Everything that happened in first F1 practice of 2026

Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari 1-2 in first practice for the 2026 Australian Grand Prix, as Ferrari and the Red Bull teams laid down the first marker for Formula 1’s new rules era.

The Ferrari looked quick throughout the session, with Leclerc and team-mate Lewis Hamilton frequently taking turns to lead the way as the lap times improved.

And it was Leclerc’s final flying lap of the session that did the damage, a 1m20.267s that put him almost half a second clear. That was just over three seconds slower than the fastest time of FP1 in 2025, a 1m17.252s lap set by Lando Norris.

Max Verstappen was third quickest for Red Bull, whose new in-house Ford-badged engine filled the next three spots on the timing sheet.

Verstappen was another who looked quick throughout the session on both medium and soft tyres, and he was within a tenth of the quickest time before Leclerc’s late flourish reset the board.

Verstappen's team-mate Isack Hadjar was fourth quickest in the other Red Bull, just under two tenths down on Verstappen, while Hadjar’s replacement at Racing Bulls - F1 rookie Arvid Lindblad - was an impressive fifth.

It was a more muted start for pre-season testing favourite Mercedes, with George Russell and Kimi Antonelli only seventh and eighth and just over a second off the pace.

Mercedes-powered McLaren also had a tough start, with reigning world champion Norris consigned to the garage with a gearbox problem while team-mate Oscar Piastri suffered early engine power delivery issues.

Norris complained about “shocking” downshifts when he first hit the track and he only did seven laps before returning to the garage for good.

Piastri’s problem was rectified in the pits and he managed to grind his way to a respectable lap, 0.029s up on Russell’s Mercedes and good enough to complete the top six.

Audi also made an impressive start, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg rounding out the top 10 for the team formerly known as Sauber and its all-new works engine.

That stood in stark contrast to the new Aston Martin-Honda programme, as ongoing engine problems prevented Fernando Alonso taking part in the session at all, while team-mate Lance Stroll was restricted to just three slow laps before also having to park in the garage with what the team called a “suspected power unit issue”.

Two teams that were expected to lead the midfield after testing - Haas and Alpine - made a muted start in Melbourne, with Esteban Ocon ending up 11th quickest, almost two seconds off the pace for Haas.

Franco Colapinto was the best of the two Alpines, only 16th quickest and three seconds off the pace, separated from Ocon by the overweight Williamses of Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon - plus Liam Lawson’s Racing Bulls, which didn’t run the soft tyre in FP1.

Ocon led the way among the midfield cars on the medium tyre early on, but didn’t find as much time as others made bigger gains on the softer compound later on.

Albon’s car lost its hydraulics towards the end of the session and had to stop on track, causing one of two virtual safety car periods that briefly interrupted the session.

The other happened very early on when Lindblad’s Racing Bulls stalled at the pit exit.

Pierre Gasly was only 18th quickest in the second Alpine, behind the fastest of the brand new Cadillacs, driven by Valtteri Bottas.

It was a strong start for F1’s new 11th team, with Bottas lapping comfortably within four seconds of the pace. Without Leclerc’s late flourish that gap to the outright fastest would have been just over three seconds.

Sergio Perez was the slowest of the cars to set a representative time, just under six tenths down on Bottas.

Both Cadillacs appeared to lose minor bodywork from their mirrors due to vibrations during the session, while Perez also suffered a spin at Turn 5 due to what he called excessive engine braking.

FP1 positions

1 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1m20.267s
2 Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.469s
3 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.522s
4 Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +0.820s
5 Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.046s
6 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +1.075s
7 George Russell (Mercedes) +1.104s
8 Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +1.109s
9 Gabriel Bortoleto (Audi) +1.429s
10 Nico Hulkenberg (Audi) +1.702s
11 Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.894s
12 Carlos Sainz (Williams) +2.056s
13 Liam Lawson (Racing Bulls) +2.346s
14 Ollie Bearman (Haas) +2.415s
15 Alex Albon (Williams) +2.863s
16 Franco Colapinto (Alpine) +3.058s
17 Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac) +3.755s
18 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +3.768s
19 Lando Norris (McLaren) +4.124s
20 Sergio Perez (Cadillac) +4.353s
21 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +30.067s
22 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) didn't run