Ferrari Dominates Australian GP Practice

Charles Leclerc set the pace in the opening practice session for the Australian Grand Prix with a lap time of 1:20.267, leading his new Ferrari teammate Lewis Hamilton by a margin of 0.469 seconds. The session marked the first official running of the new-for-2026 Formula 1 cars, with Max Verstappen's Red Bull finishing third, just over half a second off Leclerc's benchmark. McLaren's difficult start was headlined by a gearbox issue for reigning world champion Lando Norris, who was confined to the garage for most of the session and completed only seven laps. His teammate, home favorite Oscar Piastri, also encountered an early power unit calibration problem but was able to recover and finish the session in sixth place. The session was challenging for several teams, with Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso not setting a time due to a suspected power unit issue, and his teammate Lance Stroll only completing three laps. Rookie Arvid Lindblad of the Racing Bulls team also caused a brief Virtual Safety Car when his car stopped at the pit lane exit. In the Supercars action, Brodie Kostecki's victory in the second race of the Melbourne SuperSprint was his second consecutive win of the weekend. He passed pole-sitter Matt Payne on the fifth lap to secure the win, with the two Ford Mustangs finishing just 0.571 seconds apart. The highlight for many was Ryan Wood's third-place finish, which marked the first-ever podium for the new Toyota GR Supra in the Supercars championship, achieved in only its fifth race start. Wood, driving for Walkinshaw TWG Racing, finished over 12 seconds clear of fourth place after a chaotic race behind the leaders. The "carnage-filled" nature of the Supercars race included multiple incidents. Will Brown received a 15-second penalty for a clash with Cooper Murray, while separate on-track battles led to contact and off-track excursions for drivers like Chaz Mostert, Broc Feeney, and Aaron Cameron.