F1 Features

- Lewis Hamilton’s pole position time of 1:21.164 broke his own previous track record at Albert Park in Melbourne that stood from F1 last year. Hamilton’s 2018 pole time was more than a second faster than his 2017 effort.

- Daniel Ricciardo’s rotten luck on home soil continued as he was hit with a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow down enough under the red flag in FP2.

Mercedes’ display through pre-season testing may have left an ominous feeling in some corners about the level of competition we would see through the 2018 Formula 1 season, yet a glimmer of hope appeared to come through during Friday’s practice running in Australia.

Formula 1 is back. The F1 circus has landed in Melbourne’s Albert Park, and it is the happiest weekend of the entire season. For now, with testing but a distant memory and qualifying yet to come, every driver is a potential race winner, and every car a potential championship victor.

In a new feature for Crash.net, Formula 1 editor Luke Smith brings you his ‘Paddock Notebook’ at the end of the opening day of media commitments at Albert Park ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.

2018 will set the tone for how the final few years of Fernando Alonso's F1 career will play out with McLaren.

Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari F1 future has become a yearly talking point as the driver market shapes up.

Entering his fifth full season in F1, Marcus Ericsson will want to end his points drought dating back to 2015.

Nico Hulkenberg has long been tipped as one of F1's up-and-comers, but needs to deliver on-track this year with Renault.

Valtteri Bottas may have impressed through his first season with Mercedes in 2018, but with a volatile driver market on the cards, he needs to fight for his place with the team.

The start of the new season brings plenty of pressure to the F1 field, but which drivers are facing make or break campaigns in 2018?

Sauber has recovered from a couple of difficult years to now sign a new partnership with Alfa Romeo, paving the way for a better future.

After its much-anticipated split with Honda, McLaren enters 2018 with nowhere to hide and only itself to blame should things go awry.

With stability in the regulations for 2018, Haas has been able to better-prepare itself for an assault on the upper midfield.

Now a Honda works-backed team, Toro Rosso will be looking to succeed where the partnership with McLaren failed.

In year three since its return to F1 with a factory operation, Renault is looking to move out of the midfield and up to the sharp end of the grid.

Williams heads into 2018 with one of the least experienced line-ups in F1 history - but can Stroll and Sirotkin start a turnaround in its fortunes?

Force India has been F1's pound-for-pound champion for a number of years now, but faces a challenge to lead the midfield once again this year.

A late-season surge in 2017 has given Red Bull hope of fighting for the F1 championship once again this year.

2018 marks a decade since Ferrari's last F1 title. Can it bounce back from a near miss last season and finally end its drought?

Mercedes heads into 2018 chasing a fifth straight set of F1 titles, but expects a greater challenge from Ferrari and Red Bull behind.

A preview of all 10 F1 teams heading into the start of the 2018 season at the Australian Grand Prix this weekend.

Following his shock exploits into American racing in 2017 - contesting the Indianapolis 500 instead of the Monaco Grand Prix - Alonso’s goal has been crystal clear.

Championship winner, drivers’? Luke Smith: Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel may have run Hamilton close last year, and Red Bull may have shaped up as a greater threat towards the end of the season, but I can’t look past a fifth world title for the Briton.