The reigning world champion’s 1m18.790s to top first practice was the fastest overall lap time on the opening day of F1 track action at Albert Park, after second practice was hit by rain, leaving Fernando Alonso’s 1m18.887s in FP2 fractionally off the outright best time.
In an eventful opening day at the Australian GP, FP1 was halted by two red flags; the first for a GPS data loss which forced the session to be halted on safety grounds, while the end of opening practice was cut short due to Logan Sargeant’s electrical issue with his Williams that meant he stopped on the track.
