FP1: Norris tops first practice session of 2025 in Australia as Bearman crashes out

Lando Norris topped the timesheets as the 2025 F1 campaign officially kicked off with Free Practice 1 for the Australian Grand Prix – the McLaren driver leading the way from Williams’ Carlos Sainz in a session that also saw rookie Ollie Bearman experience a heavy crash.

After weeks of anticipation and predictions, it was time for all the talking to stop during FP1 at Melbourne’s Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, with blue skies and warm temperatures greeting the 20-strong field of drivers ahead of the opening 60-minute session.

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Around a quarter of that grid is now made up of fresh faces – Red Bull’s Liam Lawson, Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli, Alpine’s Jack Doohan, Haas’ Bearman, Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar and Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto all starting an F1 season for the first time.

Meanwhile, the excitement and intrigue over Lewis Hamilton’s switch to Ferrari continues, and Friday afternoon brought the moment the seven-time World Champion had been waiting for when he rolled out of the pit lane in the team’s traditional red colour.

Unsurprisingly, every driver took to the track inside the opening 10 minutes to get a feel for the conditions, with little drama to report aside from Lawson brushing the wall at Turn 9 and team mate Max Verstappen dipping a wheel in the gravel through Turn 6.

However, as more drivers – including home hero Doohan – flicked gravel chippings onto the track at the same spot, the first red flag of the 2025 season was flown, giving marshals the chance to conduct a clean-up operation and clear the racing line.

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Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc held P1 at this point on a 1m 17.880s, a couple of tenths clear of Mercedes rival George Russell, those times having been posted on medium compound tyres before some soft rubber appeared at the session restart.

Over the next few minutes, reigning World Champion Verstappen lowered the benchmark to a 1m 17.696s, followed by a solid-looking effort from new Williams signing Sainz, who duly took over at the top of the timing screen on a 1m 17.401s.

But just as these soft-shod laps were coming in, Bearman lost control of his Haas exiting the Turn 9/10 chicane and slammed into the concrete wall, bringing out another red flag. “I’m sorry,” came a dejected radio message from the unharmed Briton in the aftermath.

A final flurry of track activity ended with Norris slotting into P1 on a 1m 17.252s, a tenth-and-a-half up on Sainz, as Leclerc, the other home favourite in McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Verstappen rounded out the top five positions.

Alex Albon backed up team mate Sainz in sixth position, followed by Russell – despite a spin exiting Turn 4 late on – and Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who were split by Hadjar’s Racing Bulls machine.

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Yuki Tsunoda was marginally slower than his new team mate, with Hamilton ending the session down in 12th – after “struggling to turn the car” – from a pack of rookie drivers comprising Doohan, Antonelli, Bortoleto and Lawson.

Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg wound up 17th and 18th respectively in their Alpine and Kick Sauber challengers, while Haas brought up the rear – Esteban Ocon and the sidelined Bearman around two seconds off the pace.

With the chequered flag falling on the first official session of 2025, drivers and their teams will now regroup in the Albert Park paddock before returning to the track for FP2, which is scheduled to begin at 1600 local time.