Mark Webber topped the timesheets after the first practice at Melbourne. Webber was just over three tenths over Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, while Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso was third.
Australian rookie Dan Ricciardo finished the session in 16th in a strong showing, just outside his teammate Sebastien Buemi who finished ahead in 14th for Toro Rosso.
Red Bull look to have continued their strong showing from 2010, sending an ominous warning to their rivals.
Of particular worry for the F1 teams were the new Pirelli tyres.
A close-up of Vettel’s front Pirelli showed a large chunk taken out of it, and many drivers had moments over a slippery, green Albert Park circuit.
Test driver Karun Chandhok was the first casualty of the day, losing the car at low speed into the wall. He told the team over radio he had no idea what had happened, indicating a possible failure in the car.
While the new teams of the F1 grid are no longer rookies, they remain a considerable margin off the pace.
The Hispania Racing Team (HRT) did not even appear on track, with rumours around the F1 paddock that they will only have one car ready, which were dismissed by the team.
Virgin Racing were some eight seconds off the pace of the Red Bull pair – and worryingly, may not even appear in the race. They were some 2.3s off the 107% qualifying rule reintroduced this year by the FIA.
Should they not be inside 107% of the fastest qualifying lap, they will not start the race.
1 2 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:26.831 219.862 20
2 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:27.158 0.327 219.037 19
3 5 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1:27.749 0.918 217.561 20
4 8 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:28.152 1.321 216.567 16
5 11 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:28.430 1.599 215.886 24
6 4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.440 1.609 215.862 29
7 3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:28.483 1.652 215.757 26
8 7 Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1:28.690 1.859 215.253 14
9 16 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:28.725 1.894 215.168 13
10 10 Vitaly Petrov Renault 1:28.765 1.934 215.071 15
11 6 Felipe Massa Ferrari 1:28.842 2.011 214.885 20
12 9 Nick Heidfeld Renault 1:28.928 2.097 214.677 14
13 14 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:29.314 2.483 213.749 19
14 18 Sébastien Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:29.328 2.497 213.716 21
15 12 Pastor Maldonado Williams-Cosworth 1:29.403 2.572 213.536 24
16 19 Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:29.468 2.637 213.381 23
17 17 Sergio Pérez Sauber-Ferrari 1:29.643 2.812 212.965 18
18 15 Nico Hülkenberg Force India-Mercedes 1:31.002 4.171 209.784 20
19 20 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Renault 1:32.428 5.597 206.548 13
20 25 Jérôme d’Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.282 8.451 200.361 17
21 24 Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:35.289 8.458 200.346 15
22 21 Karun Chandhok Lotus-Renault No Time 1
23 22 Narain Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth No Time
24 23 Vitantonio Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth No Time
The Red Bull wasn’t the fastest car for most of the weekend. If anything it was third best, struggling to match the pace of the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s in most of the sessions.
The New Zealander was three one-hundredths of a second faster than the previous record, set just last year.
Chaz Mostert and Cameron Waters broke through for their first wins of the 2024 season.
Oscar Piastri has missed out on his first visit to a Formula One race podium this season, the Australian left pondering what might have…
Since the Aussie's last victory, he has claimed seven second-placed finishes after being unable to catch Alex Palou.
Theo Pourchaire replaces David Malukas, who got injured and then fired before he could even sit in the car.
