Max Leads the Way in Opening Practice
Friday, 31 March 2023
Red Bull to the Fore but Hamilton Not Far Away
Red Bull Racing has continued its brilliant 2023 form in the opening Practice session of the Formula 1® Rolex ® Australian Grand Prix 2023 by topping the times at Albert Park but it was far from a smooth run.
Max Verstappen led timing screens when the session ended, lapping the Melbourne track in 1m18.790s. The current World Champion led the times for most of the 60-minute session, which was cut short by a red flag.
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Second-fastest was an encouraging result for two-time Albert Park winner Lewis Hamilton. The AMG Mercedes-Benz driver was 0.433s in arrears of the flying Red Bull and that place may have been slightly illusory, as Sergio Perez was denied a shot at a quicker time by the early end of the session and had to settle for third place.
It was not a trouble-free run for Verstappen. He reported over the team radio that his car was suffering from dragging rear brakes and late in the session, spun the car on the way out of Turn 4.
The closest challenger to the might of Red Bulls was, once again, Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso was fourth fastest while teammate Lance Stroll was back in 10th, another driver whose late-session plans were disrupted by the red flag.
The Ferrari duo of 2022 Australian GP winner Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz were fifth and sixth, respectively, ahead of the first of the McLarens. Lando Norris was an encouraging seventh, 0.24sec ahead of Australian Oscar Piastri, who was in 12th place in his McLaren.
Pierre Gasly was the best of the Alpine drivers in eighth place, ahead of George Russell’s Mercedes.
There were two red flags during the session, the first was to tend to a problem with the GPS system that advises teams of their cars’ position and therefore allows them to ‘space’ the cars on the track for safety reasons. The second was late in the session after American rookie Logan Sargeant stopped on the circuit in his Williams.
The Formula 1® cars will return to the track at 4 pm for their second 60-minute Practice session.
