The Formula One season is up and running with all drivers and teams taking to the track in Melbourne today morning.
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A familiar figure topped the charts as Lewis Hamilton seemed to be stronger than ever in that upgraded Mercedes W09. He was closely followed by Bottas who too looked really impressive on the track, pushing that W09 hard.
McLaren had a troubled start once again as both Alonso and Vandoorne were unable to set lap times in the initial half of the practice, however, the duo came back during the dying stages to set some impressive times and ended up in the top 10.
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Ferrari had a strong practice too, with both Raikkonen and Vettel ending it in the top 5.
Red Bull’s new package looks pretty close to Mercedes’ in terms of performance and Verstappen took full advantage of it, ending practice 1 in the 3rd position.
Complete driver standings:
1. Lewis Hamilton GBR Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport 1:24.026 (26 laps)
2. Valtteri Bottas FIN Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport + 0.551s (28)
3. Max Verstappen NED Aston Martin Red Bull Racing + 0.745s (26)
4. Kimi Raikkonen FIN Scuderia Ferrari + 0.849s (22)
5. Sebastian Vettel GER Scuderia Ferrari + 0.969s (21)
6. Daniel Ricciardo AUS Aston Martin Red Bull Racing + 1.037s (25)
7. Romain Grosjean FRA Haas F1 Team + 1.704s (23)
8. Fernando Alonso ESP McLaren F1 Team + 1.870s (15)
9. Carlos Sainz Jr. ESP Renault Sport Formula One Team + 1.896s (23)
10. Stoffel Vandoorne BEL McLaren F1 Team + 2.456s (15)
11. Pierre Gasly FRA Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda + 2.468s (25)
12. Sergey Sirotkin RUS Williams Martini Racing + 2.510s (24)
13. Nico Hulkenberg GER Renault Sport Formula One Team + 2.557s (24)
14. Esteban Ocon FRA Sahara Force India F1 Team + 2.579s (30)
15. Lance Stroll CAN Williams Martini Racing + 2.610s (30)
16. Sergio Perez MEX Sahara Force India F1 Team + 2.741s (26)
17. Kevin Magnussen DEN Haas F1 Team + 3.009s (13)
18. Brendon Hartley NZL Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda + 3.783s (15)
19. Marcus Ericsson SWE Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team + 3.938s (27)
20. Charles Leclerc MON Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team + 4.827s (27)
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