Hamilton tops Australia FP1 as McLaren hits trouble

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton made a confident start to the new Formula 1 season by heading up a one-two finish for Mercedes in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix as McLaren suffered more issues with its car.

Hamilton finished half a second clear of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas as the Silver Arrows produced a repeat result of FP1 from last year, taking a one-two in the first official on-track running of 2018.

Hamilton tops Australia FP1 as McLaren hits trouble

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton made a confident start to the new Formula 1 season by heading up a one-two finish for Mercedes in opening practice for the Australian Grand Prix as McLaren suffered more issues with its car.

Hamilton finished half a second clear of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas as the Silver Arrows produced a repeat result of FP1 from last year, taking a one-two in the first official on-track running of 2018.

Hamilton's fastest lap of 1:24.026 was two-tenths faster than the best lap time from FP1 in 2017 at Albert Park, with the effort being posted on the Ultrasoft compound tyre.

Max Verstappen led Red Bull's charge in third place, finishing seven-tenths of a second back from Hamilton, while the Ferrari pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel took fourth and fifth place. All three drivers recorded their fastest laps on the Supersoft, with Ferrari completing no running at all on the Ultrasoft.

Daniel Ricciardo finished sixth in the second Red Bull ahead of Romain Grosjean, who continued Haas' impressive form from testing to finish as the top midfield driver.

After recurring problems through pre-season testing, McLaren's woes continued in the opening practice session of the year as both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne lost running due to an exhaust problem.

Alonso spent more than one hour in the pits due to the issue before getting back out with 22 minutes remaining, and was ultimately able to rise to eighth place come the chequered flag with only 15 laps to his name. Teammate Vandoorne managed 14 laps, finishing 10th-fastest.

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Carlos Sainz Jr. led Renault to ninth ahead of Vandoorne and Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, who wound up 11th in the Honda-powered STR13. Teammate Brendon Hartley lost running in the middle of the session to an issue, leaving him 18th overall.

Sergey Sirotkin was the fastest Williams in 12th despite glancing the pit wall early in the session, finishing ahead of Renault's Nico Hulkenberg and Force India's Esteban Ocon. Lance Stroll took P15 in the sister Williams FW41.

Force India's Sergio Perez took 16th ahead of Kevin Magnussen, who spent the closing stages of the session in the garage due to a sensor problem, having also run wide at the penultimate corner after locking up. Sauber drivers Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc propped up the running order in 19th and 20th respectively.

F1 AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - FP1 RESULTS

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