All the speculation from the pre-season can at last be put to bed, as it is time for the Formula 1 cars to hit the track in anger for the first time at Albert Park, for the first practice session of the 2019 championship at the Australian Grand Prix. Join The Roar for live updates and commentary from 12pm (AEDT).
While Practice 1 may not deliver a definitive form guide for the weekend ahead, it does offer an idea as to who’s confident and who’s not – particularly given this is the opening round of a new championship season.
Ninety minutes are afforded to all the drivers and teams to begin dialling in their cars for the 5.8-kilometre circuit, giving them the opportunity to get their first feeling of the new Pirelli tyres in warmer conditions.
A further 90-minute session will be conducted at 4pm, before a final hour’s practice on Saturday ahead of the three-stage qualifying to determine pole position.
In 2019, Pirelli have simplified the way that the tyres are presented, in that on every weekend there is only a hard, medium and soft compound – represented by white, yellow and red markings.
It is a turn from the more colourful selection that was in use for the last few years, as well as an expanded selection ranging from the hard compound to the hypersoft. Each compound will change from race to race, depending on the surfaces, however they’ll only be represented by the three titles.
Practice 1 is also the first opportunity outside of testing for the new team and driver combinations to be seen on-track and there will be extra attention on the Renault squad, to see how Aussie Daniel Ricciardo fares in his first session for the French team.
Charles Leclerc’s debut for Ferrari will also be eagerly anticipated, given that he is the youngest driver since 1961 to race for the Scuderia and only in his sophomore season too.
As well as Robert Kubica, who makes his return to Formula One eight years after that horrific rallying accident which almost ended his racing career and life. The popular Pole will be racing for Williams, who themselves will be under scrutiny this weekend after a disastrous pre-season.
A top of 23 degrees is forecast for today in Melbourne, meaning it won’t be as hot as expected for qualifying and the race. Starting at midday, the first practice session will hardly be representative of those sessions, which are much later in the afternoon.
Tune in on The Roar from 12pm (AEDT) for the opening practice session of the new Formula 1 season, with live blog coverage for all three practices, qualifying and the 58-lap Australian Grand Prix.
anon
Roar Pro
Hamilton has gone from $2 yesterday to $2.25 for the championship. A steal in my opinion. I'm going to load up.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
That'll conclude our live blog coverage for Friday from Albert Park. Please tune in again on The Roar ahead of FP3 tomorrow at 2pm AEST and then the all important qualifying. Thanks for joining me today and I shall return tomorrow. Ciao.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
Thoughts on Friday practice then Roarers? Mercedes AMG have fired a warning shot then across the bow of their rivals, topping both sessions today. Their closest rivals it seems then are Red Bull, who with Honda power were faster than Ferrari at the end of second practice. Positive second practice for Renault, who bounced back to finish inside the top ten with both Nico Hulkenberg and Daniel Ricciardo, though more can be expected from the French team tomorrow. As for the midfield, it looks extremely tight at the moment between Alfa Romeo, Haas and Toro Rosso. The latter did show flashes of speed, but were quite scrappy with Alexander Albon having a few offs throughout the day.
anon
Roar Pro
Mercedes sandbagging again.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 RESULTS 1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG 2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes AMG 3 33 Max Verstappen Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 4 10 Pierre Gasly Aston Martin Red Bull Racing 5 5 Sebastian Vettel Scuderia Ferrari 6 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo F1 Team 7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault F1 Team 8 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault F1 Team 9 16 Charles Leclerc Scuderia Ferrari 10 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 11 26 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 12 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 13 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point Mercedes 14 55 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault 15 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo F1 Team 16 11 Sergio Perez Racing Point Mercedes 17 23 Alexander Albon Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda 18 4 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 19 63 George Russell Williams Mercedes 20 88 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 CHECQUERED FLAG
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 2:00 Yellow flags out between Sectors 1 and 2 for Leclerc who has spun his Ferrari and was almost beached on the grass. He was lucky to get his car going again.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 5:00 Five minutes left in the session then. Will there be any change?
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 6:00 A late off for Russell at Turn 3 in the Williams, but he has managed to find the track again and continue.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 8:00 Turn 15 continues to catch a few drivers out, with Giovinazzi and Hulkenberg also getting locked up there. In the former's case, he actually found himself in a spin!
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 12:00 All cars are on track now for the final stages of second practice.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 13:00 Again a Toro Rosso locks up hard on the brakes into Turn 15, but it is Kvyat this time and not Albon.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 15:00 Verstappen up to third fastest now, but trails by 0.8 seconds from the reigning world champion out front.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 17:00 Few drivers on track again on the hard tyres such as Leclerc, Stroll, Giovinazzi and Kubica. Always an opportunity to gather data.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 20:00 Albon again coming to grief in the grass, going off at Turn 15 but then finding his way back onto the track.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 23:00 New PB lap for Kvyat, setting a 1:23.933 for ninth fastest.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 24:00 And it is staggering to see how far off the pace Williams are at the moment, even though are right at the bottom. Russell in P19 is 3.8 seconds off the fastest time, while Kubica is a whopping 4 seconds adrift.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 26:00 Mercedes AMG still holding a 0.8 second advantage over their competitors, who in this case the nearest is Pierre Gasly in the Red Bull.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 30:00 HAM BOT GAS VET RÄI HUL RIC VER LEC GRO KVY MAG STR SAI GIO PER ALB NOR RUS KUB is the order after an hour.
Jawad Yaqub
Roar Guru
FP2 37:00 Scratch that, Norris, Räikkönen and Albon are all heading out.