McLaren’s Piastri fastest on first day of F1 season

March 6, 2026 No Comments

McLaren’s Piastri fastest on first day of F1 seasonImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Oscar Piastri is hoping to become the first home driver to win the Australian Grand Prix as an F1 eventByAndrew Benson

F1 Correspondent in Melbourne

6 March 2026, 02:45 GMT

82 Comments

Updated 9 minutes ago

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished the first day of running of the new Formula 1 season in first place after Friday practice at the Australian Grand Prix.

The Australian was 0.214 seconds quicker than Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, whose team-mate George Russell was third fastest ahead of Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was sixth fastest ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and the 18-year-old British rookie Arvid Lindblad, who had an impressive first day in F1 for Racing Bulls.

Aston Martin, the story of the weekend so far as a result of major problems with their Honda engine, had a better session after only managing three laps in first practice.

Fernando Alonso was able to do 17 laps after missing the entire first session because of vibration problems with his engine but was 4.933 seconds off the pace.

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His team principal Adrian Newey has laid bare Honda’s problems in two extraordinary news conferences on consecutive days, on Friday explaining how the situation was affecting Alonso, and how their engine partner has found itself struggling so much.

Completing the top 10 was the second Red Bull of Isack Hadjar and Haas’ Esteban Ocon, whose British team-mate Oliver Bearman was 11th.

The headline lap times may well not be a true reflection of outright pace as the top teams all did their laps at different times of the session – Mercedes running relatively early and Piastri late, when the track would have been faster.

On the race-simulation runs later in the session, Mercedes appeared to have a significant advantage over Ferrari, the only other top team to run on the same hard tyre.

However, Mercedes’ programme allowed them to do many more laps.

Red Bull and McLaren ran on the medium and soft tyres on their race runs.

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Top 10

1. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) – 1:19.729

2. Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) +0.214

3. George Russell (Mercedes) +0.320

4. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) +0.321

5. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +0.562

6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +0.637

7. Lando Norris (McLaren) +1.065

8. Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls) +1.193

9. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull) +1.212

10. Esteban Ocon (Haas) +1.450

Full practice results

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Image source, Getty Images
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World champion Lando Norris was in demand for selfies when the drivers arrived at the Albert Park circuit before first practice on Friday
Image source, Getty Images
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Racing Bulls’ 18-year-old Arvid Lindblad (right) is the only rookie on the grid this year. He is set to become the youngest Briton to race in F1 on Sunday
Image source, Getty Images
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New Red Bull driver Isack Hadjar impressed in first practice but did go off on to the grass
Image source, Getty Images
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Cadillac are the first team to enter F1 since 2016, with Valtteri Bottas returning to the sport after being Mercedes’ reserve driver last year
Image source, Reuters
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Audi are a new name if not entirely a new team, having taken over Sauber. They are building their own engine for the first time though
Image source, Reuters
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Plenty to ponder for Norris, who ended the first practice session 19th after problems with his McLaren
Image source, Getty Images
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The beleaguered Aston Martin team did get out on track in first practice, albeit very briefly. Lance Stroll managed three laps before an engine problem curtailed his session. Team-mate Fernando Alonso did not get out at all because of a power unit issue

Slide 1 of 7, Lando Norris poses for a selfie with fans before first practice for the Australian Grand Prix, World champion Lando Norris was in demand for selfies when the drivers arrived at the Albert Park circuit before first practice on Friday

Australian Grand Prix

6-8 March with race at 04:00 GMT on Sunday

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