Charles Leclerc draws first blood in messy Melbourne FP1

Charles Leclerc topped the first free practice session of the F1 season, putting almost half a second on Lewis Hamilton in Melbourne.

The Ferraris were quickest in FP1 at Albert Park, ahead of the campaign-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar claimed third and fourth as Mercedes were slower than anticipated.

Rookie Arvid Lindblad impressed with fifth-fastest on debut, after a difficult start to the hour.

Like its power unit supplier, McLaren was off the pace, too. Oscar Piastri could only go sixth-quickest in front of his adorning home fans.

Meanwhile, Aston Martin endured another disaster, with just three laps between Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

Full Australian Grand Prix FP1 report below.

Messy start

Just as the session started, Aston Martin confirmed that Alonso would not participate due to a "suspected power unit-related issue" in the back of his AMR26.

Arvid Lindblad was seen stranded at the pit exit on his F1 debut weekend for Racing Bulls, whilst both McLaren drivers were soon complaining of problems with their power units, as Piastri circulated slowly.

Those incidents led to an early virtual safety car, before the action got back up to full speed.

Of those who were setting times, Verstappen led the way initially with a low 1:22, before Leclerc brought the hammer down. The Monegasque driver was soon usurped by Isack Hadjar in the second RB22.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas found himself sandwiched between the two Ferraris, jumping on team radio to complain about Hamilton, his former Mercedes team-mate, specifically.

Verstappen and Leclerc continued to find the limits of their respective cars, trading fastest lap times as the front of the pack reached the low 1:21s, whilst the McLaren duo found their way back onto the track.

Lindblad, too, after his initial issues, made it out of the pits, leaving just Alonso without a time to his name.

Second half

At the halfway stage of the opening hour of running in Melbourne, there was a six-second spread between Leclerc in first and Sergio Perez in P20. The Cadillac driver with a 1:27.407.

He would soon go quicker, into the low 1:26s, but lost his right-hand wing mirror shortly after.

Lance Stroll, in the one remaining Aston Martin, ploughed on with the team's tests of its package, but was unable to dip lower than the 1:50 mark — and only completed three laps.

As the clock approached 20 minutes to go, the Red Bull duo started to really stretch their legs. Verstappen was the first to hit the 1:20s, with Hadjar under two-tenths slower.

Mercedes were unexpectedly quiet, with Russell only fifth-fastest as the Ferraris also rounded out the top-four positions.

With just under 15 minutes to go, Aston Martin announced that Stroll would also end the session early. Like his team-mate, that was due to a suspected power unit issue — with investigations to follow on both cars.

Alex Albon's Williams came to a sudden halt on track with 10 minutes remaining, bringing out the second VSC of the session.

Once the FW48 was cleared, Perez more than found the limit, spinning his MAC-26 on the exit of Turn 4.

All the while, the Ferraris and Red Bulls continued to juke it out at the sharp end, with Hamilton pipping old adversary Verstappen.

However, in the dying moments, the Briton's team-mate pulled a 1:20.267 out of the bag, some +0.469 faster than the seven-time F1 drivers' champion.