McLaren gets off to a good start in Melbourne, home of the Australian Grand Prix and third round of the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship. Lando Norris set the best time in the first free practice session, stopping the clock in 1'18″564, achieved with Soft tyres, which this weekend are the C5, the softest compounds made by Pirelli for this season.
This round did not give precise indications, considering that the first 6 are enclosed in 78 thousandths of a second, while the first 10 in 3 tenths. Nobody really made a difference, but if McLaren had a jolt, Max Verstappen has already made it clear that he is ready to chase a third consecutive victory.
The three-time world champion stopped 18 thousandths of a second from Norris's reference time thanks to a particularly effective final attempt on Soft tyres. Sergio Perez also did well at Red Bull. Although he is only sixth, his delay from the British McLaren is 78 thousandths.
The RB20s, however, have shown on several occasions that they are not yet perfect in terms of set-up. Max and Checo lost control of their cars several times, even if for a few moments and almost never in a dangerous way (apart from a hard pass on a curb by the Dutchman).
Mercedes tries to make itself seen in the top positions with George Russell third thanks to a last attempt which took him to third place, 33 thousandths behind Norris and faster than Charles Leclerc by just 2 thousandths. Russell was faster than Lewis Hamilton throughout the session, with the 7-time world champion ninth, 2 tenths of a second from the session's reference time.
As for Ferrari, Leclerc seemed at ease on the SF-24 from the first lap, although the Ferrari loses a lot in the central sector compared to the Red Bull. Carlos Sainz, on the other hand, approached this round of testing in a cautious manner. Over the last 2 weeks he hasn't trained due to the appendicitis operation he underwent in Jeddah, so he preferred not to go beyond the task given by the team, without straining his body excessively. His eighth fastest time still places him just over 1 tenth behind Norris.
Racing Bulls were waiting for a response after a start to the season that certainly didn't live up to expectations and Yuki Tsunoda's fifth fastest time could be the first important sign. Daniel Ricciardo, however, was unable to make good use of the Soft tires and had to settle for 11th place, just under 7 tenths behind his teammate.
A good seventh time for Lance Stroll who was on the ball from the first laps of the session, but Aston Martin practically lost a session with Fernando Alonso due to an off-track excursion which damaged the floor of the AMR24 number 14. Fernando remained at the pit for half the session, managing to get back on track just a couple of minutes before the checkered flag. It is no coincidence that he did not go beyond the 18th fastest time.
Sainz and Hamilton, the Top 10 was completed by Oscar Piastri with the second McLaren, three and a half tenths behind its twin MCL38.
With 20 minutes remaining in the session Alexander Albon – 12th at the end – caused the first and only red flag of the session. The Thai Williams driver ended up against the wall near turn 8, hitting the right side of his FW46 on the inside, and then being thrown towards the outside of the curve, also impacting the left side. Alex lost control after a violent pass over a curb, the same one that had almost fooled Max Verstappen a few minutes earlier.
After the two impacts, Albon remained stationary on the track with the car badly damaged and the race direction was forced to display the red flags to allow the stewards to move the damaged single-seater and clean the track of the numerous debris scattered on the asphalt in the part of the accident.
Kevin Magnussen took the liberty of being faster than Nico Hulkenberg by finishing 13th, while the German was 16th behind the first Alpine, that of Esteban Ocon, and the second Williams driven by Logan Sargeant. Pierre Gasly struggles to gain confidence with the A524 and is 17th ahead of Alonso and the two Saubers of GuanYu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas. If the Swiss team's driver duo is giving great satisfaction on social media for the creativity of their content, the same cannot be said for the results on the track.
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