupted by two red flags at the Albert Park circuit.

The most significant disruption came when rookie Oliver Bearman crashed his Haas at the exit of turn 10. The driver was unhurt in the incident, but caused significant damage to the right-hand side of his car.

Bright sunshine greeted drivers as the first official practice session of the season began. It took little time for drivers to start beating the fastest time from the same session last year and by the time the chequered flag fell every team bar Haas had beaten it.

Charles Leclerc led the way early on as the drivers favoured the medium tyre compound. His new team mate Lewis Hamilton was off his pace to begin with, complaining he was struggling to turn his car at one stage.

Max Verstappen and the McLaren drivers were also consistently in the hunt for fastest time on the medium rubber. But once drivers switched to the soft tyres Carlos Sainz Jnr became a factor in the Williams, setting a 1’17.401 to head the times.

Seconds after Sainz set that time the session was red-flagged. Bearman had run wide at the exit of turn 10, snapped sideways as he rejoined the track and made a heavy impact with the barrier on the outside of the circuit. His VF-47 came to a rest with its right-hand wheels hanging off. Bearman apologised to his team as he climbed out.

That caused a significant delay in proceedings. The session eventually resumed with 10 minutes remaining, which gave Norris enough time to displace Sainz from the top. He had to contend with Yuki Tsunoda, however, who passed him at the final corner as the McLaren driver prepared to begin one lap, leading the pair to swap places at the next two turns.

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Leclerc ended the session third followed by Oscar Piastri in the second McLaren. Verstappen, who switched back to medium rubber for the final minutes, was fifth ahead of Alexander Albon in the second Williams.

George Russell was seventh for Mercedes after a harmless spin at turn four late in the session. Fernando Alonso took eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar, the rookie telling his team on the way in he hadn’t been happy with his fastest lap. Lance Stroll completed the top 10.

Hamilton was 12th for Ferrari, two places ahead of his replacement at Mercedes, Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The pair were split by Jack Doohan, whose off-track excursion at turn six dragged gravel onto the circuit, causing a brief early red flag.

2025 Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix first practice result

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F1 Live: 2025 Australian Grand Prix first practice

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The session has been red-flagged. There’s a build-up of gravel at turn six where Jack Doohan, Max Verstappen and others have run wide.

Top times so far:
1. Charles Leclerc: 1’17.880
2. George Russell: 1’18.030
3. Isack Hadjar: 1’18.218
4. Lando Norris: 1’18.253
5. Max Verstappen: 1’18.325

Melburnian Oscar Piastri has just fallen out of the top 10 as he rejoins the track now in his McLaren.

Another of the new names appears near the top of the times – Isack Hadjar goes third for the team now officially known as Racing Bulls, which went by the initials RB last year.

Newcomer Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who is running the camber-exaggerating onboard camera in this session, is a second off the pace so far in 13th.

We’re a quarter of an hour in and Leclerc still leads the way. He’s in the pits at the moment, while George Russell pops up into second place, 0.15 seconds off the Ferrari.

Another improvement from Leclerc brings the top time down to a 1’17.880 so we’re already well under last year’s best time from this session. That six-tenths of a second off the best time from second practice.

Charles Leclerc now takes over at the top with a 1’18.317, followed by the McLaren pair. Only Nico Hulkenberg and Alexander Albon are yet to set times.

Liam Lawson glanced the wall with the right-hand side of his car on the way into turn nine.

Max Verstappen puts up a 1’19.771 to lead the early running, which is 1.2 seconds off the best time seen in this session last year, set by Norris.

Lando Norris immediately touches the grass at turn five as he tries to pass a car ahead. No harm done and he makes his way past.

The cars head out for the first time.

Melbourne is the scene of the season-opener for the first time since 2019 – it was supposed to open the 2020 championship before the Covid-19 pandemic changed that.

It’s finally time to get a glimpse of the real pecking order as all 20 cars prepare to take to the track together for the first time this year.

The first practice session for the 2025 Australian Grand Prix is coming up next.

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2025 australian grand prix/2025 F1 season/Audi/carlos sainz jnr/Formula 1/Williams

My father is disappointed I turned down Audi’s “great offer”

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Carlos Sainz Jnr has revealed his two-time World Rally champion father wanted him to join a different Formula 1 team this year.

After learning he would lose his seat at Ferrari this year, Sainz spent several months considering his options, and eventually chose to join Williams.

However his father, who scored his fourth Dakar Rally victory with Audi last year, wanted his son to seriously consider the manufacturer’s offer. Audi will rebrand Sauber’s F1 team next year.

“My father, Carlos, is still disappointed that I didn’t choose Audi’s great offer a few months ago,” the F1 driver told Blick.

“After my dream of moving to Red Bull or Mercedes fell through, I had to decide between Audi, Alpine, and Williams. After visiting the factories and having discussions, my gut feeling immediately told me – go to Williams. They want a better future. And when my heart also said yes, the decision was made.”

Sainz added: “I hope that my father, who had great times with Audi, will soon be happy that I chose Williams.”

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, Sainz said his first impression of his new team was positive.

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“As soon as I jumped into the car [last year] and started working with the people I was going to work with this year, I felt I had just joined a team full of motivation, full of people wanting to bring this team back to the front,” he said.

“The car also didn’t disappoint me. It was a good test overall in Abu Dhabi and we’ve had a strong winter of development. We’ve tried to hit the ground running this year and we’ve had a positive test.”

However Sainz said it’s too early to predict how competitive the team might be. “Are we going to be half a second, one second off the leaders? I don’t know.

“But hopefully we can show progress. I think that’s the fundamental word for us this year: keep showing progress as a team and see where we end up.”

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