2022 Australian Grand Prix report and highlights: Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz drives teammate Charles Leclerc at Albert Park

Ferrari started the weekend in style as Carlos Sainz set the pace in first practice for the returning Australian Grand Prix, with teammate Charles Leclerc finishing second.

The Spaniard clocked a time of 1 minute 19.806 seconds on Pirelli’s softest tire – C5 – with Leclerc swerving 0.571s, the championship leader having hit the gravel in his lap and then dropped off on his second attempt.

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Red Bull’s Sergio Perez – who caused one of two red flags when he lost a piece of his skeleton – was third with a quick lap late on goal, ten tenths ahead of teammate Max Verstappen, although the defending champion scored His fastest roll. early in the session.

McLaren showed a surprising shift in pace, after a difficult start to the season as they battle to overcome a front axle problem, with Lando Norris fifth and home favorite Daniel Ricciardo eighth.

Esteban Ocon in Alpine finished sixth, slightly ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes lead at Albert Park It features several corner changes this year And he made his first comeback since F1 started coming to Melbourne in 1996.

Alpine region Fernando Alonso climbed to ninth (behind Ricciardo) in the final stages, with Alfa Romeo’s Valtteri Bottas completing the top ten split by 1.441secs.

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Yuki Tsunoda’s AlphaTauri – who debuted on this track and with only one simulation session of the new layout – was 11th, on a track that this weekend will include four DRS regions, the first Formula 1.

Mercedes’ George Russell was 12th, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who raised the red flag late in the session when his Aston Martin Mercedes lost power by just 18 laps on the board. It was a frustrating end to a session with the German hoping to cut a lot of miles after missing the first two races with Covid-19.

AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly finished 14th, ahead of Zhou Guanyu – one of the four drivers, along with Tsunoda, Nicholas Latifi and Mick Schumacher, who did not drive Albert Park – 15.

Lance Stroll put his Aston Martin in 16th, while Alex Albon topped Williams in 17th, 1.2 seconds behind teammate Latifi in 19th.

Haas looked lackluster after a strong start in 2022 with Kevin Magnussen, who hit the track late after suffering some nausea overnight, 18th, and teammate Schumacher 20 – 4.543sec on Sainz’s P1 pace.

Second training session It follows at 1600 local timeBut will Ferrari continue to excel in Melbourne?

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